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There are not many triumphant stories associated with the Long Walk, but the Navajos in these parts have one.
The story stretches one's credulity. There are few if any traces of it in the journals of the U.S. cavalrymen who would have witnessed it, but the elders here tell it with gusto and surprising consistency, and the evidence is there for anyone to see.
It is the story of how, using only ingenuity, teamwork and local materials, a handful of Diné were able to escape the Long Walk for nearly a month.
The story ends sadly - eventually all of the resisters were captured and joined the forced march to Hwééldi - but the fact that these Diné civilians were able to embarrass a well-armed mounted fighting force, however briefly, is a still a source of pride for their descendants.
It was the winter of 1863-64, cold but not yet snowy. The residents of Canyon del Muerto had already been approached by the U.S. government about voluntarily leaving their land and refused. Based on previous dealings with the white man, they figured the soldiers would not be far behind the smiling negotiators.
The Diné of Canyon del Muerto held a meeting and crafted a plan. They had successfully hid out from the Spanish on top of the slick-walled, 700-foot-high mesa they called Tsélaa. Maybe it would shelter them from the Americans as well.
The strong men were assigned to hike up the canyon walls to where the tall ponderosa grew and cut down the tallest ones they could find, then drag them back into the canyon to the base of Tsélaa.
The women, meanwhile, got busy drying fruit and meat to be cached at the top of the mesa for a long sojourn.
When all was ready, the Diné - some put the number at 60, some closer to 200 men, women and children - started the ascent.
There are handholds in Tsélaa carved by the Anasazi, but with packs full of food and water, elders in tow and crying babies strapped to cradleboards on their mothers' backs, it was a grueling hike. Even today, it's a climb few people have made.
When they came to cliff faces too steep to climb, the Navajos propped the big ponderosa poles against them, notched footholds into them and teetered up. They dragged the poles up behind them so their enemies couldn't use them.
Then they waited, using the time to pile rocks as bulwarks against bullets around the rim of the rock.
It wasn't long before the cavalry arrived. Possibly the soldiers saw fires on top of the rock; at any rate, they got wind of the plan. This will be easy, they must have thought. They camped at the cottonwood-rimmed spring at the base of the rock to wait the Navajos out.
According to Chinle resident Teddy Draper's account, quoted by Lawrence W. Cheek in "The Navajo Long Walk," the soldiers figured the Navajos would soon run out of food, and started frying bacon, hoping the smell would entice the Indians down the mesa.
But the Navajos had plenty of food. They did, however, run out of water some time during the second week of the standoff.
The leaders of the group had already anticipated this and devised an ingenious plan. They waited for a full moon night, then made a human chain down the mountain, each person locking wrists with the one above him.
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Image of business people working at office. Busy businesswomen and businessmen sitting at conference desk in front of laptop and working on financial plan.
This group of volunteers helped to install this osprey nest platform today. It replaced another structure that was lost this winter from the severe cold temperatures and ice on the bay.
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Police fire tear gas in unison at protesters on a side street near Taksim Square in Istanbul.
Photo Credit: Arzu Geybullayeva
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Date: June 2013
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Images from the Creative Teamwork course 2018. Led by Prof. Mikko Jalas, Kirsi Joenpolvi and Maria Joutsenvirta
©Abigail Garbett
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
The Ford School Charity Auction is a student-led initiative that raises money for a different non-profit organization each year. The auction committee solicits donations from members of the Ford School community and local merchants and then hosts a gala at which the items are bid on in both live and silent auctions.
This kickball game was one of many activities throughout the year designed to raise awareness and funds for a local organization.
The 2015 beneficiary is Girls on the Run, a nonprofit empowerment program for preteen girls that aims to teach life lessons through teamwork and physical activity. Learn more: fordschool.umich.edu/news/2014/2015-charity-auction-benef...
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
On this day, a NS team of dozens of workers took down two cross over signals from the Pennsylvania RR era and connected live two new signals that had been constructed to modern standards at Leetsdale Pennsylvania. The NS has been replacing signals like this all over Pennsylvania.
A team of riggers work together to get this platform piece secured and ready for a safe hoist at this Interstate 69 construction site near Houston, Texas.
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing
Staff from the University of Michigan - College of Engineering partake in their annual Staff Summer Party at the Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on June 14, 2019.
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing