December 30, 2012
December 30, 2012
We are on our way back home after the holidays. This morning we crossed into New Mexico and noticed a sign for Fort Sumner State Monument. It is not too far out of the way so we decide to stop. Situated on the Pecos River, the monument is also home to the Bosque Redondo Memorial. This site is famous because after their final defeat the Navajos were forcibly moved here in 1863 on the “Long Walk”. It was a disaster. The Navajos weren’t big farmers so they couldn’t make a go of it by themselves. Because of the Civil War, government food supplies from the Midwest were unreliable. And to top it off they were housed with 500 Mescalero Apaches who they hated. After several years of penance and high expense, both tribes were allowed to return home.
We walked around the grounds of the old fort and then breezed through the unfinished museum. It was interesting but definitely one-sided from the Navajo viewpoint. What isn’t described is how this semi-nomadic tribe lived off raiding their neighbors (Indians, Mexicans, and whites) and were in a constant state of warfare long before the US arrived. The local Pueblo Indian tribes whose land they stole were happy to see them finally subdued.
On the way out of town we stopped at the Fort’s cemetery to see the grave of William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid. It sits behind a locked gate because the headstone has been stolen several times. He was gunned down here in 1881.
Looking for more info on Bonney’s notoriety we head south into the mountains and stop at the Lincoln State Monument. This monument is the preserved western town of Lincoln, NM that became infamous for the Lincoln County War in 1878. Violence erupted when an English immigrant opened a store to compete with a pair of Irishmen who monopolized the town’s trade. The resulting spree of murders got so bad that President Hayes replaced the governor and sent in Army troops. Unfortunately for Bonney, everybody involved was pardoned except for him. After he was sentenced to hang, he managed to grab a gun and shoot his way out of the courthouse jail.
It is near the end of the day so we rush through the exhibits in the old courthouse. Learning about the war, I have no doubt Lincoln was the inspiration for many of the old Westerns. Hard to imagine this sleepy old frontier town in a picturesque valley was the epicenter of Western violence.
A few days ago I took three of my nephews to see the latest Tarantino film. Although entertaining I was taken aback by the historical inaccuracy and the level of violence. I wondered what negative impact it might have on the little kids in the theater. After visiting Lincoln, I have to conclude, not much. There were no cinemas in 1878. Humans apparently don’t need movies to inspire mayhem.
We are on our way back home after the holidays. This morning we crossed into New Mexico and noticed a sign for Fort Sumner State Monument. It is not too far out of the way so we decide to stop. Situated on the Pecos River, the monument is also home to the Bosque Redondo Memorial. This site is famous because after their final defeat the Navajos were forcibly moved here in 1863 on the “Long Walk”. It was a disaster. The Navajos weren’t big farmers so they couldn’t make a go of it by themselves. Because of the Civil War, government food supplies from the Midwest were unreliable. And to top it off they were housed with 500 Mescalero Apaches who they hated. After several years of penance and high expense, both tribes were allowed to return home.
On the way out of town we stopped at the Fort’s cemetery to see the grave of William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid. It sits behind a locked gate because the headstone has been stolen several times. He was gunned down here in 1881.
It is near the end of the day so we rush through the exhibits in the old courthouse. Learning about the war, I have no doubt Lincoln was the inspiration for many of the old Westerns. Hard to imagine this sleepy old frontier town in a picturesque valley was the epicenter of Western violence.
A few days ago I took three of my nephews to see the latest Tarantino film. Although entertaining I was taken aback by the historical inaccuracy and the level of violence. I wondered what negative impact it might have on the little kids in the theater. After visiting Lincoln, I have to conclude, not much. There were no cinemas in 1878. Humans apparently don’t need movies to inspire mayhem.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 1:25 PM
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