What do you think?
Rate this book
The Counterfeiters of Bosque Redondo: Slavery, Silver and the U.S. War Against the Navajo Nation
Discover the staggeringly true story of how the first Navajo silversmiths fed and freed a nation. "Old Pounder," they called him -- the very first Navajo silversmith. Yet Herrero Delgadito's greatest legacy is measured in lives, not ounces: the scores of Navajo women and children he plucked out of slavery in 1864, the hundreds of exiles he risked everything to feed in 1865 and the thousands of people he helped lead back home in 1868. A remarkable portrait of human resilience, Delgadito's story upends conventional narratives of the West, revealing an illicit slave system that began with the Conquistadors and reached its apex under the Union Army. Even as US officials fought to end slavery in the South, they weaponized human trafficking against the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Matt Fitzsimons traces the trajectory of the prisoners of Bosque Redondo who forged a path to freedom.
160 pages, Paperback
Published July 25, 2022
6 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2024
This book focuses on the military conflicts between the Native Americans and the US Army during the Civil War.
From 1863 to 1868, Fort Sumner, New Mexico was the center of a million-acre parcel known as the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. I was more interested in the history of how the U.S. Army forcibly removed thousands of Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache) people from their traditional homelands to a small area of parched land. Referred to as the Long Walk, the 300 mile journey was made on foot and many died of exposure and starvation over a period of nearly three years. During their internment, the Diné and Ndé were prevented from practicing ceremonies, singing songs, or praying in their own. The suffering from exposure, starvation, and outbreaks of smallpox sickness took an estimated 1500 lives. The captives retaliated by counterfeiting ration documents. In 1865 close to 350 Mescalero made their escape and returned to their sacred Sacramento Mountains. Nearly 1,000 Navajos also fled but more than 7,000 remained.
It was a dark chapter in our national history that ended in 1868 with the signing of a treaty and the return of survivors to their homelands.
From 1863 to 1868, Fort Sumner, New Mexico was the center of a million-acre parcel known as the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. I was more interested in the history of how the U.S. Army forcibly removed thousands of Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache) people from their traditional homelands to a small area of parched land. Referred to as the Long Walk, the 300 mile journey was made on foot and many died of exposure and starvation over a period of nearly three years. During their internment, the Diné and Ndé were prevented from practicing ceremonies, singing songs, or praying in their own. The suffering from exposure, starvation, and outbreaks of smallpox sickness took an estimated 1500 lives. The captives retaliated by counterfeiting ration documents. In 1865 close to 350 Mescalero made their escape and returned to their sacred Sacramento Mountains. Nearly 1,000 Navajos also fled but more than 7,000 remained.
It was a dark chapter in our national history that ended in 1868 with the signing of a treaty and the return of survivors to their homelands.
June 15, 2023
Emphasizes the enslavement of Navajo women and children. We’ll told and researched history that makes what is usually ignored front and center.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews