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Show THE COMING OF THE WHITEMEN 103 You now turn upon us for attempting to do what you have done yourselves. We cannot see why you have cause of quarrel with us for fighting the New Mexicans on the west, while you do the same thing on the east. . . . This is our war. We have more right to complain of you for interfering in our war, than you have to quarrel with us for continuing a war we had begun long before you got here. If you will act justly, you will allow us to settle our own differences. Doniphan told the headman that the American conquest made New Mexico a part of the United States. When the Navajos fought New Mexico, they were also fighting the United States. The army could not put up with this any longer. It would be better, he said, if the Indians could trade with the newcomers and learn from them the new skills they had brought. Zarcillas Largo and thirteen other Navajo leaders agreed. They signed a treaty in which both sides promised peace, friendship, trade, free travel, and the return of all stolen goods and captives. Then the American troops left to take part in the larger war in Mexico. The treaty, it turned out, had no effect on the fighting along the New Mexican frontier. The promises of a few important Navajos could not control the actions of the entire tribe. For almost a year after the Doniphan treaty, Navajos made daily raids. They could not forget that perhaps as many as 6,000 Indians, mostly children, were slaves in New Mexican homes. Mexican raids on the Navajos also continued. One such party came back to Socorro with at least 40 captives, 75 horses, and 1,500 sheep. Ten Navajos and one Mexican had died during the raid. Confusion and Conflict Charles Bent led the new government of New Mexico. He was also superintendent of Indian affairs for New Mexico. His first reports to Washington showed what a problem the Navajos seemed to the American government. At least 7,000, and perhaps 14,000, Navajos were spread through a remote, vast area between the San Juan and Gila rivers. They owned 30,000 cattle, 500,000 sheep, and 10,000 horses and mules. Some people had 5,000 to 10,000 sheep. Their wealth and their distant homes gave them |