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Show 132 IX. HWEELDI DOO AHA'DEET'4 them even if none of the crops had been ruined by insects. If the war continued, Steck pointed out again and again, the number of Navajos at the Bosque could double. Yet the army could not even feed the number already there. Children were dying from lack of food. When Carleton asked for more funds to support the Bosque, Steck argued that the money would only delay the eventual need to move the Navajos. He thought that they should be moved to a reserve on the Little Colorado River. He even suggested that Carleton was using his plans to benefit friendly local merchants. An enormous sum had been spent on supplies. Steck estimated that the cost to run the Bosque was five times higher than Carleton had stated. Because of Steck's vocal protests, Carleton's support began to weaken. Local public opinion turned against the general. The Santa Fe New Mexican said that it would cost over two million dollars a year to feed the entire tribe. Though Congress granted a hundred thousand dollars to cope with the crisis in July, the supplies were late in reaching the Bosque. Rumors of errors and fraud began to spread. New Mexican ranchers were angry because Pecos grazing land had been taken. Soon some called for a vote to decide the matter. And the New Mexico elections of late 1864 put Carleton's critics in office. Further Problems Other problems also caused tension at the reserve. A small supply of old army tents was soon used up, and there were not enough homes for the Indians. The army wanted a pueblo-style village of orderly adobe buildings. But the Navajos opposed the plan. If a man dies in a hogan, his spirit may return to the scene of death. The People destroyed any hogan in which a death had taken place and built a new one. No one could force them to live in a death-cursed house. At last they agreed to compromise by building hogans in neat rows. When someone died, the hogan could be destroyed, and the family could build a new home at the end of the row. The lack of wood caused greater problems. As time went on, the Navajos had to travel farther to find wood. A man often had to walk miles to find a mesquite root and then spend most of the day cutting, sawing, and dragging home his load. At the same time, many of the prisoners and soldiers were sick. The far-ranging Navajos had never lived in such a small area. Germs quickly passed |