| OCR Text |
Show THE FEARING L 95 The Navajos agreed to the first demand, but they did not trust Vizcarra. So they asked that the New Mexicans return all of the People. Vizcarra told them he would not surrender captives until all his terms had been met. The Navajos also claimed that they could not afford to repay all of the stolen goods. And they asked for more time to talk over the demands to become Catholic and move to pueblos. Vizcarra gave them four months to discuss the matter among themselves. Vizcarra did not expect the Navajos to agree to the treaty. He only needed an excuse for his so-called war, which was actually little more than a large slave-raid. While the Navajos talked over his terms, he drew up a plan for war and decided how to divide the plunder. Even before the time had run out, he ordered his soldiers to move. When the Navajos did not respond at the end of the given time, Vizcarra's campaign began. From July to October, the New Mexican soldiers marched through Navajo country. They reached as far as the junction of the San Juan and Colorado rivers and the Hopi town of Oraibi. Most of the Navajos avoided the invaders, for their homelands gave them many hiding places. But many of the People died, and still others were captured. In October a government committee met to discuss the need for war. Instead they decided to seek peace. But they chose Vizcarra to lead the peace talks. Though other New Mexicans did not agree with Vizcarra's ideas about the way the Navajos should be treated, reports that some forty-six Americans were visiting the Navajos and giving them firearms helped Vizcarra keep the war from ending for a time. By January 1824, though, the efforts of Navajo leaders such as Cayetano and Chato to restore peace had paid off. New peace talks were held at Jemez. A treaty, whose terms are unknown, was signed in June. It brought at least a short-term peace. But peace could not last long while New Mexican slavers failed to honor any agreements. Their forays always led to Navajo revenge. During the Mexican era, the cycle of mutual raiding by New Mexicans and Navajos often seemed a permanent part of life on the frontier. At times the Navajos seemed to be doing better than their enemies. The settled, poorly-guarded New Mexicans were always open to bold, lightning-fast raids. In contrast, the Navajos lived in small camps across a vast country about which the New Mexicans knew little. This land had many hiding places on |
