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Show THE COMING OF THE WHITEMEN 117 Before their orders could be put into effect, the truce period neared its end. The Navajos did not want to go to Albuquerque to sign a final peace, so Bonneville and Collins went to Fort Defiance for the talks. The treaty was concluded on December 25, 1858. The Navajos' eastern limit was pushed farther west, to a line running from the head of the Zuni River to Bear Springs, and then to Chaco Canyon, along which it moved to the San Juan River. The Navajos had to make payment for all raids made during the war. They had to agree to be responsible as a tribe for any future raids. They promised to return all captives, to allow army patrols in their country, and to offer no shelter to the man who had killed Major Brooks' slave. Herrero was chosen as "head chief." Agent Yost claimed that the treaty took much of the Navajos' best farming and grazing land. It might, he said, force them into the cycle of raiding again. But Collins was critical of Yost's presence at the McLane battle, his failure to use his power to prevent war, his failure to work with the army, and his role in the early truce. Agent Yost was soon out of a job. During the next years, one agent after another followed him. None was able to work out good relations with the Navajos. The war had turned all of the peoples of New Mexico against the Navajos again. The Navajos began to see that no treaties could prevent some small act from starting the war again. Enemies surrounded them. Among the most serious foes were the Utes. In March 1859, Superintendent Collins tried to arrange a peace between the Utes and Navajos. But he failed. The hostile feelings between the two tribes ran too deep. The Navajos could not comply with the strict terms of the latest treaty. Raiding went on, and Collins insisted on stronger enforcement of the treaty. Colonel Bonneville, hoping to avoid a new war, sent a scouting patrol through Navajo country to impress the Indians with the army's power. Many men in the army thought that the New Mexicans overstated their losses. Colonel Bonneville noted that a new campaign would only force the Navajos to depend all the more on raiding. Only a few, he pointed out, engaged in this practice during normal times. A new agent, Silas Kendrick, met with the Navajos in September. He set a thirty-day deadline for them to make payment for their raids. The Navajos turned in some stock during October, but they continued to protest. They had been treated unfairly, |
