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Show NAVAJO COUNTRY REBORN 155 way out they passed near our camp. In the morning I saw more tracks in the snow and followed them. Near what you call the Mittens in Monument Valley I found one of the bodies, with some small sacks of silver. The two men had been killed by the Utes, and some of the Utes were still there, dividing up this stuff. They said they had asked the men for tobacco, and when the prospectors claimed they had none, killed them and took their stuff. My father and his people have often been blamed for these killings, but it is not true. He had nothing to do with it. I have killed many men, but I did not kill these two. As Haashkeneinii Biye' said, his clan was blamed. Mitchell was furious and called for the army. But when troops looked into the matter, the Navajos were largely cleared of the charges. Mitchell made peace with his neighbors, and the Navajos even swore to defend him against Ute and Paiute attacks. Three years later, though, in 1884, another shooting angered the San Juan settlers. Haashkeneinii also played a part in this second, more famous killing. Since rumors about the old chiefs "Pishlaki" silver mine had leaked out after the Long Walk, white miners like Mitchell and Merrick had been searching Monument Valley for precious metal. These searches worried the headman and his clan, who knew that a rush would follow if a wealthy mine were found. That spring a pair of miners, Samuel Walcott and James McNally, bought supplies at Mitchell's store and left to prospect in Monument Valley. Like Mitchell and Merrick, they lost their lives on the trail. In this case, though, the details of their death were learned. Haashkeneinii and his son were accused, and the old headman himself went to jail. Though all reports never exactly agreed, Haashkeneinii Biye' probably struck the blow that killed the first man and set the whole affair in motion. He was riding near Chaistla Butte with his wife and some friends when he saw two Americans on the trail. With Biliiligaii, he rode up to the old man, Walcott, and his young partner, McNally. They greeted each other, and, before camping for the night, the Americans arranged to buy some mutton. The Navajos came back to the camp the next morning, made the trade, and sat nearby while the miners drank their coffee. McNally then went in search of their horses. Walcott took out a pair of binoculars and let Haashkeneinii Biye' look through them. |
