Young Man
Manuelito's rise as a
strong powerful leader
Manuelito was a strong leader when he found out his
people were forced to walk to Fort Sumner. At the time he was
ill
and couldn't really do anything. After a month, he got
better and he and a small band of Navajos went to the army. Then he arrives
at Fort
Sumner with that small band of Navajos and he sees his people sick and cold.
Elders and kids were not sleeping because they were cold and
hungry.
The next day Manuelito and some men went hunting for their
people. They
needed to travel twenty-five miles just to go hunting for food. It was
not safe
to go hunting because Pueblos and Apaches would be waiting to attack or kill them. One
day, Manuelito thought that they were never going to see their home land
again. Then finally on June 1, 1868, there was a Treaty signed by
Baroncito, Armjio, Delgado, Manuelito, and twenty-five more Native leaders.
The US Military counted 7,304 Navajos when they were first
going to
Fort Sumner. When the Navajos were leaving the fort there were only about
1,500 Navajos. Many got captured or they died. After returning to their
home land everybody was crying because they never thought that they
were never going to see their homeland again. After getting back home
Manuelito had no food or anything. Kids were dying because of
starvation. Manuelito spent his last ten years unhappy. Manuelito became
very ill at seventy-five years old and died in 1893. Manuelito became a strong leader, he never had given up when it
came to his people.
