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During the 1860s, the U.S. Army pursued a policy of forced relocation against the Mescalero Apaches and Navajos. The plan was to resettle them on a million-acre tract of land in eastern New Mexico. Fort Sumner was established as the supply and control center for this tract that became known as the infamous Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation.
The U. S. Army sent Colonel Christopher (Kit) Carson to wage war against the Apaches and Navajos. About 450 Mescaleros surrendered in 1862 and were held captive at Fort Sumner until 1865. After a brutal scorched-earth campaign in 1863, approximately 10,000 Navajos surrendered to Carson. He marched them (men, women and children) from their homelands to Fort Sumner, a distance of 500 miles. The story of these events is popularly known as the "Long Walk." About 3,000 people perished because of the U. S. Army's ruthless policy. Some were killed by the soldiers, but most died of disease. The survivors never gave up hope of returning home. After much suffering, the U. S. Army finally realized that the Bosque Redondo experiment was a failure. General W. T. Sherman came to negotiate a resolution. He encouraged the Navajos to move to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but they refused. They insisted on being allowed to return home, and Sherman finally agreed. The Treaty of 1868 put an end to the Bosque Redondo. Fort Sumner was abandoned in 1869. The Bosque Redondo Memorial, an interpretative facility dedicated to the history of the Long Walk, opened to the public on June 4, 2005.
The Memorial is located 3 miles east of the Village of Fort Sumner on Highway 60/84 and 3.5 miles south of Highway 60/84 on Billy the Kid Road. Monument hours are 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday). For further information, call (505) 355-2573 or click here.
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