Bosque Redondo: Carleton's Failed "Experiment"

This unit is a inclusive lesson beginning with the war against the Navajo and Mescalero Apache, forced marches to Fort Sumner, what life was like on the reservation and how the reservation finally ended.  The unit includes source materials, lesson plans, additional materails and background for the students.  This is appropriate for 6th grade and up and the lesson plans include ways to modify the activities for the age of students or for younger students. 

To get the overall history, students can watch the "Long Walk Tears fo the Navajo"  It was origianlly produced by PBS and included here.  It is narrated by Peter Coyote.

The unit is broken into three sections:  

       1. The forced Marches

       2.  Life at the Fort

      3.  Peace

Each unit includes a detailed lesson plan with background information, supplemental materials and activities. 

Forced Marches

Index of materials: Lesson plan, maps (Long walk: 1, Overall map of routes:  2, Next three are the individual maps: 3, 4 and 5, a history overview called "Bosque Redondo" by Neal Ackerly and Oral Stories of the Long Walk.

Life at the Fort

There are five different topics covered in this category.  There is an overall lesson, and then an examination of crops and water, medical treatment, policitcal and rations.

      Index of materials for overall life at the fort: lesson plan, Brief History, Fort Letters, Persona winners from the past, photographers at the fort and Letters assocated with slavery. Included is a lesson on writing.

      Index of materails for crops and water at the fort: Lesson plan and Farm Map.  A break out activity was created recently for this section and can be accessed here. The game will be available May 8, 2020.

      Index of materials for rations at the fort: Lesson plan, Old West Army Cookbook, and powerpoint on rations and food.

      Index of materials for medical treatment at the fort: Lesson plan, glossary of diseases,medical logs for Native Americans (archival copies and transcribed copies), medical logs for the soldiers (archival copies and transcribed copies),  Note: this unit does discuss syphilis.

      Political issues due to the fort: Lesson plan.  This a more advanced lesson.  It examines the opinions and political battles waged primarily between two newspapers in Santa Fe in which one opposed the reservation and the other more pro-Carleton.  Carleton often wrote the articles.  The "slant" of the papers is quite obvious and this lesson explores the rhetorical devices used. 

 Treaty and Peace

Index of materials: Lesson plan, crossword puzzle and answer sheet, Treaties 1846-1868, Peace Treaty (appropriate for younger students), Worksheet for the treaty, various forms of the treaty: reduced copy of the treaty, treaty with summaries, archival copies of two treaties - the treaty held at the Smithsonian or Washington Copy and the other Tappan Copy that was kept by the Peace Commissioner which is currenlty in posession of the Navajo Nation and shared with Bosque Redondo Memorial.