Navaho Expedition: Journal of a Military Reconnaissance from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Navajo Country, Made in 1849

In 1849, the Corps of Topographical Engineers commissioned Lieutenant James H. Simpson to undertake the first survey of Navaho country in present-day New Mexico. Accompanying Simpson was a military force commanded by Colonel John M. Washington, sent to negotiate peace with the Navaho Indians. A keen observer, Simpson kept a journal that provided valuable information on the party's interactions with Indians and also about the land's features, including important pueblo ruins at Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. His careful observations informed subsequent military expeditions, emigrant trains, the selection of Indian reservations, and the charting of a transcontinental railroad.

Editor Frank McNitt discusses the expedition's lasting importance to the development of the West, and his research is enriched by illustrations and maps by artists Richard and Edward Kern. Military historian Durwood Ball contributes a new foreword.

Author: James H. Simpson
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Published: 03/12/2021
Pages: 398
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.17lbs
Size: 8.98h x 5.94w x 0.86d
ISBN: 9780806135700

About the Author
Simpson, James H.: -

James H. Simpson, a first lieutenant during the 1849 survey, was promoted to a brigadier general and named chief engineer of the Interior Department.

McNitt, Frank: - Frank McNitt was a leading authority on southwestern history.