In the 1860s, American settlers decided they needed more land. Many treaties were signed with the Navajo but as they weren't respected, raids were organized and atrocities were committed by both the army and the Navajo.
A campaign against the Navajo was launched in 1863. They were attacked in Canyon de Chelly, their hogans were burnt. Their sheep and cattle were slaughtered, and about two million pounds of corn burnt. Families attempted to hide in caves in the canyon walls, but were hunted and put under armed guard. After many months of imprisonment, about 8,000 men, women and children were forced to make a 300-mile march, remembered as "the Long Walk", across New Mexico to a dry desolate strip of land known as Bosque Redondo. Without their land and their corn, the people were in a state of desperation, made worse by disease and starvation. They were wasting away. During their imprisonment, the Navajo lost about 25% of their people.
