A Navaho chief who led a failed uprising against the U.S. army in the Southwest, Manuelito was one of the final holdouts against the U.S. military’s relocation plan for the Navahos. Instead of leading his followers to Bosque Redondo, the tiny, barren reservation the government had allocated for the Navahos, Manuelito guided his people across the Southwest in a vain but heroic attempt to survive. In the end, however, Manuelito was forced to return to Bosque Redondo, since he was unable to find enough food to feed his people (largely because the U.S. military had destroyed most of the Navaho’s food sources). In this way, Manuelito set a tragic pattern for Native American chiefs of the late 19th century: he held out against U.S. expansion, but ultimately was forced to submit to it.
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Manuelito Character Timeline in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The timeline below shows where the character Manuelito appears in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: The Long Walk of the Navahos
In the late 1850s, Manuelito, a Navaho leader, made a treaty with representatives of the U.S. government. The treaty arranged...
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In early 1860, Manuelito led a raid on U.S. soldiers’ supply trains. In retaliation, U.S. soldiers began to attack...
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In April, Manuelito, one of the last Navaho chiefs to hold out against the U.S. military, met with...
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By February 1865, Manuelito still refused to surrender to Carleton’s troops. The U.S. army arranged for Manuelito to speak...
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Manuelito managed to avoid capture for half a year. During this time, his resistance inspired Navahos...
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Shortly after Manuelito’s surrender, Carleton was relieved of his command and replaced with a new reservation superintendent, A....
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