Question

Describe conditions at Bosque Redondo.

Answer 1

Like some internment camps involving several tribes, the Bosque Redondo had serious problems. About 400 Mescalero Apaches were placed there before the Navajos. The Mescaleros and the Navajo had a long tradition of raiding each other; the two tribes had many disputes during their encampment. Furthermore, the initial plan was for around 5,000 people, certainly not 10,000 men, women, and children. Water and firewood were major issues from the start; the water was brackish and the round grove of trees was quite small. Nature and humans both caused crop failures every year. The corn crop was infested with army worms and failed repeatedly. The Pecos River flooded and washed out the head gates the irrigation system. The Navajo began leaving and the remaining refused to plant a crop. The non-Indian settlers also suffered as they were also trying to feed their starving people on the Bosque Redondo. There was inept management of supplies purchased for the reservation and it cost the army as much as $1.5 million a year to feed the Indians.