Fortress Defiance was set up on September 18, 1851 lead by Edwin V. Sumner to make a military nearness in Diné bikéyah. Sumner separated the stronghold at Santa Fe for this reason, making the principal military post in what is presently Arizona. He cleared out Major Electus Backus in control.
There were 10 years of attacks and reprisals. In 1860 about 1,000 warriors attacked the fort. The soldiers responded by killing livestock and burning crops, starvation a real possibility. In 1861 the government promised rations and both soldiers and Navajo celebrated the treaty with horse racing. Unfortunately, at the end of the race an army soldier accused of cheating was declared the winner. The Navajo were outraged and a battle ensued where 30 Navajo were killed.
Lincoln's blueprint for Reconstruction included the Ten-Percent Plan,which specified that a southern state could be readmitted into the Union once 10 percent of its voters (from the voter rolls for the election of 1860) swore an oath of allegiance to the Union. ... Lincoln wanted to end the war quickly.
