genial james carlton has decided to stop the indian warfare in new mexico by having kit carson force the entire navajo nation on to the reservation. through a devastating scorched earth campaign the navajos have starved into submission and relocation begins. history refers to this as the long walk. and it was similar to a lot of ornate tive removals because it was a hard journey full of disease and danger. in all, 9,000 malnourished and sick men, women and children are forced to leave their homes and march 3, 00 miles in the bitter co 300 miles in the b cold. nearly 300 die during the trip and more perish once they arrive. to this day the navajo have
reservations. carson is in a real predicament here. to refuse a commanding officer is insubordination and carson always follows orders. yet to carry out these atrocities would violate his sense of decency. this is a classic question for soldiers historically and still today, when must a soldier disobey a command because it s unjust? carson actually tried to resign at one point. he said, i joined the union army to fight texans in the civil war, not indians. but carleton had other ideas for him. in the end, carson agrees to head up the campaign. for kit, it s the lessor of two evils. it is going to happen so it s better me than someone who doesn t care. and i can handle it in a way to maybe minimize suffering.
the civil war as begun and the western territories are caught up in the struggle. kit carson joins the yankee fight. as colonel of the first new mexico volunteers and helps fend off the texas confederates. with the rebel threat largely contained, commanding officer general james carlton decides to go after them while the union army was preoccupied. these navajo savages, they are far past the point of talking to. they need to be whipped and they need to fear us.