The Kit Carson Campaign: The Last Great Navajo War

Trafzer presents in precise, authoritative style the Navajos' side of Carson's notorious campaign against the tribe in the 1860s. To say the least, it was a grim affair --- years of ruthless destruction of the Navajo people and their property --- and author Trafzer accordingly presents a detailed account, back up both by an enormous amount of archival research and by oral history provided to him by the Navajos. He argues that it was not Carson but rather General James H. Carleton, commander of the Military Department in New Mexico, who master-minded the campaign; Carson carried out the plan. A definitive study of an important period in western history.

Clifford E. Trafzer is Professor and Chair in the Department of American Indian Studies at San Diego State University. He is the author of several works on Indians and western American history.

Illustrated with more than 65 black-and-white photographs.

Included Bibliography and Index.