Description
In 1849, the Corps of Topographical Engineers commissioned Lieutenant James H. Simpson to undertake the primary survey of Navajo country in present-day New Mexico. Accompanying Simpson was once a military force commanded by Colonel John M. Washington, sent to barter peace with the Navajo. A keen observer, Simpson kept a journal that provided valuable information at the birthday celebration’s interactions with Indians and in addition concerning the land’s features, including essential pueblo ruins at Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. His careful observations informed subsequent military expeditions, emigrant trains, the collection of Indian reservations, and the charting of a transcontinental railroad.
Editor Frank McNitt discusses the expedition’s lasting importance to the advance of the West, and his research is enriched by illustrations and maps by artists Richard and Edward Kern. Military historian Durwood Ball contributes a new foreword.