ACROSS THE NAVAJO DESERT 37 



raising and agriculture to use it; for with In 

 dians and white men alike it is use which should 

 determine occupancy of the soil. The Navajos 

 have made progress of a real type, and stand 

 far above mere savagery ; and everything possi 

 ble should be done to help them help them 

 selves, to teach them English, and, above all, 

 to teach them how to be better stock-raisers 

 and food-growers as well as smiths and 

 weavers in their desert home. The whites 

 have treated these Indians well. They bene 

 fited by the coming of the Spaniards; they have 

 benefited more by the coming of our own people. 

 For the last quarter of a century the lawless 

 individuals among them have done much more 

 wrong (including murder) to the whites than has 

 been done to them by lawless whites. The law 

 less Indians are the worst menace to the others 

 among the Navajos and Utes; and very serious 

 harm has been done by well-meaning Eastern 

 philanthropists who have encouraged and pro 

 tected these criminals. I have known some 

 startling cases of this kind. 



During the second day of our southward 

 journey the Painted Desert, in gaudy desola 

 tion, lay far to our right; and we crossed tongues 

 and patches of the queer formation, with its 

 hard, bright colors. Red and purple, green 



