70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



following, Governor Merri wether revised his earlier estimate down- 

 ward, reporting as follows : ^^ 



A more intimate knowledge of the Indians of this territory induces me to 

 correct the estimate of their numbers, contained in my last annual report ; . . . . 

 The Navajoes I would estimate at 1,500 warriors and 7,500 souls. 



Tlie few remaining estimates of Navaho population made in this 

 period are chiefly noteworthy as reflections of the growing concern and 

 respect of the American authorities for the warrior strength of the 

 Navaho. The annual report of 1857 gave their number as between 

 nine and twelve thousand, including two to three thousand warriors. 

 By 1859, the estimate of their population had risen to twelve to fifteen 

 thousand (Collins, 1858; Baker, 1860). 



The last report of this period was submitted in 1861 by the then 

 Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the Territory of New Mexico, 

 J. L. Collins. Although it contained no population figures, this 

 report is noteworthy for its reference to the serious impact of the grow- 

 ing hostility between the Navaho and the American and other settlers 

 in the area, together with the more traditional enemies of the Navaho. 

 The Navaho, according to Collins, suffered severe losses of life and 

 property, and still more in the loss of women and children made cap- 

 tives at this time." In a separate document (No. 88) contained in the 

 annual report of 1861, the Navaho population was estimated at 9,000, 

 which would indeed represent a drastic decline from the totals given 

 for 1857 and 1859, as quoted above. However, it must be emphasized 

 that the very speculative nature of all the above estimates does not 

 warrant any specific conclusions in regard to the actual trend of the 

 Navaho population at this time. 



The question of the number of Navahos taken captive by Mexicans 

 and others during this period is significant for its bearing on estimates 

 of the total Navaho population immediately following the Sumner 

 captivity. The largest estimate of the number of such captives is that 

 of Dr. Louis Kennon, who expressed the opinion that five or six thou- 

 sand Navahos were held in slavery both by American and Mexican 

 settlers in the area at that time. Writing in 1865, Kennon (Young, 

 1957, p. 217) reported : 



^" Merriwether, 1856. Although Merriwether's estimate is about 50 percent above 

 Calhoun's, they were agreed with respect to the area occupied by the Navaho at that 

 time. Calhoun reported that the Navaho claimed the territory from about latitude 35- 

 38° N. and from longitude 29-33° W. (west of Washington, D.C.). This area would 

 correspond in size to the 25,000 square miles reported by Merriwether. 



" Collins, 1862, p. 124. The particular conflict referred to in this report occurred in 

 1860, when a punitive expedition composed of regular U.S. soldiers, Mexican volunteers, 

 and Pueblo and Utah Indians invaded Navaho country under the command of Colonel 

 Canby. Many of the volunteers in this group appear to have been motivated as much 

 by prospects of plunder as by a desire for revenge. The report of 1866 refers to the 

 common practice among these volunteers of retaining captive Navaho women and chil- 

 dren as slaves, to be sold to private individuals away from the Navaho area. Graves 

 (1867) requested the intervention of Congress to put a stop to this practice. 



