Johnston] NAVAHO POPULATION 77 



at Fort Defiance were enumerated by methods closely similar to those 

 employed at Fort Sumner. The destitute condition of nearly all of the 

 returnees forced the military authorities at Fort Defiance to continue 

 the rationing system that had been employed at Fort Sumner. By 

 the same token, it can safely be presumed that the vast majority of 

 returning Navahos were forced, at least initially, to remain in the 

 vicinity of Fort Defiance so as to be able to proceed to that point 

 periodically for their essential rations and other supplies. 



Under these circumstances, it is probable that the enumerations 

 which took place in connection with the issuance of rations and other 

 supplies were as complete as any of those occurring at Fort Sumner. 

 The specific dates on which supplies were to be issued were widely 

 amiomiced in advance, permitting all but the most widely scattered 

 Navaho groups to congregate at Fort Defiance. In addition to food, 

 over 30,000 head of sheep and goats and small amounts of farm imple- 

 ments and other tools were issued to the Navahos at this time. It is 

 unlikely that many Navahos failed to avail themselves of the oppor- 

 tunities afl'ordecl by these periodic distributions. 



The first official report after the departure of the Navahos from 

 Fort Sumner has tiieir number as "about 8,000 . . . including several 

 hundred that were never captured and placed at Fort Sumner." ^^ 

 This supports the view^ that some, at least, of the uncaptured Navahos 

 were also motivated to make their appearance at Fort Defiance to 

 receive a share of the available supplies. 



The enumeration which was carried out in 1869 confirmed the above 

 estimate of the size of the total Navaho population at this time. In 

 his report of this enumeration which he had personally conducted, 

 Captain Bennett (1870, p. 237) stated: 



My first count, on October 2, was 6,954 ; my second count, on October 18, was 

 1,227 ; making a total of 8,181, as follows : 2,474 men, 2,9G5 women, 2,742 children. 

 It was a very full count [it being announced that annuity goods would be dis- 

 tributed on October 2], Indians coming here from all parts, some 250 from 

 Cibaletta [Cebolla], and 200 from Cubero, and some from Mesa Calabasa .... 

 I am of the opinion that ... a few drew twice, but they were all vouched for 

 by the 12 principal chiefs. 



Despite Bennett's claim regarding the completeness of his 1869 

 count, the report of the following year again suggests the inherent 

 limitations of any attempt to enumerate an entire population by 

 assembling that population at any single location. In the 1870 report, 



^ Davis, 1869. The number of Navahos stiU at Fort Sumnei- at the signing of the peace 

 treaty may not have exceeded 7,000, since they had been leaving the fort in increasing 

 numbers throujjhout the last year of their exile. In addition, some Navaho groups did not 

 complete the return journey to their former lands, but instead settled at a number of 

 localities along the way; notably at Ramah, Cabolleta (Cebolla), and Cubero. Thus, the 

 estimate of 8,000 Navahos returned to their former reservation would appear to include 

 much more than the "several hundred" who were reported to have avoided capture. See 

 Underbill, 1956, p. 147, 



