The Navajos in 1705: Roque Madrid's Campaign Journal

This long-lost journal, now available in paperback, gives a unique look into the old Navajo country. Recently rediscovered, it is both the earliest and only extensive eyewitness account of the traditional Navajo homeland in the eighteenth century. It reveals new information on Hispanic New Mexico and relations with the Indians. For the first twenty days in August of 1705, Roque Madrid led about 100 Spanish soldiers and citizens together with some 300 Pueblo Indian allies on a 312-mile march in retaliation for Navajo raiding. The bilingual text permits appreciation of the unusually literate and dramatic journal. Historical and archeological data are carefully tapped to retrace the route. "This account sets a new standard for the publication of such documents. . . . I consider it a gem."--David M. Brugge, author of The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute