Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial
A Powerful Acknowledgement of the Colonization of the American West

The Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site delivers visitors into the heart of history and tragedy.
Manifest Destiny, the doctrine that a dominant culture has the God-given right to spread, regardless of preceding cultures, steered American policies in the 1860s. In New Mexico, such policies were directed against the Navajo and Mescalero Apache peoples.
In 1863, some 10,000 Navajos were forced to make the “Long Walk,” 450 miles across New Mexico to the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation, or H’weeldi, meaning place of suffering. Hundreds of Mescalero Apaches were also interned there. The Navajos lost 20 percent of the tribe due to the insufferable conditions.
Determined a failure in 1868, the reservation closed. It was here that the Navajo Treaty was signed on June 1 of 1868, creating a sovereign Navajo Nation. An audio tour and signed trail guide visitors between the memorial and Fort Sumner.
New Mexico CulturePass
Your ticket to New Mexico's exceptional Museums and Historic Sites.
From Indian treasures to space exploration, world-class folk art to awesome dinosaurs—our museums and monuments celebrate the essence of New Mexico every day.
More Info »

Featured DCA Exhibitions

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond
Multiple Visions: A Common Bond has been the destination for well over a million first-time and repeat visitors to the
more »

Sewing Stories of Displacement
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, moments of violence, political upheaval, and natural
more »

John P. Stapp Air & Space Park
Named after International Space Hall of Fame Inductee and aeromedical pioneer Dr. John P. Stapp, the Air and Space Park
more »

Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico
The exhibition Música Buena: The exhibition will focus on the rich history of traditional Hispano music from the
more »