Today in history

March 13

1864
The first contingent of 14,030 Navajo reached Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Men, women and children were marched almost 400 miles from northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to Bosque Redondo, a desolate tract on the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico. Traveling in harsh winter conditions for almost two months, about 200 Navajo died of cold and starvation. More died after they arrived at the barren reservation. The forced march, led by Kit Carson became known by the Navajos as the “Long Walk.”

A grueling 400-mile march to imprisonment in a sterile land.

1945

Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace organization was founded in France. From their website: “Pax Christi is a ground up organization – it began with a few committed people who spoke out, prayed and worked for reconciliation at the end of the second world war, and is now active in more than 60 countries and five continents, with more than 60,000 members worldwide.”

1964
Kitty Genovese stabbed to death in Queens, New York while Winston Mosley rapes & fatally stabs her in three separate attacks occurring over a period of more than half an hour. Although 38 people witness some or all of the crime, as Genovese cried for help, no one called for help until she was already dead, 35 minutes after the assault begins.

1968
Clouds of nerve gas drifted outside the Army’s Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, poisoning 6,400 sheep in nearby Skull Valley.