Fort Defiance, Arizona

Coordinates: 35°44′51″N 109°04′07″W / 35.74750°N 109.06861°W / 35.74750; -109.06861
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Fort Defiance, Arizona
FIPS code
04-24460
GNIS feature ID2408236[2]

Fort Defiance (

2010 census.[3]

History

The land on which Fort Defiance was eventually established was first noted by the U.S. military when Colonel John Washington stopped there on his return journey from an expedition to

Edwin V. Sumner to create a military presence in Diné bikéyah (Navajo territory). Sumner broke up the fort at Santa Fe for this purpose, creating the first military post in what is now Arizona.[4] He left Major Electus Backus in charge.[4]

Fort Defiance was built on valuable grazing land that the federal government then prohibited the

James H. Carleton to send Kit Carson to impose order. The fort was reestablished as Fort Canby in 1863 as a base for Carson's operations against the Navajo. General Carleton's "solution" was brutal: thousands of starving Navajo were forced on a Long Walk of 450 miles (720 km) and interned near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and much of their livestock was destroyed. Following completion of this campaign in 1864 the fort was again abandoned and was burned by remaining Navajo, with only its walls remaining. The Navajo Treaty of 1868
allowed those interned to return to a portion of their land, and Fort Defiance was reestablished as an Indian agency that year. In 1870, the first government school for the Navajo was established there.

Navajo family with loom. Near Old Fort Defiance, New Mexico. Albumen print photograph, 1873.

Today, the site of Fort Defiance is populated by buildings dating from the 1930s to the present day used by various governmental agencies including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, and the Navajo Nation. The largest of these buildings was the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital until 2002.

Geography

Fort Defiance is located on the Defiance Plateau[5] approximately 4 miles (6 km) north of Window Rock.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 km2), all land.[3]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
20203,541—
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
Languages (2000) [7] Percent
Spoke Navajo at home 54.6%
Spoke English at home 45.4%

As of the 2000 census, there were 4,061 people, 1,115 households, and 890 families residing in the CDP.

Latino
of any race.

There were 1,115 households, out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 30.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.61 and the average family size was 4.15.

In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 40.0% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 4.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,125, and the median income for a family was $35,448. Males had a median income of $35,455 versus $24,522 for females. The

poverty line
, including 35.0% of those under age 18 and 32.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Fort Defiance is a part of Window Rock Unified School District.[9] Fort Defiance is served by Window Rock Elementary School, Tséhootsooí Middle School, and Window Rock High School.

The Navajo Nation operates Tséhootsooí Diné Bi'Ólta', a Navajo language immersion school for grades K–8 in Fort Defiance, Arizona. Located on the Arizona-New Mexico border in the southeastern quarter of the Navajo Reservation, the school strives to revitalize Navajo among children of the Window Rock Unified School District. Tséhootsooí Diné Bi'ólta' has thirteen Navajo language teachers who instruct only in the Navajo language, and no English, while five English language teachers instruct in the English language. Kindergarten and first grade are taught completely in the Navajo language, while English is incorporated into the program during third grade, when it is used for about 10% of instruction.[10]

Gallery

  • A Navajo silversmith, known as Jake among the whites, but called by the Navahoes Náltsos Nigéhani, or Paper-carrier, because in his youth he was employed as a mail-carrier between Fort Wingate and Fort Defiance.[11]
    A Navajo silversmith, known as Jake among the whites, but called by the Navahoes Náltsos Nigéhani, or Paper-carrier, because in his youth he was employed as a mail-carrier between Fort Wingate and Fort Defiance.[11]

References

  1. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fort Defiance, Arizona
  3. ^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fort Defiance CDP, Arizona". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Byrd H. Granger (1960). Arizona Place Names. University of Arizona Press. p. 10. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  5. ^ Defiance Plateau
  6. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "Data Center Results". apps.mla.org. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  8. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  9. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 8, 2020. – WRUSD is depicted on pages 1 and 2
    .
  10. ^ "TSÉHOOTSOOÍ DINÉ BI'ÓLTA' NAVAJO IMMERSION SCHOOL". Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society V". Wikisource. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

Further reading

  • Clayton R. Newell, "Fort Defiance, Arizona." On Point: Journal of Army History, (June 2008) 14#1 pp. 44–47

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Defiance, Arizona.
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