Manuelito Area

The pueblos the panel dates nearly became a national monument. An amateur photographer from Fort Defiance, Decatur Vandevanter, reported the ruins in the 1930s; the Park Service recommended a monument in 1938, and money followed to buy land for about 30,000 acres, but owners refused to sell and the plan stalled. In 1964 the canyon became the Manuelito Complex, a National Historic Landmark of some 6,560 acres, its locations kept restricted. The name it carries belongs to Hastiin Chʼil Haajiní, the leader the Spanish and Americans called Manuelito.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Manuelito Area This area contained many Indian pueblos dating from about A.D. 500 to 1325, when it was aban- doned. Navajos settled here by 1800. This was the home of Manuelito, one of the last of the chiefs to surrender for confinement at the Bosque Redondo Reservation near Fort Sumner. The Navajos returned here in 1868.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Window Rock — 19 mi
  Tségháhoodzání — the sacred arch, and the capital of the Diné

More markers nearby

• Emma Estrada (1933-1997) / Parteras of New Mexico — 18 mi
• About the Navajo Code Talkers — 20 mi
• Navajo Warrior Memorial — 20 mi
• Gallup — 21 mi