Editing Fort Defiance, Arizona

{{Short description|CDP in Apache County, Arizona}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Fort Defiance, Arizona
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place]]
|image_skyline            = Fort defiance, arizona.jpg
|image_caption            = Fort Defiance, New Mexico (now Arizona) by [[Seth Eastman]] (1808–1875), painted 1873
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_seal               = 
|image_map                = Apache_County_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Fort_Defiance_highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Apache County]] and the state of [[Arizona]]
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             = 
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Arizona|County]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_name1        = [[Arizona]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Apache County, Arizona|Apache]]
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_date         = 
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 16.60
|area_total_sq_mi         = 6.41
|area_land_km2            = 16.60
|area_land_sq_mi          = 6.41
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
|elevation_ft             = 6798
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 3541
|population_metro         = 
|population_density_km2   = 213.36
|population_density_sq_mi = 552.59
|timezone                 = [[Mountain Standard Time Zone|MST]]
|utc_offset               = -7
|coordinates              = {{coord|35|44|51|N|109|04|07|W|region:US_type:city_source:GNIS|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 86504
|area_code                = [[Area code 928|928]]
|area_code_type           = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 04-24460
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2408236<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2408236}}</ref>
|footnotes                = 
|website                  = 
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_04.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>
}}

'''Fort Defiance''' ({{langx|nv|{{spell-nv|Tséhootsooí}}}} {{IPA|nv|tsʰéhòːtsʰòː.í|}}) is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in [[Apache County, Arizona|Apache County]], [[Arizona]], United States. It is also located within the [[Navajo Nation]]. The population was 3,624 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]].<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0424460| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212175259/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0424460| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fort Defiance CDP, Arizona| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=April 18, 2013}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society V - Fig. 3. Jake the Silversmith.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|Navajo silversmith Náltsos Nigéhani, or Paper-carrier, also known as Jake, employed as a mail-carrier between [[Fort Wingate]] and Fort Defiance.<ref>{{cite web | title=Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society V | website=Wikisource | date=April 7, 2022 | url=https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=File:Memoirs_of_the_American_Folk-Lore_Society_V.djvu&page=23 | access-date=April 8, 2022}}</ref>]]
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 [[Canyon de Chelly]].<ref name="Granger1960">{{cite book| author=Byrd H. Granger| title=Arizona Place Names| url=https://archive.org/details/arizonaplacename00barn| url-access=registration|access-date=November 20, 2011| year=1960| publisher=University of Arizona Press| page=[https://archive.org/details/arizonaplacename00barn/page/10 10]}}</ref> Fort Defiance was established on September 18, 1851, by Col. [[Edwin V. Sumner]] to create a military presence in [[Navajo Nation|Diné bikéyah]] (Navajo territory). Sumner broke up the fort at [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] for this purpose, creating the first military post in what is now [[Arizona]].<ref name="Granger1960"/> He left Major Electus Backus in charge.<ref name="Granger1960"/>

Fort Defiance was built on valuable grazing land that the federal government then prohibited the [[Navajo people|Navajo]] from using. As a result, the appropriately named fort experienced intense fighting, culminating in two attacks: in 1856 and [[Second Battle of Fort Defiance|1860]]. The next year, at the onset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the army abandoned Fort Defiance. Continued Navajo raids in the area led [[Brigadier General]] [[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 the Navajo|Long Walk]] of {{convert|450|mi}} 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.
[[File:Navajofamilya.jpg|upright|thumb|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]]<ref>{{GNIS 2|1675454|Defiance Plateau}}</ref> approximately {{convert|4|mi|0}} north of [[Window Rock, Arizona|Window Rock]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|15.8|km2|disp=flip}}, all  land.<ref name="Census 2010"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=left
|2020= 3541
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2016}}</ref>
}}
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! Languages (2000) <ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results|title=Data Center Results|website=apps.mla.org|access-date=April 20, 2018}}</ref> !! Percent
|-
| Spoke [[Navajo language|Navajo]] at home || 54.6%
|-
| Spoke [[English language|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.<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>  The population density was {{convert|669.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 1,321 housing units at an average density of {{convert|217.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.9% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 4.5% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 0.3% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.2% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], <0.1% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.2% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.9% from two or more races.  1.4% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|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 [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $10,716.  About 27.9% of families and 29.5% of the population were below 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/sch_dist/st04_az/c04001_apache/DC10SD_C04001_000.pdf|title=School District Reference Map (2010 Census): Apache County, AZ|work=[[2010 U.S. Census]]|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 8, 2020}} – WRUSD is depicted on pages [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/sch_dist/st04_az/c04001_apache/DC10SD_C04001_001.pdf 1] and [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/sch_dist/st04_az/c04001_apache/DC10SD_C04001_002.pdf 2].</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=TSÉHOOTSOOÍ DINÉ BI'ÓLTA' NAVAJO IMMERSION SCHOOL|url=http://ourmothertongues.org/language/Navajo/8|access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|22em}}

==Further reading==
* Clayton R. Newell, "Fort Defiance, Arizona." ''On Point: Journal of Army History'', (June 2008) 14#1 pp.&nbsp;44–47

==External links==
{{commons category|Fort Defiance, Arizona}}
* [https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_33_00011.htm Parts adapted from U.S. Senate website, product of the U.S. government]
* {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}
* {{GNIS|4747|Fort Defiance (populated place)}}<!-- slightly different coords -->

{{Apache County, Arizona}}
{{Communities of the Navajo Nation}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Apache County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Arizona]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1851]]
[[Category:Forts in Arizona|Defiance]]
[[Category:American Civil War forts|Defiance]]
[[Category:Arizona in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Arizona]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Navajo Nation]]
[[Category:1851 establishments in New Mexico Territory]]