Chuska Mountains - Reservation

Reservation

Much of the range is Navajo Nation Forest, and ponderosa pine, spruce, and fir are among the important tree varieties. Trees there were cut and transported more than 75 km (about 50 miles) to the east to construct pueblos in Chaco Culture National Historical Park in the San Juan Basin as early as 974 A.D. Following a period of contentious debate, logging in the Chuskas was suspended in 1994. There has been discussion among the tribal government about resuming logging at some future time.

The forests of the Chuska Mountains and of the Defiance Uplift receive higher rainfall than the surrounding lowlands, and these highlands typically receive regular winter snowfall. Runoff from snowmelt and seasonal thunderstorms along the crest of the Chuskas generates more than half the surface water of the Navajo Nation. Canyons of Canyon de Chelly National Monument were cut by streams with headwaters in the Chuskas.

The Chuska Mountains are sparsely populated. Nearby settlements are small, and they include Crystal, New Mexico and Lukachukai, Arizona to the west and Toadlena, New Mexico to the east. Trading posts at Crystal and at Two Grey Hills (about 10 km east of Toadlena), are associated with distinctive patterns used in Navajo rugs. A paved road, New Mexico Highway 134, crosses the range through Narbona Pass. Narbona Pass was originally called Beesh Lichii'l Bigiizh, or Copper Pass, and was the location where Navajo warriors led by Narbona decisively defeated a Mexican slaving expedition under Captain Blas de Hinojos. Later it was renamed Washington Pass, after Colonel John M. Washington, who commanded a military expedition against the Navajo. Narbona was a Navajo headman killed in an encounter with Washington's troops in 1849.