The Apache Indians

When General Nelson A. Miles relieved Crook, April 12, 1886, there were still at large thirty-six Chiricahua hostiles seventeen men, including Geronimo and Nachez, and nineteen women and children. In addition to this murderous band, led by Geronimo and Nachez, Mangus was still somewhere in the Sierra Madre with a party of eleven men, women, and children. He had, however, cut himself off from all contact with the other renegades in August, 1885; and, so far as was known, had committed no depredations since that time. On the other hand, of the five hundred and twelve Chiricahua and Warm Spring … Read more

The first Americans who encountered the Apaches were soldiers and trappers. These first contacts were casual or accidental and happened in Mexican territory. The earliest report concerning this tribe from an American pen is that of Zebulon M. Pike, written in 1807, during his extended explorations in the unknown Southwest. Either purposely or “through an unintentional aberration from his prescribed route” he found himself (and was found by the Government of New Mexico) in Spanish territory. From Santa Fe he was sent under military escort to Chihuahua, Mexico, there to give an account of himself to the Commandant-General. It was … Read more

The local group was an ideal unit for any cooperative activity. So small that it could be instantly mobilized, and not too large to move rapidly and with perfect coordination, it constituted the nerve center for raiding and warfare. The closeness of families together permitted the maximum of social enjoyment, also; and while each family was economically independent of every other family, there were cooperative advantages that came to all from their proximity to each other. When the time came to lay in a supply of piñon nuts, or to gather and roast mescal, the women of half a dozen … Read more

Sowing the Wind

Carleton had done his best to conquer and control the Apaches, but had failed after all. It is natural that an enlightened American who coolly reads today the events of the past should suppose that with the close of the Civil War our Government would have turned its attention seriously to the solution of the Apache problem in the Southwest. But it did not do this. There were pressing and clamorous postwar issues that absorbed the attention of populace and officers of government alike. New Mexico and Arizona were very remote; the white population scant; and knowledge of the condition … Read more

For several years the Indian Bureau had been sowing the wind; now it was harvest time and it was to reap the whirlwind. In his annual reports Agent John P. Clum smugly implies that the transfers, one after another, of Indians from Camp Verde, Camp Apache, the Chiricahua Reservation, and Ojo Caliente, and their concentration on the San Carlos Reservation were successful and satisfactory. It was in reality far otherwise. In every instance the removal of the Indians was a breach of good faith on the part of the Government, was contrary to the best judgment of Army officers in … Read more

The author of this volume has no desire to put on a wise look or to ape the manner of erudite scholars. He prefers, rather, to come to grips at once with the subject that interests him–the Apache Indians. The fact is, no scholar has been able to trace satisfactorily the exact origins of this spectacular people or to say just when they made their appearance in the Southwest as a distinct nation. Concerning one simple fact all ethnologists agree: the Apache belongs to the Athapascan family, the most widely scattered of all North American Indian linguistic families. In remote … Read more

In the night West was aroused from sleep and informed that Mangas Coloradas had attempted to escape and had been shot dead by the guards. The accounts of the capture and execution of this famous Apache are confusing and contradictory. More than one soldier who was present at the time has left on record the assertion that the captive was tormented and enraged beyond endurance, and when forced to angry complaint, was shot. I give West’s own account of the event. He says that he investigated the death of Mangas Coloradas at once and found that he had made three … Read more

“‘I came with the hope of making peace between you and the citizens, and of thus saving life and property.’” Cochise replied: “‘I am as much in favor of peace as anybody. I have not been out to do mischief for the past year. But I am poor; my horses are poor and few in number. I could have taken more on the Tucson road, but have not done it. I have twelve captains out in different directions who have been instructed to go and get their living.’” Howard then said: “‘I should like to make a common reservation on … Read more

During the march toward the border Miles himself was on the anxious seat. Much was expected of him. He had promised much. Yet for four months his army of five thousand men had been employed against these thirty-eight Chiricahuas. His troops had suffered serious fatalities and casualties, yet not a single renegade had been killed or captured. Now they were coming to surrender to him. Would they hold fast to their intention? And would they yield on terms that matched his promises to the public and that fulfilled the requirements laid upon him by the President and the commanding General … Read more