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HERE for Touring Bikes and Commuting Bicycles
Custom Touring Bicycles and Bike Upgrade Buyers Guide
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Phil Wood: The Best Bicycle Hubs
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The
Apache Indians Historical Wars Places Map in Arizona and New Mexico
Geronimo Cochise Victorio
Chiricahua
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|
| The Apache wars were the last "Indian Wars" to be waged by the US
Army. Tragic and interesting at the same time they lasted until the late 1800's and
took place in New Mexico, Arizona, and the Northern Mexican states of Sonora and
Chihuahua. The stories that we read in our books and the places that we visited
where the drama unfolded were better than any fiction tale ever written. I have been interested in Arizona History since I moved
there. Prescott, where we lived, had historic Fort Whipple and the very large and
impressive Sharlot Hall museum. I knew that we were heading to a part of the state
(and Northern Mexico) where a lot of the Apache history played out. I decided to
brush up on the history of the Apache people, the inevitable conflict with the Mexico
and the USA so I got several books on the subject. I read Cochise: The
Life and Times of the Great Apache Chief and The Truth About
Geronimo plus the others you see on this page but the most complete and readable book
I saved to bring with us and be the first book that we read on the road. We read Once They Moved
Like the Wind : Cochise, Geronimo, and the Apache Wars while we were camping in
the same places as the characters of our books did. That really put a context to the
lives that once roamed these lands. This book covers the whole story starting with
Cochise and ending with the full account of Geronimo. It reads like a novel but was
very well researched.
We spent several days backpacking
in the Chiricahua Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona. I chose this place
for our trek because these mountains were known retreats and hiding places for the Apaches
during their long conflict with the American and Mexican armies. There are springs
in these mountains that flow year round, as they have for 100's of years. We
filtered water out of same springs that the nomadic bands of Cochise and Geronimo had
drank from. It was easy to imagine the Apache camps in the alpine meadows and at
the same time, tired and scared soldiers marching up the mountain looking for the various
bands of Apache warriors and their families.
One important account was the famous story that whites refer to as the "Bascom
Affair". This story passed into the Apache verbal tradition and was known
loosely as "cut the tent". This story has been told around campfires for
generations. By either name it marks one of the first conflicts between the Apache
and US troops. If I may over simplify the story I will summarize it here.
A white boy was thought to be kidnapped by Cochise's band of Apaches and the father of
the boy reported this to the US Army. A unit lead by Bascom was sent out to
investigate. He camped his troops near what is now called Apache Pass and sent word
to Cochise that his company was requested for dinner in the officer's tent. It was a
lie that the purpose was merely hospitality but Cochise was unaware of this and brought
several members of his family to Bascom's tent. This trust by Cochise is
understandable because the Apaches had peacefully coexisted with the whites for years and
it is even thought that they befriended and even contracted with the employees of the
Butterfield Stage Line to provide fire wood.
Cochise, by all accounts, was a tall handsome man and led his people through his
physical presence and wisdom arrived in Bascom's tent with his family to "share his
tent." After fine dining (for the field) the conversation turned
confrontational with Bascom accusing Cochise of kidnapping the boy. It was not known
at the time but the boy was kidnapped by a completely different band of Indians than the
ones that Cochise led. Cochise told Bascom that he did not take the boy but if he
had a few days he would try to find out who took him. Bascom assumed that he was
lying and told Cochise that he and his family were to be held hostage until the boy was
returned. Cochise immediately drew a hidden knife and cut through the officers tent
and fled into the night. Despite the large numbers of US soldiers under Bascom's
command Cochise was able to disappear into the darkness while being shot at.
Cochise's warriors were later able to raid and steal a large herd of army mules and seize
a civilian wagon train and take a few hostages of their own. Cochise's hostages were
a handful of white settlers and several Mexicans. Cochise's warriors held the whites
but as for the Mexicans the choice was clear. Because of the Apaches long hatred of
Mexicans, due to the countless cruel acts and wholesale killing of their people, the
Mexicans were immediately tied to the wagon wheels while the wagons where set on
fire. While the Mexican men cried out during their slow death a soon to be famous
warrior was said to take pleasure from poking his lance into the burning Mexicans.
This warrior would be unknown to whites for many years but his (Spanish) name was Geronimo
and he was about 38 years old at the time.
Even though in the following days Cochise pleaded for Bascom to treat his family
members well and trade for the whites that he now held, Bascom would have nothing of
it. Bascom held out for the boy but Cochise had no idea of his whereabouts.
Cochise eventually gave up and had his hostages killed and mutilated. The Apache
were known to do these terrible things in either order. In response the US Army had
the male members of Cochise's family hanged and the females sent away.
Cochise, like all Apaches, was very attached to his family and would seek revenge for
several decades. This was the start of the Apache wars. It is obvious that
history would had been very different if Cochise and his family were allowed to leave the
young officers tent. Many people Apache, Mexican, and White would die because of the
stupid decision made by the young officer from the East.
After reading these books and visiting this area it is easy to envision the hardships
endured by both soldier and warrior (and his family) alike. Because the army
knew little about finding water in such a dry climate or how to travel in such rugged
terrain the soldiers often faced long periods without supplies or water. The
soldiers included both white and black troops and had the terror of facing a race of
people that were trained from birth how to wage war and live on the go in this very
climate.
Black soldiers were called "Buffalo Soldiers" because their curly black hair
reminded the plains Indians of a buffalo. The Buffalo Soldier units had a desertion
rate of 1% compared to a desertion rate of 43% for the white soldier units. This was
during a time shortly after the Civil War and black men in the army were not very
acceptable, even by most of the military's top brass. We learned from a park
ranger in the Chiricahua National Monument, that the black soldiers were stationed nearby
in Rhyolite Canyon even though Fort Bowie was less than a days ride (on a horse)
away. Fort Bowie was the main hub during the Apache wars. It is a place where
a lot of history took place, including the Bascom Affair and the battle of Apache Pass.
After it grew from a camp to a fully stocked fort it was probably a welcome retreat
for hungry and tired soldiers who had been in the field. The black soldiers were
never allowed to enter the camp and instead lived in tents in Rhyolite Canyon closer to
danger because of it's proximity to hostile bands of Apache.
The Apache had the home turf advantage but with the warrior went his wives and
children. I read accounts where children had to be tied to horses as they slept
because there was no time to rest. They would ride the horses until they were
exhausted and could no longer go on. The Apache women would slaughter it, feed it to
the band, and keep running for their lives. Of course they would have to raid White
or Mexican settlers, rape, torture, kill, and even mutilate their bodies before they rode
off with fresh horses and other supplies. This is the reason the Army was chasing
them. Other stories I read were when a band of Apache were cornered by the US Army
with the cliffs of the Mogollon rim behind them they routinely killed and destroyed
everything that they could not carry. The whole group then would be lowered down the
thousands of feet of the rim by ropes and resupply by raiding. The army often
thought they committed suicide by leaping to their death. They never
chased.
Atrocities happened on both sides. It is hard to blame one group more than the
other. The politically correct thing to do is to hate the Whites, forgive the
Mexicans, and think that the Apache did no wrong. I like to be more open minded than
that. Long before the migration of peoples from Europe to North America the Apache
Indians were destroying other cultures and taking their lands. We visited Paquime Ruins archeological site in northern Mexico
and learned that this peaceful group who had lived happily in this one place, and traded
with other Indian groups, where wiped out by migrating Apaches. In order to steal
their wealth and remove them from their homeland. The Apache also terrorized the
Tarahumara to the south and the peaceful Navajo to the north. It is safe to say that
most, if not all, of the Indians that came in contact with the Apache's were victimized by
them. Many of these Indian groups enthusiastically aided what ever Army in chasing
down the Apache Warriors.
The White settlers along with the American government were no angels either. They
misled and lied to the Apache in order to buy time and get what they wanted. The
Apache Indians have a similar story to many other Indian groups who found themselves
within a growing and powerful country. This history is well known and most modern US
citizens are well aware of the mistakes that their forefathers made in the brutal
treatment of the Apache and other groups. As a teacher, like most teachers, I made
sure that my students were aware of the brutality inflicted on Indians in our continent.
It is safe to say that Americans are remorseful and have paid cash restitution for
over 100 years.
While traveling in Mexico we rode through many places where Apache battles were fought.
These sites included Janos where Geronimo's family was killed by the Mexican Army
and set him on the warpath for decades. There was no historical markers and no one I
spoke to even knew of these events In Galeana Mexico, Greenroom's band lured
the Mexican Army into a clever trap and defeated a much bigger and well supplied force.
There was a faded monument in the plaza listing the local towns people who had died
in that battle. There was little mention of Apache's except that they had done the
killing. There is no description in Mexican textbooks or history of how these towns
would lure the Apache bands into town, get them drunk on Mescal, and slaughter everyone of
them. Mexicans are even unaware of the fact that their government enacted federal
policies of paying for scalps of dead Apaches in a state supported genocide attempt.
The Mexicans prefer to ignore and forget this ugly history and concentrate on the
Mexican revolution.
In the end the Apache's lost this war because of numbers. When the Apache lost a
warrior they had to replace him from members of their group while the US and Mexican
Armies just had to send for men from their generals. I believe that if the Apache
had not made so many enemies with neighboring tribes and worked together with these groups
they would have prevented the mass migration into their lands and had a better outcome
than they did.
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INDEX #1:
North and Central America
3-30-02 to 4-17-03
(July 18 - Aug 22, 2002)
The State of
Michoacan, Mexico
Guanajuato to Toluca, Mexico
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Other essays by Tim
Into the Mist State
of Michoacan, Mexico
Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Michoacan,
Mexico Pictures
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Full size Picture
Pages
- Guanajuato to
Penjamillo, Mexico
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Penjamillo to Patzcuaro, Mexico
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Patzcuaro, Mexico
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Patzcuaro to Cuidad Hidalgo, Michoacan,
Mexico
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Morelia, Mexico
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Into the Mist Mexican highway 15
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Cuidad Hidalgo, Michoacan, to Toluca, Mexico
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Toluca, Mexico
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The Velodrome in Toluca, Mexico |
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(Oct. 12 - Nov. 8, 2002)
The States of Tabasco and Chiapas,
Mexico
Villahermosa, Tabasco to Cuauhtemoc Chiapas, Mexico
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Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Tabasco and
Chiapas, Mexico Pictures
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Full size Picture
Pages
- Museum La Venta and the
Olmec Heads Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
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Villahermosa, Tabasco to Ocosingo,
Chiapas, Mexico
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Palenque #1 Photo Picture Page
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Palenque #2 Photo Picture Page
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Misol-Ha Waterfall Chiapas, Mexico
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Agua Azul Chiapas, Mexico
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Tonina Mayan Ruins Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico
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Mexico's Day of the Dead Ocosingo, Chiapas,
Mexico
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Ocosingo to Cuauhtemoc Chiapas, Mexico |
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(March 15 - April 10, 2003)
Costa Rica #2
Manual Antonio to Monteverde
Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
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Tim's Emailed Newsletters
(Join List)
Costa Rica #2 (incomplete)
Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail Page of Costa Rica #2 Pictures
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Full size Picture
Pages
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Parque National Manuel Antonio, #2
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City of Santa Elena
and Monteverde
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Butterfly Garden,
Santa Elena, Monteverde
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Finca Ecological,
Monteverde
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Frog Pond (Ranario), Santa
Elena
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Santa Elena, Cloud
Forest, National Park
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Sky Walk, Suspension
Bridge, Canopy Tour
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Sky Trek Zip Line,
Canopy Tour
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Monteverde Cloud
Forest Reserve |
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| |
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