GOOD TIME TO START A WAR

February 1878 was a time for murder in the County of Lincoln, New Mexico.  There was a posse looking for Englishman and entrepreneur John H. Tunstall in order to take his horses and other property through a writ of attachment that was part of crooked deal with the Murphy-Dolan Ring in the town of Lincoln.  A mercantile rivalry had been going on for some time.  And Lincoln County sheriff Brady and the posse were in the pocket of the Murphy-Dolan gang.

At about three o’clock in the morning of a cold, snowy February 18, 1878 John Tunstall decided to drive nine horses from his ranch on the Rio Feliz on a fifty mile trek to the town of Lincoln.  At the break of dawn, Tunstall and his foreman Dick Brewer, along with ranch hands Billy Bonney, John Middleton, Rob Widenmann, Henry Brown and Fred Waite got an early start and headed for Lincoln with the nine horses.  All were on horseback except for Waite who was in a wagon.  Six of the horses they were driving belonged to Tunstall, two were Brewer’s and one was Bonney’s.  After about ten miles of riding they split up, with Waite taking the wagon trail that leads to La Junta on the Rio Hondo and the rest of the group taking a short cut through Pajarito Springs.

At about the same time, that forty-five man posse looking for Tunstall was headed for the Tunstall ranch on the Rio Feliz.  The posse was led by deputy sheriff Billy Matthews, an employee of Jimmy Dolan and, Jimmy Dolan himself, partner in the Murphy gang.  Well, as luck would have it, Henry Brown’s horse threw a shoe and he had to leave to Tunstall group and go back to the ranch on the Rio Feliz to get it fixed.  Brown ran into the Dolan-Matthews posse on the way back because they were also headed for the Tunstall ranch.  They all got to the ranch at the same time and Dolan was fit to be tied when he discovered that the horses they were going to repossess were gone.  The only person at the ranch was Godfrey Gauss, Tunstall’s cook.  When the posse asked where Tunstall and the horses were, both Brown and Gauss played dumb.

Concluding that Tunstall had taken the horses to avoid the posse, Mathews and Dolan figured that the best thing they could do to catch up to Tunstall and the horses was to follow the hoof prints left in the snow by Henry Brown’s horse.  So they decided to send eighteen men in a sub-posse led by Buck Morton to back-track the hoof prints.  Among the eighteen were members of the infamous Jesse Evans gang, such as Evans himself, Tom Hill and Frank Baker.  Jimmy Dolan, Bill Matthews and the rest of the posse stayed around the Tunstall ranch, in case Tunstall had a change of plans and would come back with the horses.

At about five o’clock in the afternoon, John Tunstall and Dick Brewer, along with ranch hands Billy Bonney, John Middleton and Rob Widenmann rode down a gorge leading to the Rio Ruidoso, about ten miles from Brewer’s own Ruidoso ranch.   Tunstall, Brewer, and Widenmann were in front of the pack of horses while Bonney and Middleton rode drag, bringing up the rear.

Suddenly Bonney and Middleton heard the sound of horses behind them.  They quickly turned in their saddles and saw the sub-posse rapidly approaching.  The two ranch hands then quickly rode forward, yelling for Tunstall, Widenmann, and Brewer to ride with them.  The sub-posse immediately opened fire on the five men.  Bullets tore through the air.  Widenmann and Brewer along with Bonney and Middleton rode fast through a hail of lead to reach cover.  Middleton yelled straightforwardly at Tunstall to run. 

For some unknown reason, Tunstall froze. 

Riding low and taking cover in a ravine, Billy Bonney, Dick Brewer, Rob Widenmann, and John Middleton all suddenly lost sight of Tunstall.  Seeing the unmoving Tunstall, the sub-posse ceased their fire and rode up to him.  John Tunstall, hoping to reason with the sub-posse, rode his horse closer to them.  As he approached, Tom Hill and Billy Morton each slowly and calmly raised his rifle and fired one shot at him. Tunstall took one bullet in the chest and one bullet in the head and was immediately killed.

For whatever crazy reason went through his head, one the posse then killed Tunstall’s horse by shooting it in the head.  At that point, to make it look as though the group killed Tunstall in self-defense, another one of the posse took Tunstall's pistol out of its holster and fired two shots in the air.  Members of the sub-posse then picked up Tunstall's body and laid it next to his dead horse.  Tunstall’s hat was then placed on the horse's head as a sick joke.  One sub-posse member, inexplicably, then took it upon himself to bash in Tunstall's head with the butt of his rifle. The sub-posse rounded up the nine horses that Tunstall was driving and drove them back to the Rio Feliz ranch.  

After hearing the shooting and the commotion, Billy Bonney, Dick Brewer, Rob Widenmann and John Middleton all realized that Tunstall had been killed. They waited, hiding in the ravine until dark, then rode on towards Lincoln when they were sure that the sub-posse had gone. The four men arrived in Lincoln around midnight and told Tunstall’s partner Alexander McSween what occurred.  McSween then called a mass meeting of most of his supporters and Tunstall's supporters at the McSween house.  Plans of vengeance were discussed.  With the murder of John H. Tunstall, the Lincoln County War had begun.

A COLD NEW MEXICAN JANUARY IN 1855

It was a chilly morning in southern New Mexico, as most mornings were in January. It was the morning of January 5, 1855 and a band Mescalero Apaches had disappeared into the Sacramento Mountains in the vicinity of Sierra Blanca, White Mountain, after stealing about 2,500 head of sheep. A large force of soldiers, with Captain Henry W. Stanton in command, had left Fort Fillmore, near Mesilla, to track them. 

Fort Fillmore was established less than four years before near Mesilla to protect settlers and traders traveling to California. Travelers heading west were plagued by Apache attacks, and a network of forts was created by the US Government to protect and encourage westward expansion. 

 Indians had been raiding, killing and stealing in southern New Mexico Territory since settlement began and in 1851 and 1852 treaties were signed with various bands by the United States government. These were to no avail and by 1854 Indian raids had become a real problem. 

 Captain Stanton, with a force of eighty men and three officers, as well as forty mules and eight packers, a guide and an interpreter, was to join up with Captain Richard S. Ewell and a force of soldiers from Fort Thorn by the middle of January. Fort Thorn was a settlement and outpost establish in 1853 near present day Hatch, New Mexico. Captain Stanton was instructed to ”…attack any party of Indians he may fall in with having sheep or cattle…” Stanton and Ewell, making good time, met up near the Rio Penasco on January 7 and set up camp. They began a regular patrol of the area because Ewell’s Dragoons had reported seeing an Indian running in the underbrush on the day they set up camp. The troop’s horses were spooked by something or someone on the night of January ninth. Mescaleros were assumed but, although the soldiers found some evidence, they found no Indians. 

The Mescaleros attacked the Dragoons’ camp on the night of the eighteenth, according to the New Mexico State Archives, stealing horses and setting the grass surrounding the camp ablaze. The soldiers woke up to the mocking of a band of Indians dancing around a fire on the hillside. Skipping breakfast, the troopers saddled up and went in pursuit of the warriors. Stanton and Ewell’s main force attacked along the banks of the Rio Penasco, while small parties of Dragoons maneuvered after various clusters of braves. This running battle lasted until about four o’clock that afternoon. Captain Stanton led a small detail of twelve men in pursuit of the Apaches while the main body of soldiers set up camp for the evening. They rode into a deep ravine, near the modern day town of Mayhill, where the Mescaleros waited in ambush. Upon hearing the gunfire, the soldiers in camp rushed to support Captain Stanton’s small force. A tough battle resulted but it lasted only twenty minutes. The warriors fled. 

 Having been shot in the forehead while attempting to cover the retreat of his soldiers from that hard fight, Captain Henry W. Stanton departed this life straight away. Private James A. Bennett, 1st Dragoons, recorded in his diary that Privates John Hennings and Thomas Dwyer were also killed in the Indian ambush. The soldiers wrapped their dead companions in blankets and buried their bodies, building fires over their graves in hope that the location would be hidden until they could make a return trip to recover the bodies. 

As the disheveled and grubby soldiers returned after four days of chasing Indians through the hilly, rocky and often precipitous terrain, they paused to recover the remains of Captain Stanton and the two Dragoons killed on the nineteenth. Someone had unearthed the bodies and stolen the blankets. Animals had mutilated the exposed bodies. The corpses were in a deplorable condition. While the horses and pack animals were given time to rest, the soldiers respectfully placed the bodies of their comrades-in-arms on piles of firewood and burned the flesh off the bones. The expedition, led by Captain Ewell, then took the remains back to Fort Fillmore for a proper military funeral. They arrived on February 2. 

Eagerly awaiting the return of her husband, Captain Stanton’s wife waited at her front door for over an hour before a soldier informed her of her husband’s death. 

The following day, the garrison buried the remains of Captain Stanton, Private Dwyer and Private Hennings with full military honors. According to John P. Ryan, author of Fort Stanton and Its Community, when a new fort was established on the banks of the Rio Bonito, later in that year of 1885, it was named in honor of Captain Henry W. Stanton

A DUELING TONGUE TWISTER

Some things have to be reprinted because they’re just downright funny!  The following article, probably first printed in Printers Circular in April of 1867, has been reprinted in numerous publications, most recently in the December 2012 (Vol. 25, No. 4) issue of Wild West.  They reprinted it from the January 16, 1878 issue (No. 45, Vol. II) of the weekly humor magazine Puck who, in turn, took it from the Lancaster (Mo.) Excelsior:

A duel was lately fought in Texas by Alexander Shott and John S. Nott.  Nott was shot, and Shott was not.  In this case it is better to be Shott than Nott.  There was a rumor that Nott was shot, and Shott avows that he shot Nott, which proves either that the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or that Nott was shot notwithstanding.  Circumstantial evidence is not always good.    It may be made to appear on trial that the shot Shott shot, shot Nott, or, as accidents with firearms are frequent, it may be possible that the shot Shott shot, Shott shot himself, when the whole affair would resolve itself into its original elements, and Shott would be shot, and Nott would be not.  We think, however, that the shot Shott shot, shot not Shott, but Nott.  Anyway, it is hard not to tell who was shot.  

FORT STANTON LIVE!

When you are looking for Old West action and lots more, look no further than New Mexico and the historic Fort Stanton State Monument for FORT STANTON LIVE! 

FORT STANTON LIVE! will be held Friday through Sunday, July 13 through 15, with a Friday evening Candlelight Tour, concerts by favorites that include the Flying J Wranglers, and a Saturday evening Military Ball.  Mingle with costumed Living Historians from the Civil War and Indian Wars eras, including the Infantry, Mounted Rifles and Artillery Detachments of the Fort Stanton Garrison, portraying the 1858 Company K of the 8^th United States Infantry   Meet Buffalo Soldiers and Mescalero Apaches, too.

Visitors to FORT STANTON LIVE! will interact with authors, historians, photographers, and more.  Local Lincoln County historian Drew Gomber will speak about Lincoln County and Billy the Kid.  Larry Wilkinson will provide a Witness to Lincoln.  Dr. Cynthia Orozco will offer a power point presentation on the Fort Stanton Ranch.  Sightseers will enjoy story telling by Nisha Hoffman.  Dr. Noel Pugach, a Living Historian with the New Mexico Humanities Council will portray Territorial Governor General Lew Wallace.  Journalist, author and historian Sherry Robinson, also a Living Historian with the New Mexico Humanities Council will present Apache Voices.  Dr. Richard Melzer, Professor of History at University of New Mexico, Valencia Campus will speak about the struggles on New Mexico’s road to statehood and will be available for book signing.  Other authors signing their books include, Dr. Earl Pittman, Gary Cozzens of the Lincoln County Historical Society and Fort Stanton historians John Ryan and Jim McBride.  McBride will also give tours of the German Internment Camp.

Friday evening at FORT STANTON LIVE! will feature Candle Light and Lantern Tours to observe soldiers and their families engaged in various activities.  For advanced ticket sales go to www.fortstanton.org or call 575-354-0341.

Antique firearms will be on display in the cafeteria all day Saturday.  Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery drills will take place on the parade ground.  Learn about U.S. Army medicine in bygone days with Dr. Robert Mallin, as well.  And hear about the Evolution of U.S. Army Chevrons with John Pittsenbarger.  Ed Whitted will present the little known Confederate Army of New Mexico.  You’ll also enjoy the Mescalero Apache War dancers and the Apache dance of the Mountain Gods.  Saturday will also feature tours of the World War Two-era German Internment Camp.  Learn about Snowy River with the Fort Stanton Cave Study Project.  Relax in the afternoon with a Ladies’ Tea Social and Victorian Fashion Show on the lawn.  Saturday ends with the Saturday evening Military Ball.

Sunday at FORT STANTON LIVE! will feature Cavalry and Artillery drills as well as historic Period Church Services in the Fort Stanton Chapel.

A variety of historical sutlers will be at FORT STANTON LIVE! to share their handiwork.   You’ll love the Spencer and Jackson Theatrical Troup, purveyors of the music, drama and amusements of the late 1800s.  FORT STANTON LIVE! will have local food vendors on hand, too, so you and your family can spend the day.

Fort Stanton State Monument features nearly 160 years of southwestern history beginning with its initial creation as a military garrison in 1855 and operated as a military fortification through 1896.  It then became the first Tuberculosis Hospital in New Mexico, a working ranch, a CCC work camp, an internment camp for German seaman during World War II, the State Hospital for the Developmentally Handicapped, a low security women’s prison and has even housed several juvenile, drug rehabilitation and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

Your journey through the fascinating history of Fort Stanton can also include the Fort Stanton Museum which features an excellent exhibit and an introductory video that provides breathtaking images and informative interpretive content that will bring the rich history and heritage of Fort Stanton to life.  The Fort Stanton Museum Store sells a variety of items with all proceeds going to support the upkeep and restoration of Fort Stanton.

In addition to FORT STANTON LIVE!, visitors are welcome to explore the grounds of Fort Stanton State Monument at any time, year round. The Museum and Store are open 10-4 Thursday through Monday (12-4 on Sunday).  Group tours can also be arranged on request at no charge. To reserve a tour, please email tours@fortstanton.org or call Clinton Smith (575-258-5702) or Charlotte Rowe (575-336-4015) for more information.

If you are looking for a special place to visit, a place to help you understand the history of New Mexico, and a place whose beauty and activity will leave an indelible impression on you and your family, the Fort Stanton State Monument is a must-see attraction.  New Mexico’s newest State Monument is nestled along the Bonito River running through the picturesque Capitan Mountains with the Sacramento Mountains – and the beautiful peak of Sierra Blanca – in the distance.  Fort Stanton is easy to find just off the Billy the Kid Scenic Byway (Hwy 380) on Hwy 220 at the Bonito River. The turnoff to Hwy 220 is 4 miles east of Capitan on the Byway or 10 miles west of Lincoln, NM.   The Fort is also easy to reach on Hwy 48, with the turnoff past the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport.  Watch New Mexico history come to life at historic Fort Stanton State Monument.

PIONEER MOTHER MURDERED BY INDIANS

Back in the years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers' Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and were lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by Jose Apodaca on April 28, 1959.

Jose Apodaca’s parents, Severanio and Juanita, moved to Agua Azul, on the south side of New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains, in 1872.  They built a two roomed hut and had a few horses and cattle.  The following story was told to Jose when he was just a boy.

Early in January, 1873, Marcial Rodriguez and Severanio went on a hunting trip and were attacked by Indians.   Severanio escaped the Indian attack and made it to the Casey Ranch.  The Casey’s formed a posse and sent word up and down the Rio Bonito for every man who could go to meet at Agua Azul to fight the Indians.  The posse found the mutilated body of Marcial Rodriguez and buried him.  The posse set out again and found the Indians at the west end of the Capitan Mountains.  Several Indians were killed and some escaped.  Someone in the posse noticed two Indian women on the side of the mountain and a white woman with them.  Jose Apodaca related, “The two squaws had my mother and when they saw the white men coming and knew that they could not get away with my mother, they split her head open with an axe, and the squaws made their getaway.  When the men got to my mother,” Apodaca explained, “she was dead and they found that she had given birth to her baby, which was alive and a boy.  The posse dug a grave and buried my mother right there on the mountain side.”

Severanio Apodaca took his newborn son to the town of Lincoln and gave the boy to Tulia Gurule Stanley to care for.  She raised the child and gave him the name Jose.  The Indians who killed his mother were Mescalero Apaches.  This all occurred while the Infantry and Cavalry were being assigned to Fort Stanton following the Civil War.  In our next installment, Jose Apodaca will relate the fate of his father, Severanio.

PIONEER WOMAN KIDNAPPED BY INDIANS

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Jose Apodaca’s parents, Severanio and Juanita, moved to Agua Azul, on the south side of the Capitan Mountains, in 1872.  They built a two roomed hut and had a few horses and cattle.  The following story was told to Jose when he was just a boy.

Early in January, 1873, Marcial Rodriguez and Severanio went on a hunting trip.  “They got up at daybreak and went out to look for their horses.”  The men had to cross a flat between the mountain and a big arroyo.  The junipers in that area had limbs that were very close to the ground.  “While my father and Marcial were crossing this flat a band of Indians were hidden in the juniper trees and, as the men came out in the open, the Indians began shooting at them.”

In our last installment we learned that Severanio escaped the Indian attack and made it to the Casey Ranch.  The Casey’s formed a posse and sent word up and down the Rio Bonito for every man who could go to meet at Agua Azul to fight the Indians.

Jose Apodaca continues, “The posse left the Casey Ranch just at day break and went as fast as possible to Father’s house to see about my mother, who was expecting a baby.  When they got there they found that the Indians had been there and taken my mother away with them.  The posse, headed by my father, took up the trail of the Indians.  When they got to the flat at Agua Azul they found the body of Marcial Rodriguez.  The Indians has scalped him and cut off his right arm.  The posse dug a grave and buried him where he lay.  By this time several others had joined them and they started out after the Indians again.  They overtook them at the west end of the Capitan Mountains and the Indians and the posse had a fight.  Several of the Indians were killed but some got away.”

Someone in the posse noticed two Indian women on the side of the mountain and a white woman with them.  We’ll learn what Jose Apodaca told about that in our next installment in two weeks.

INDIAN ATTACK

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Jose Apodaca’s parents, Severanio and Juanita, moved to Agua Azul, on the south side of the Capitan Mountains, in 1872.  They built a two roomed hut and had a few horses and cattle.  The following story was told to Jose when he was just a boy.

Early in January, 1873, Marcial Rodriguez and Severanio went on a hunting trip.  “They got up at daybreak and went out to look for their horses.”  The men had to cross a flat between the mountain and a big arroyo.  The junipers in that area had limbs that were very close to the ground.  “While my father and Marcial were crossing this flat a band of Indians were hidden in the juniper trees and, as the men came out in the open, the Indians began shooting at them.”

“They hit Marcial in the back and my father in the leg.  The two men fought with the Indians all day and, as it began to get dark, Marcial told father to make a run for the arroyo and try to get away and save himself, as Marcial felt that he was going to die and there was nothing that father could do to try to help him.  It was best for father to go for help.  Father made a run for the arroyo with the Indians after him, but as it was dark he was able to get away from them.  Father walked most of the night and came out at the Casey Ranch, which was about four miles north of Picacho.  He told the Casey men about the Indians and that he had left Marcial Rodriguez seriously wounded on the flat at Agua Azul.”

The Casey’s formed a posse and we’ll learn what Jose Apodaca told about that in our next installment

GRINGO AND GREASER

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers' Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and were lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Albert Ziegler came to America from Coblenz, Germany in September of 1884.  After thirteen days at sea, Ziegler landed in New York City and left at once by immigrant train for Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his brother Jake was clerking in the Jaffa Brothers' store.

In 1885, Albert clerked for Price Brothers in Socorro, NM and visited his brother Jake, who was by then living in Manzano, New Mexico.

"He and a man named Herman Goodman ran a small store there, selling dry goods, groceries and liquor," Albert Ziegler explained.  "The town of Manzano was a Spanish-American town."

"My brother, Mister Goodman and a fellow by the name  of Kountz were the only white men living there at the time.  This fellow Kountz ran a newspaper which was called the 'Gringo and Greaser'."

It seems that this rather politically incorrect pejorative for those of Hispano descent goes back further than you may have thought.

"He (Kountz) did not like the Spanish-Americans and was always making dirty remarks about them in his paper.  One night while he was eating supper someone shot through a window and killed him instantly.  That ended the 'Gringo and Greaser' newspaper!"

RIDING WITH BILLY THE KID

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Francisco Gomez was born in the Manzano Mountains on September 17, 1854 and moved with his family to the New Mexico Territory village of Las Placitas in 1863 at age 9.  Las Placitas would become the town of Lincoln.

Francisco Gomez related that while Captain Saturnino Baca was sheriff of Lincoln County, he rode with Billy the Kid.  Baca was elected sheriff in 1875 and served for three years.  Gomez would have been 21through 24 years of age during that time.  History tells us that William Henry McCarty Antrim, later William H. Bonney, known as Billy the Kid, was born in 1859 and arrived in Lincoln around the fall of 1877.  The following probably happened during the winter of 1877-78 or spring of 1878 but surely before July, 1878 when the Lincoln County War broke out. 

“I never went out with Billy but once,” Gomez related.  “Captain Baca was sheriff then and once some tough outlaws came to Lincoln and rode up and down the streets and shot our window lights in the houses and terrorized people.”

That kind of activity sounds like the Horrell Brothers but they did their dirty deeds in Lincoln in December of 1873 which was before Billy the Kid arrived, before Baca was the sheriff, and when Gomez was a teenager.

“Captain Baca told Billy the Kid to take some men and go after these men,” Francisco Gomez remembered.  “Billy took me and Florencio and Jose Chaves and Santano Maes with him.  The outlaws went to the upper Ruidoso and we followed them.  We caught up with them and shot it out with them.  One of the outlaws was killed and the other ran away.  None of us were hurt.”

Francisco Gomez was acquainted with Billy because he also worked for McSween.  Gomez stated that he quit working for McSween and returned home to live with his father a quarter mile east of Lincoln when the Lincoln County War broke out and that was in July of 1878, two months before his 24^th birthday.  Gomez was 84 years of age when he related this story in 1938.

A FIRST-HAND DESCRIPTION OF BILLY THE KID

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project, Edith Crawford, the representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Francisco Gomez was born in the Manzano Mountains on September 17, 1854 and moved with his family to the New Mexico Territory village of Las Placitas in 1863 at age 9.  Las Placitas would become the town of Lincoln.  Francisco remembers that when he was about 18 years of age, circa 1872, he went to work for the McSweens and stayed in their employ for about two years.  Following the historical timeline, this would have really been in 1876 when Gomez was 22 years of age.

Francisco Gomez related that one winter Billy the Kid boarded with the McSweens for about seven months.  Now history tells us that William Henry McCarty Antrim, later William H. Bonney, known as Billy the Kid, was born in 1859 and arrived in Lincoln around the fall of 1877.  Billy lived at the Coe ranch that winter.  Gomez related his memories in 1939 and his mind’s calendar might have been off a bit.

“He was an awfully nice fellow” Francisco Gomez recalled, “with light brown hair, blue eyes and rather big front teeth.  He always dressed very neatly.”

Gomez went on to describe Billy’s gun play.  “He used to practice target shooting a lot.  He would throw up a can and would twirl his six gun on his finger and he could hit the can six times before it hit the ground.”

Billy the Kid rode a big roan horse about ten or twelve hands high, according to Gomez.  “All that winter when this horse was out in the pasture Billy would go to the gate and whistle and the horse would come up to the gate to him.  That horse would follow Billy and mind him like a dog.  He was a very fast horse and could outrun most of the other horses around there.”

Francisco Gomez stated that he quit working for the McSweens when the Lincoln County War broke out and that was in July of 1878, two months before his 24^th birthday.  Gomez was 84 years of age when he related this story in 1938.

EYEWITNESS TO THE ESCAPE OF BILLY THE KID

Back in years 1937-1939, as part of the New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project, Edith Crawford, the FWP representative in Lincoln County, collected a number of interviews of Lincoln County pioneers.  These were never published and lost until the collection was brought to the attention of the Lincoln County Historical Society.  This vignette is based on that work and taken from the actual words spoken by the subject.

Daniel Carabajal stated in an interview that he was born in Lincoln County on December 12, 1878.  On April 28, 1881, Billy the Kid shot his way out and escaped from custody at the Lincoln County Courthouse.  And little Daniel, at age 2 years and 4 months, remembers seeing Billy the Kid leave town!  At least that’s how he remembered it when he related the story to Edith Crawford 58 years later!  A photo taken of Daniel in 1941 is inscribed "70 years of age" which would have put his birth in 1871, making him 10 years of age at the time of Billy the Kid’s escape.

Convicted in a Mesilla court, Billy was sentenced to hang on May 13^th and had been taken from Mesilla to the Lincoln County Courthouse by seven guards.  Sheriff Pat Garrett knowing that Billy was a sly prisoner whose life depended upon escape, kept the Kid shackled hand and foot and guarded around the clock in the room behind his own courthouse office.

Sheriff Garrett was away collecting taxes in White Oaks and had assigned deputies Bob Ollinger and James W. Bell to guard Billy. Ollinger had the reputation of being mean and it was said that he constantly harassed the Kid.  The other guard, Bell, apparently treated the prisoner well.  Ollinger took the five other prisoners across the street to Sam Wortley’s hotel around 6pm for dinner.  Billy was left shackled in the room with Bell keeping watch.

Most folks agree that the Kid asked Bell to escort him to the outhouse out back of the courthouse and Bell did just that.  Billy was still in his leg irons, chains and handcuffs.  Once back in the building, Billy made his move.

An anonymous writer, published in the Santa Fe New Mexican, stated, “Quick as lightning he jumped and struck Bell with his handcuffs, fracturing his skull.  He immediately snatched Bell’s revolver and shot him.”

Ollinger, still having dinner at the hotel, heard the shot and came out with the five prisoners.  As Ollinger entered the courthouse yard without the prisoners, he heard his name called from above.  When he looked up, Ollinger saw his own double-barreled shotgun pointing down at him from an upstairs window.  Somehow Billy had been able to get the shotgun out of Garrett’s office.

“I stuck the gun through the window and said, ‘Look up, old boy, and see what you get,” recalled Billy.  “Bob looked up and I let him have both barrels right in the face and breast.”  Ollinger died instantly.

"We lived just below the old Torreon at the time" Daniel remembered.  "I was up-town playing with some boys just across the street when Billy killed the guards.  We hid behind a picket fence.  We were too scared to go and see the two men he had killed; as we were afraid he would come back and shoot us."

Now lots of stories tell about how Billy left town that evening, taking his time and even shaking hands with passers-by.  But Daniel Carabajel tells a different story about how the people of Lincoln reacted on that fateful day.

"All the people of Lincoln were afraid to come out for a long time after Billy rode away towards Fort Stanton.  I wanted to go and see the men he had killed but I was afraid to go."

GERONIMO IN MEXICO: “A summation”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we have spent the last few months publishing our adaptation of Geronimo’s own recollections.  As we conclude our study of Geronimo in Mexico, we look at his name, his power and his injuries.

Geronimo was born on June 16, 1829, a birth date he gave himself, near Turkey Creek; a tributary of the Gila River, in what is now the western part of the state of New Mexico.  It was in Old Mexico then but in reality it was Bedonkohe land.  He was given the name, “One Who Yawns,” or Goyathlay in English (often Gokhlayeh or Goyahkla and spelled Goyaałé in the Chiricahua dictionary).  In more recent times, the Fort Sill (Oklahoma) Apaches have suggested that his birth name meant, “Intelligent, shrewd, clever.”

Goyathlay became exceedingly fierce and unafraid in his war against the Mexicans.  It was his Mexican adversaries who gave Goyathlay the nickname of "Geronimo." It is said that Goyathlay was given the name Geronimo (Jerome) by Mexican soldiers because of the daring feats he performed.  Few historians agree to the reasons but it is said that each time they saw him the Mexican soldiers would cry out in terror, "Cuidado!  Geronimo!"  In one battle, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets and armed only with a knife, Goyathlay repeatedly attacked and stabbed the Mexicans, purportedly causing them to call out supplications to Saint Jerome, allegedly the Patron Saint of the Mexican Army.  Although in the Roman Catholic Church, Jerome is recognized as the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists, he did write quite a bit about the horrors of hell and perhaps it was in this context that the Mexicans were asking for Saint Jerome’s aid.

          Geronimo attributed his numerous raiding successes to his special spiritual insights and abilities known to Apache people as "Power.”  He had a reputed invulnerability to gunshot, the faculty to walk without leaving tracks; the abilities now known as telekinesis and telepathy.  He was wounded by buckshot and bullets many times but survived.  

During his many wars with the Mexicans Geronimo received many major but not fatal wounds. He was shot in the right leg above the knee, and carried the bullet all his life.  He was also shot through the left forearm.  In addition, Geronimo was shot just below the outer corner of the left eye, shot in left side, and shot in the back.  Other major wounds Geronimo received included being slashed in the right leg below the knee with a saber and being injured on top of the head with the butt of a musket.

Apache men chose to follow him of their own free will, and the warriors offered eye-witness testimony regarding Geronimo’s “Power."  They declared that this was the main reason why so many chose to follow him. The Apaches believed that Geronimo was favored or protected by "Usen", the Apache high-god.  Geronimo believed that the bitter loss of his family at Kas-ki-yeh brought him his "Power."  While sitting with his head bowed in sorrow, he heard a voice tell him that ‘no gun can ever kill you, and I will guide your arrows.’ The fact that he was often wounded, but remained alive, strengthened his conviction in this power.

Geronimo was responsible for the deaths of many Mexicans; no one knows how many, because normally Geronimo did not count them. Some of them, he said, were not worth counting.  Until his dying day Geronimo had no love for the Mexicans. Geronimo felt that the Mexican military leaders were treacherous and malicious with him and always deceitful and cruel.   Even when he was old and knew that he would never go on the warpath again, Geronimo said that if he were young, and followed the warpath, it would lead into Old Mexico. 

Goyathlay had officially become Geronimo and the name caught on. His “Power” served him well and his exploits in the Southwest have become international legend.  

GERONIMO IN MEXICO: “His final battle, 1884”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we continue our adaptation of Geronimo’s own recollections.

After the Mexican treachery and massacre at Casa Grande the Apaches did not reassemble for a long while, and when they did they returned to Arizona. The Apaches remained in Arizona for some time, living on the San Carlos Reservation, at a place on the reservation now called Geronimo.

In 1883 Geronimo and his band left the reservation and went into Mexico again. The Apaches remained in the mountain ranges of Mexico for about fourteen months, and during this time Geronimo and his warriors suffered from many skirmishes with Mexican troops. The Indians were beginning to tire of being chased about from place to place. To make things even more difficult for Geronimo, the Mexicans began assembling troops in the mountains where the Indians had been ranging.  At this point the Mexican soldiers so outnumbered the Apache warriors that Geronimo could not hope to fight them successfully. 

In 1884 the Indians returned to Arizona to convince other Apaches to leave the reservation and to come with them into Mexico to assist in battling the Mexican Army.  This ploy did not work out well for Geronimo.  In Arizona, off the San Carlos Reservation, Geronimo ran into trouble with the United States army and lost about fifteen warriors in battle.  Geronimo’s attempt to convince warriors to leave the reservation had gained no recruits. Now under increasing pressure from United States troops, Geronimo fled once again to Mexico.

Geronimo and his reduced number of Apaches camped in the mountains north of Arispe.  Mexican troops were observed moving in several directions by Indian scouts. The United States troops were coming down into Mexico from the north.  Although the Apaches were well armed with guns and well supplied with ammunition, Geronimo did not care to be surrounded by the troops of two governments, so he started to move their camp southward, deeper into Mexico.

One night Geronimo made camp by a stream some distance from the mountains. There was not much water in the brook, but a deep channel was worn through the lowland and small trees were beginning to grow here and there along the bank of this watercourse.

In those days Geronimo never camped without placing scouts, because he knew from experience that the Indians were liable to be attacked at any time. The next morning, just at daybreak, Apache scouts came in, aroused the camp, and notified Geronimo that Mexican troops were approaching. Within five minutes the Mexicans began firing on the Indians. The warriors took to the ditches made by the stream, and had the women and children keep busy digging these ditches even deeper. Geronimo gave strict orders to waste no ammunition and keep under cover.

The fight lasted all day.  The Apaches killed many Mexicans that day and in turn the Mexicans took many Apache lives.  Repeatedly, Mexican troops would charge at one point, be repulsed, then rally and charge at another point.

At about noon the Apaches began to hear the Mexicans speaking Geronimo’s name with curses. In the afternoon a Mexican general came took to the field to encourage the soldatos and the fighting became more furious.  Geronimo gave orders to his warriors to try to kill all the Mexican officers.

About three o’clock in the afternoon the Mexican general called all of his officers together at the right side of the field. The place where the Mexican officers assembled was not very far from the main stream, and a little ditch ran out close to where the officers stood.  Cautiously, Geronimo crawled out along this ditch very close to where the Mexican council was being held. A breeze was blowing in the direction of the Indians and because of that Geronimo able to overhearall that the general said.  Geronimo, being somewhat fluent in Spanish, understood most of it.

Geronimo, in his memoirs, related what the general told his officers: “Officers, yonder in those ditches is the red devil Geronimo and his hated band. This must be his last day. Ride on him from both sides of the ditches; kill men, women, and children; take no prisoners; dead Indians are what we want. Do not spare your own men; exterminate this band at any cost; I will post the wounded to shoot all deserters; go back to your companies and advance.”

Just as the general’s command to go forward was given, Geronimo took deliberate aim at the general, fired, and the general fell. In an instant the ground around Geronimo was riddled with bullets, but he remained untouched. The Apaches had seen what had taken place and from all along the ditches there arose the fierce war-cry of Geronimo’s people. The Mexican columns wavered for an instant but the Mexicans swept on and did not retreat until the Apache’s fire had destroyed the front ranks.

After this barrage and the death of their commanding officer, the Mexican’s fighting was not so fierce, yet they continued to rally and continued to advance until dark. The Mexicans also continued to speak Geronimo’s name with threats and curses.

That night, before the firing had ceased, a dozen Indians crawled out of the ditches and set fire to the long prairie grass behind the Mexican troops. During the confusion that followed Geronimo and his war party escaped to the mountains.

This was the last battle that Geronimo ever fought with Mexicans. United States troops trailed the Apaches continually from this time until the treaty was made with General Miles in Skeleton Canyon.

ESCAPE FROM THE ALAMO by Dac Crossley

They called him “Possum” because of his grin.  That’s what fellow Tennessean David Crockett called George Hanks at the Alamo.  But by the time author Dac Crossley takes the reader to the conclusion of this adventure, red headed George Hanks is known as Don Colorado.

The brave defenders of the Alamo gave their lives for freedom and the new Republic of Texas.  History claims that no one survived that battle but this South Texas quest for manhood postulates that someone might have.  The escapades of young George Hanks take him from his awakening alone and confused on the battlefield of San Jacinto to a career with the Texas Rangers, and confrontations with Anglo war refugees, Comanches, bandits, Apaches, two Mexican armies and a lovely Senorita along the way.  Escape From The Alamo mixes early Texas history with the excitement of the traditional Western novel and might have been written to order for fans of Western adventure.

A retired professor and noted ecologist, Dac Crossley was raised in South Texas, on tales of forgotten trails and railroad tracks, bandits raiders and Indian attacks, getaways and gunfights, and the strong women who held Texas together.  A graduate of Texas Tech, Dac majored in Biology and earned his Doctorate at the University of Kansas.  He retired at the University of Georgia and, from there in the Deep South, hit his stride in writing about his home state.  His two South Texas novels, Guns Across The Rio and Return Of The Texas Ranger, both won awards for excellence.   Escape From The Alamo carries on South Texas traditions in an earlier time, when Texas was an independent republic.

Escape From The Alamo, as well as Guns Across The Rio and Return Of The Texas Ranger are available from Amazon.com.

GERONIMO IN MEXICO: “Sko-la-ta, Nokode and the Massacre at Casa Grande, 1880”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we continue our adaptation of Geronimo’s own recollections.

Around the year 1880, when Geronimo was in his camp in the mountains south of Casa Grande, Mexico, called by the Indians Sko-la-ta, a company of Mexican troops attacked. There were twenty-four Mexican soldiers and they faced about forty Indians. The Mexicans surprised the warriors in camp and fired on them, killing two Apaches in the first volley.  This attack by the Mexicans was totally unexpected.

Geronimo related that he did not know how the Mexicans were able to find his camp unless, of course, they had excellent scouts and unless Geronimo’s own guards were careless, but there the Mexicans were, shooting at the Indians before the Apaches knew that the Mexicans were in the vicinity.  If the Mexicans had known how outnumbered they were they might not have assailed the Indian camp.

The Indians were situated in a wooded area, and Geronimo gave his men the order to move forward and fight the Mexican troopers at close range. The warriors kept behind rocks and trees until they came within ten yards of the Mexican line, then they stood up and both sides shot until all twenty four of the Mexicans were killed. Geronimo lost twelve Apaches in this battle. When the warriors had buried their dead and secured what supplies the Mexicans had, they headed to the northeast.

At a place near Nacori, called by the Apaches Nokode, Mexican troops attacked them again.  Gathered in this camp were about eighty warriors, both Bedonkohe and Nedni Apaches. There were three companies of Mexican troops.

The Mexican army attacked the warriors in an open field, and the Indians scattered, firing as they ran. The Mexicans followed them, but the Apaches dispersed, and soon outran the army.  Geronimo’s warriors reassembled in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Here a council was held, and since the Mexican troops were attacking without warning and coming from many directions, Geronimo and the warriors decided to disband.

After about four months had passed, and pressure from the Mexican army had lessened, the Apaches reassembled at Casa Grande.  Here they decided that it would be advantageous for the Indians to make a treaty of peace with the Mexican people. The alcaldes of the town of Casa Grande, along with all of the men of Casa Grande, made a treaty with the Apaches. The people of Casa Grande and the Indians shook hands and promised to be as brothers. This done, they began to trade, and the Mexicans, in a classic act of deceitfulness, gave the Indians mescal.  Soon nearly all the warriors were intoxicated.  While the Apaches were under the influence, two companies of Mexican troops, who had been headquartered in another town, attacked the Indians.  The Mexican troops slaughtered twenty Indians and captured many more.  The Apaches fled in all directions. After the treachery and massacre of Casa Grande the Apaches did not reassemble for a long while, and when they did, even though there was pressure from the American army, Geronimo and his Apaches returned to Arizona.

GERONIMO IN MEXICO: “The Battle of White Hill, 1879”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we continue our adaptation of Geronimo’s own recollections.

Almost every year the tribe would live a part of the time in Old Mexico. Because there were at this time many white settlements in Arizona and plenty of pressure from the United States Army, the Apaches would move to Mexico, move back to Arizona, and then return to Mexico.  Geronimo had said that the reason was that game was no longer plentiful in Arizona and, besides, the Indians liked to go down into Old Mexico.  The lands of the Nedni Apaches, Geronimo’s friends and kinsmen, extended far into Mexico. Their Chief, Whoa, was like a brother to Geronimo, and Geronimo’s tribe spent much of their time in Nedni Apache territory. Geronimo’s Chiricahua Apaches would go into hiding in the Sierra Madre Mountains. 

In 1879, their camp was near Nacori, and Geronimo had just organized bands of warriors for raiding the country, when scouts discovered Mexican cavalry coming toward the camp to attack.

Instead of running and hiding, Geronimo marched all of his warriors toward the Mexican troops and met them at a place about five miles from the Indians’ encampment. Using an interesting tactic that best demonstrated Geronimo’s fighting style, the warriors showed themselves to the soldiers and, as expected, the Mexicans quickly rode to the top of a hill and dismounted, placing their horses on the outside for breastworks. It was a round hill, very steep and rocky, and there was no timber on its sides. There were two companies of Mexican cavalry, and the Apaches had about sixty warriors. The Indians crept up the hill behind the rocks and the Mexicans kept up a constant fire.  Geronimo cautioned the warriors to lay low behind the boulders and not to expose themselves to the Mexicans and to fire sporadically.

Geronimo knew that the troopers would waste their ammunition.  It wasn’t long before the Apaches had killed all the Mexican cavalry’s horses, but the Mexican soldiers would lie behind their dead steeds and shoot at the Indians.  While the Apaches had killed several Mexicans, the warriors had not yet lost a man.  However, it was impossible to get very close to the Mexicans in this way, and finally, Geronimo considered it best to lead a charge against them.

The Apaches had been fighting ever since about one o’clock, and about the middle of the afternoon, seeing that they were making no further progress, and considering that the Mexicans were almost out of ammunition, Geronimo gave the sign for the move forward. The war-whoop sounded and the Indians leaped forward from behind every stone, jumping over the Mexicans’ dead horses, fighting hand to hand. The warriors closed on the cavalry with lightening speed.  The attack was so sudden that the Mexicans, running first this way and then that, became so confused that in a few minutes the Apaches had killed them all with spears, tomahawks, and knives.  Then the Indians scalped the slain Mexicans, carried away their few Apache dead, and gathered up all the weapons they needed.

That night Geronimo moved the camp eastward through the Sierra Madre Mountains into Chihuahua. No troops molested them here and after about a year the Apaches returned to Arizona.

GERONIMO IN MEXICO “Apaches move to Mexico: 1873”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of the Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we continue with the story.

Pressure was coming from Brigadier General George Crook who had caused much dissatisfaction among the Apaches.  Around the year 1873, when Mexican troops attacked Apacheria and were defeated by the Chiricahua who were off the reservation, the Apaches decided that it would be prudent to make raids into Mexico.

Geronimo moved the whole camp, packing all their belongings on mules and horses went into Mexico and made camp in the mountains near Nacori.  In moving their camp in this way the Apaches wanted no one to spy on them, and if the Indians passed a Mexican’s home they usually killed the residents. However, if the Mexicans offered to surrender and made no resistance or trouble in any way, Geronimo would take them prisoners. The Indians always set a place of rendezvous when they went off on a raid so that they could all get back together with their women and children.  Frequently the Indians would change their place of rendezvous; then they would take with them their Mexican prisoners if they were willing to go, but if they were unruly they might be killed.

Geronimo told of one Mexican in the Sierra Madre Mountains who saw the tribe moving and shooting at them delayed the Indians for some time.  Thinking the plunder of the Mexican’s house would pay them for the delay, the Apaches undertook the trouble to attack him, but after the Indians had killed him they found nothing in his casa worth having.

The Apaches ranged in those mountains for over a year, raiding the Mexican settlements for supplies, but not having any general engagement with Mexican troops; then the Indians returned to their homes in Arizona. After remaining in Arizona about a year The Apaches returned to Mexico, and went into hiding in the Sierra Madre Mountains.  Their camp was near Nacori, and Geronimo had just organized bands of warriors for raiding the country, when the scouts discovered Mexican troops coming toward the camp to attack them.  We’ll discuss that battle in our next installment.

KINCADE’S DEATH by Michael Chandler and Loahna Chandler

Readers of the Kincade Saga have always been aware that the series would have to eventually come to an end.  And the end might have come with “Kincade’s Death,” by Michael and Loahna Chandler.

Superstition Mountain…pushed up from five miles beneath the earth’s crust three million years ago…feared by the Apaches…and called Monte Supersticion by the Spanish explorers whose compadres mysteriously died there…is the centerpiece of “Kincade’s Death.”  Men came to Superstition Mountain from all over.  They came looking for gold.  And Kincade had the map.  Chandler and Chandler present every Western character imaginable, from a beautiful, striking heroine and a rugged, stalwart Western hero to filthy, stupid villains and faithful, loyal friends.

“Kincade’s Death” reflects Chandler and Chandler’s extensive knowledge of Arizona history and legend, especially in and around Tombstone. While this story follows the three-novel life of Kincade, it can stand alone as a classic Western adventure.  It offers even more to those who have already read the first three Kincade novels. 

Complete your Kincade adventures with “Kincade’s Death,” the fourth book in this exciting Western series.  And then watch for “Kincade’s Son,” coming soon.  Could that mean that Kincade isn’t really dead?  Could it mean that the lovely Josephine was “expecting?”  Where will Chandler and Chandler’s imagination lead us next?

Michael Chandler is an award winning advertising writer and an international author whose best-selling book, “Dreamweaving…The Secret to Overwhelming your Business Competition” has also been published in Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Chandler’s western adventure novel, “Kincades’ Death” is his newest book and continues the Kincade saga found in “Kincade‘s Blood,”  “Kincade‘s Fear” and “Kinkade’s Early Years” His other books include “The Littlest Cowboy‘s Christmas” with John Denver.

Author Michael Chandler’s co-author is his mother, Loahna Chandler. A former singer, dancer and actress on radio, TV and stage, including a stint with the USO during the Korean War, Loahna spent years traveling to 123 countries and sailing on 60 luxury cruises making travelogues with her husband Warren. Loahna Chandler says that she has found the most rewarding writing experience of her 80+ years in collaborating with her son Michael on the Kincade series.

Michael Chandler‘s “Kincade’s Death” is published by Wagonmaster Books and all of his books are available globally through amazon.com.

Geronimo in Mexico: “Facing the Mexican Cavalry”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  The greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But it all started in Mexico…and we continue with the story.

In the summer of 1860, Geronimo was again able to take the warpath against the Mexicans, this time with twenty-five warriors. They followed the trail of the Mexican troops last mentioned, the Mexicans who had attacked the Apache settlement in Arizona, and entered the Sierra de Sahuaripa Mountains.

On the second day in these mountains, the Indian scouts discovered mounted Mexican troops. There was only one company of cavalry in this command, and Geronimo thought that by properly surprising them he could defeat them. The warriors set up an ambush on the trail over which the Mexicans were to come.  This was at a place where the whole company had to pass through a mountain defile. The Apache war party held their fire until all of the troops had passed through; then Geronimo gave the signal to fire.  The Mexican troopers, seemingly without a word of command, immediately dismounted, and placing their horses on the outside of the company for breastworks, made a good fight against the Indians.

Geronimo saw that the warriors could not dislodge the Mexicans without using up all their ammunition, so Geronimo led a charge. The Indians suddenly pressed in from all sides and they fought hand to hand.  During this encounter, Geronimo raised his spear to kill a Mexican soldier just as the Mexican leveled his gun at him.  Geronimo was advancing rapidly but his foot slipped in a pool of blood.   Geronimo fell beneath the Mexican trooper. The Mexican struck Geronimo over the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him senseless.  Just at that instant, a warrior who had been following in Geronimo’s footsteps killed the Mexican with a spear.

Within a few minutes, not a Mexican soldier was left alive. When the Apache war-cry had died away, and their enemies had been scalped, the Indians began to care for their own dead and wounded.  Geronimo was found lying unconscious where he had fallen. They bathed Geronimo’s head in cold water and restored him to consciousness. Then they bound up Geronimo’s wound and the next morning, although weak from loss of blood and suffering from a severe headache, he was able to march on the return to Arizona. Geronimo did not fully recover for months, and for the rest of his life wore the scar given him by that Mexican musketeer.

In this fight, the Apaches had lost so heavily that there really was no glory in their victory, and they returned to their home in Arizona. No one seemed to want to go on the warpath again that year.