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

CHRISTMAS ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIVIL WAR

“I should like to be home this Christmas night,” wrote Lieutenant Elisha Hunt Rhodes on Christmas day, 150 years ago.  Lt. Rhodes, of the second Rhode Island, spent Christmas Day in camp just like he did the year before, in 1861 and he would spend two more Christmas Days in camp before the Civil war was over.

Elisha Rhodes is one of the most famous of the diarists of the Civil War and his stunning accounts of the War Between the States was published in 1985 as "All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes"  by Robert Hunt Rhodes, his great-grandson.  Filmmaker Ken Burns featured Rhodes' war experiences in his 1990 documentary "The Civil War.”  Rhodes's words reveal the motivation of a common Yankee foot soldier, an otherwise ordinary young man who endured the rigors of combat and exhausting marches, short rations, fear, and homesickness for a salary of $13 a month and the satisfaction of giving "all for the union."

The son of a New England sea captain, Elisha Hunt Rhodes enlisted into the Union army as an eighteen year old private when fighting erupted in 1861.  Rhodes served with the Second Rhode Island Infantry for the duration of the war, and fought in nearly every major battle in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged.  Rhodes became an officer at age 20 and eventually rose from private to a 23 year old colonel commanding his own regiment. He fought hard and honorably in battles from Bull Run to Appomattox.
 

While we look back at the 150^th Anniversary of the Civil War, it is fitting that we celebrate this Christmas season with a first-hand look at what war was like so many years ago. Frequently cold, wet, tired and unfed, periodically the witness to death, destruction incompetence and poor generalship, Elisha Hunt Rhodes endured.

When in camp, Christmas was a welcome but short reprieve from the tedium of an army winter.  In between Christmases was battle after battle, shells screaming overhead, friends a few feet away wounded and dying.

Christmas 1862 was the second of Elisha Rhodes' four Christmases spent in the Army of the Potomac, and his location for each serves as a graphic representation of the progress of the army.   Rhodes spent his first two Christmases in the Army of the Potomac in camps around Washington, D.C.  He does not record an entry for 1861, and he remarks in 1862 that Christmas was a quiet day, a calm day in which the soldiers were excused from drill and he enjoyed a visit by his brother-in-law from Washington. 
  

On New Year’s Eve he wrote, “Well, the year 1862 is drawing to a close. As I look back I am bewildered when I think of the hundreds of miles I have tramped, the thousands of dead and wounded that I have seen, and the many strange sights that I have witnessed. I can truly thank God for his preserving care over me and the many blessings I have received. One year ago tonight I was an enlisted man and stood cap in hand asking for a furlough. Tonight I am an officer and men ask the same favor of me. It seems to me right that officers should rise from the ranks, for only such can sympathize with the private soldiers. The year has not amounted to much as far as the War is concerned, but we hope for the best and feel sure that in the end the Union will be restored. Good bye, 1862.”

In 1863, near Brandy Station in northern Virginia, Elisha Hunt Rhodes reported that he rode his recently acquired army horse, Kate, on Christmas Day, and gave a Christmas dinner celebration for other officers in the regiment, during which they endeavored to celebrate the holiday "in a becoming manner."

Elisha Rhodes spent his fourth and last army Christmas in a small hut in the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia.  The Union army was laying siege to the city, but there was little activity during the cold weather.  On Christmas Eve, Rhodes entertained officers from the 49th Pennsylvania, and after their departure officers from the 37th Massachusetts serenaded him. On Christmas morning, he took a ride and watched Union soldiers hauling logs to build warmer quarters.  Rhodes commented, "This is the birth of the Saviour, but we have paid very little attention to it in a religious way."  He closed his entry by writing, "This is my fourth Christmas in the Army. I wonder if it will be my last."

It was his last army Christmas.  Elisha Hunt Rhodes was mustered out shortly after the end of the Civil War in April 1865, and returned to his home in Rhode Island. He worked as a cotton and wool trader for the rest of his life and, like many soldiers, remained active in veteran affairs.  Elisha Hunt Rhodes died on January 14, 1917.

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.  

CHARITY, UNITY AND FRATERNITY HEAD WEST

Late 19^th century America, in particular the East Coast, was marked by hostility toward immigrants, mostly Catholics, and dangerous factory and mine working conditions that left many families fatherless.  Recognizing a number of needs in his New Haven, Connecticut community, Father Michael J. McGivney gathered a group of men at Saint Mary’s Church on October 2, 1881.

Forming a fraternal organization, the men vowed to be united with their fellowmen in the Catholic faith and to provide for the families of deceased members.  Catholic men were drawn to this new fraternity because of its emphasis on serving one’s Church, community and family with virtue.

As a symbol that their allegiance to America did not conflict with their allegiance to their Catholic faith, they took as their patron Christopher Columbus – recognized as a Catholic and celebrated as the European discoverer of America.  In 1882 they were chartered in Connecticut as the Knights of Columbus.  By 1897 they were established all the way west to California.

Edward L. Hearn wrote in 1898 that a Knight should live according to the vittues of loyalty, charity, courtesy and modesty, as well as “self-denial and careful respect for the feelings of others.”

THE AMERICAN CAPTAIN

Fort Stanton State Monument in New Mexico is an icon of the Old West and, while this story is considered out of the time-line, it is certainly an important part of Fort Stanton's history.

THE AMERICAN CAPTAIN

  

This story of the American Captain comes from Phil Schreiber, the captain’s nephew, who has a long history volunteering at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.  Many people are surprised to learn of the internment of German seaman at Fort Stanton before America went to war with Nazi Germany and Phil Schreiber wants people to know the story of the American Captain who saved them.

Captain Harry Badt, USN was born in Tyler, Texas in 1884.  He graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1908 and was assigned to World War One convoy duty.  Following this duty, Captain badt became an Instructor at Annapolis and then went on to map the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.  Badt later became Captain of the USS Tuscaloosa.  During World War Two he was the Commandant of the Sampson Naval Training Center, Great Lakes and  brought his exemplary naval career to an end by retiring as a Commodore.   According to Phil Schreiber’s account, family stories are plentiful about Captain Badt’s naval service, especially his sense of fairness and competence as a naval officer.  Schreiber’s favorite story as a child was a time when Badt encountered a young, shivering sailor standing watch.  Badt asked the sailor if he had his “long johns” on and the young sailor answered “No Sir.”  Badt questioned, “Why not?”  The young sailor answered, “Quartermaster did not issue me any.”  Badt reportedly ordered the Quartermaster to stand the young sailor's watch instead, and without “long johns”. 

Our story begins on December 19, 1939.  Hitler had just invaded Poland in September and Europe was once again at war and in frantic preparation for war.  The German Concentration Camp System was well underway by this time and word was leaking out by way of letters, radio messages and personal witnesses about the persecution of the Jews, Gypsies, minorities and political dissidents.  Dachau 1933, Buchenwald 1937 and Mauthausen 1938 were examples of these camps.  At this time, the United States was still neutral, even though FDR knew that we would be involved eventually.  Therefore, he established a Naval Neutrality Patrol 300 miles east of the American Coast, to help protect American interests.

During this time, prior to the German invasion of Poland, the German luxury cruise liner SS Columbus, under the command of Captain Daehne, was making her normal ports of call along the Atlantic coastline of the U.S.  This ship was the German equal to the British Queen Mary in stature and would carry many Americans on each cruise.

Once the war began, the Columbus disembarked its passengers and made off to a neutral port in Mexico.  One can only speculate, says Schreiber, as to why the ship left Mexico knowing that the British ships were searching for it in the Atlantic.  Was it because Mexico told them to leave, or was it because orders came from Hitler to return to Germany?   Why did the ship not head for another neutral port?  There has always been speculation but we do know that the British did not want the Columbus to return to Germany to be refitted for war and its crew to become part of the Kriegs Marine.  It is generally believed that, after waiting for three months, Hitler sent word for the SS Columbus to make a run for it and attempt to sail back to Germany.  When that seemed to be impossible, he was propably ordered by the German government to abandon and destroy the Columbus.  And so Captain Daehne followed Hitler’s orders and scuttled his beloved ship

According to Schreiber’s cousin, Badt's daughter, the entire event that eventually ended at Fort Stanton, New Mexico took less than 7 hours off the coast of New Jersey.  The British finally ordered the Columbus to halt, and, rather than surrender the luxury liner to the British, the ship was scuttled by orders of Captain Daehne.  After numerous radio messages between the shadowing British destroyers and the USS Tuscaloosa, Captain Badt picked up the 575 survivors of the Columbus and they began their trip to Ellis Island, NY. 

Headlines of the day read, “Jewish Naval Captain Saves Nazi Crew” and “Nazi Spy Hunted since June Falls into G-MEN'S Lap.”  It turned out that this spy was on board the Columbus and was trying to get back to Germany. These events led to FDR giving a speech on the Tuscaloosa in 1940.

The evening of the rescue and according to sea-faring tradition, the two captains met for dinner, and in keeping with Badt and Schreiber family stories, the German Captain Daehne, knowing that Captain Badt was Jewish, was apologetic for the actions of his country in the persecutions of the peoples of Europe.  Captain Daehne reportedly said, “If you do not wish to have me in your cabin for dinner I will understand.”  Captain Badt responded, “You are not my guest but a guest of the United States Government” which seemed to relax the atmosphere during dinner.  Schreiber postulates that he is sure that many of the Columbus' crew, as well as Captain Daehne, wanted to stay neutral due to their fond interactions with Americans.

After attempts to return the “distressed seamen” to Germany and in light of a strong anti-German British attitude, the crew of the Columbus ended up at Fort Stanton.  According to author Jim McBride, who has written the definitive history of the German Internment at Fort Stanton, Captain Daehne probably was not a “Nazi Party” member”, even though the top officers of the cruise line were.  Also, Daehne’s actions on the Tuscaloosa and later at Fort Stanton would seem to support that hypothesis, Schreiber added.

But, ultimately when everything is said and done, one week before Christmas 1939, American sailors were aiding German seamen and a Jewish American naval Captain was sharing dinner with a German luxury cruise liner Captain, probably discussing with regret the events that led to the loss of the Columbus while dreading the upcoming events of the future.

For more information, Schreiber suggests looking up SS Columbus 1939, Cruising the Past SS Columbus, and Captain Harry Badt, on the web.   Information is also available in books by Jim McBride (Interned) and Lynda Sanchez (Fort Stanton: Legacy of Honor, Tradition of Healing) which are available in the Fort Stanton museum store.

Colonel Emil Fritz and the beginning of the Lincoln County War

Colonel Emil Fritz was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1832.  He joined the Gold Rush to California and, when the Civil War began in the East, Fritz became captain of Company B of the 1st California Volunteer Calvary when the California Column was being formed to defend the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona against Confederate invasion.  Fritz and the men of Company B arrived too late to defend the territory against Rebel invaders, so they were sent to Fort Sumner to help control the Navajo Indians  who had taken the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo

.

Emil Fritz’s Company B troopers and participated in the campaign that Kit Carson organized against the Indians, the Kiowas and Comanches, and he was breveted for heroism fighting against Quanah Parker’s Comanches at the Battle of Adobe Walls.  After that the company  was sent to Fort Stanton and eventually Fritz, as colonel, became the commanding officer at Fort Stanton.

Colonel Fritz was mustered out of the army in 1866 and he became a business partner with Lawrence Murphy. The firm was L. G. Murphy and Company and they started as post traders at Fort Stanton.  Murphy and Company opened a store and a brewery on Fort Stanton but, thanks mostly to Murphy, they were ejected from the fort and subsequently opened in a two story building in the town of Lincoln.  It was the only building with a pitched roof and so the locals called it the “House.”

  

At the same time, Emil established the Fritz Ranch just a few miles below Lincoln.  Times were good for him and he made a little money.  Well, okay, Fritz made a fortune.  But Emil hadn’t been home to the family house in Germany since he left for California looking for gold.  So, Emil Fritz went back to Germany to visit the family home in Stuttgart.  He had taken out a life insurance policy with the American Insurance Company for ten thousand dollars before he sailed for Europe.  There, in Stuttgart, Emil Fritz died of tuberculosis and kidney disease in 1874.

 

Fritz had previously been represented legally by Alexander McSween, who wanted the Fritz family to get Emil’s estate but Lawrence Murphy wanted to get his hands on that insurance  money, too.  The settlement of the Emil Fritz estate in New Mexico marked the start of the troubles that, when exacerbated by the murder of John Tunstall, became the Lincoln County War.  

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.

CHIMERA’S WALTZ by Bibi Brock Davis

In 1898 the Klondike gold rush was in full swing, the era of the Old West was coming to a close and the battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor, precipitating the Spanish-American War.

In Chimera’s Waltz, a book of fiction with a rich historical background, Bibi Brock Davis takes the reader back to the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and the ensuing Filipino insurrection.  The evil Royal Harley volunteers to join Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba but, instead, is sent to the Philippines.  His innocent young wife Tilda joins him there and a love triangle with young Lieutenant Evan Winslow is set in motion.  The reader has to experience the rest.

Bibi Brock Davis is a third-generation Californian.   She is a contributing editor for “California Homes Magazine,” writer, editor, and four of her short stories have been dramatized.  Her grandfather, Leopold Royalton Brock and grandmother, Matilda Hadley lived the history that Davis writes but she is quick to point out that none of the events that her Chimera’s Waltz characters experienced ever happened to her grandparents.  This book is the result of extensive research into the history of the Philippines, the U. S. Navy, American diplomacy and more.  This, combined with Davis’ flair for constructing believable and understandable characters and for involving the reader in the story, makes Chimera’s Waltz a must-read.

Chimera’s Waltz by Bibi Brock Davis is available on line at www.iuniverse.com or through the SASS Mercantile at www.sassnet.com/mercantile or 505.843.1320

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.