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

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

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.

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.

GERONIMO IN MEXICO “The Chief’s loss and Geronimo’s gain: 1866-67”

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.

Early in the summer of 1866 Geronimo took thirty mounted warriors and invaded Mexican territory. The war party went south through Chihuahua as far as Santa Cruz, Sonora, then crossed over the Sierra Madre Mountains, following the river course at the south end of the range. The Indians kept on westward from the Sierra Madre Mountains to the Sierra de Sahuaripa Mountains, and followed that range northward.

Geronimo collected all the horses, mules, and cattle they wanted, and drove the animals northward through Sonora into Arizona. Mexicans saw the Indians many times and in many places, but they did not attack at any time, nor did any Mexican troops attempt to follow them. When the Apaches arrived at the Homeland, Geronimo gave presents to all, and the tribe feasted and danced. During this raid the warriors had killed about fifty Mexicans.

Next year, in 1867, Chief Mangas Coloradas led eight Chiricahua Apache warriors on a raid into Mexico.  Geronimo went along as a warrior, for even if not in charge he was always glad for an opportunity to fight the Mexicans. The Indians rode south from near Tombstone, Arizona, into Sonora, Mexico. They attacked some Mexican cowboys, and after a fight with the Mexicans the Indians drove all the Mexican cattle toward Apacheria. On the second day of travel, as the war party drove the cattle northward, the Chief failed to set out scouts.

When not far from Arispe, Mexican troops rode down upon the Apaches. The Mexicans were well armed and well mounted, and when the Apaches first saw them the Mexicans were less than half a mile away. The Indians abandoned the purloined cattle and rode as hard as they could toward the mountains, but the Mexican troops gained on them rapidly. Soon the troopers opened fire, but they were still far away.  The Indians returned fire but they were unable to reach the Mexicans with their arrows.  At last the Indians reached some timber, and, leaving their ponies, fought the Mexican troops from the cover of the trees. The Mexicans simply halted, collected the Indian’s ponies, and rode away across the plains toward Arispe, driving the cattle with them. Mangas Coloradas and the Apache war party could do nothing but stand and watch the Mexicans until they disappeared in the distance.  After that, the Indians set out on their disappointing walk home to Arizona.

The Indians arrived home in five days with no victory to report, no spoils to divide, and not even the ponies on which they had ridden into Mexico. The whole tribe considered this Mangas Coloradas expedition disgraceful.

The warriors who had been with the Chief on this last expedition wanted to return to Mexico. They were not content with the unsatisfactory results of the raid.  More importantly, they felt intensely the taunts and jeers of the other warriors.

Mangas Coloradas either would not or could not lead them back to Mexico, so Geronimo took command.  A war party of only six went on foot, directly toward Arispe in Sonora, and made their camp in the Sierra de Sahuaripa Mountains. The Indians raided several Mexican settlements at night and captured many horses and mules.  They loaded the animals with the provisions, saddles and blankets they had taken from the Mexican villages. Then Geronimo and the war party, traveling only at night, rode back to Arizona.

When the warriors arrived at their home, Geronimo sent out sentries to prevent any surprise by Mexicans who might have trailed them, assembled the tribe, divided the spoils, and the Apaches feasted and danced into the night.  Because of the disgrace felt by the tribe as a result of the last raid, Mangas Coloradas did not receive any of this plunder.  And it seems, according to Geronimo’s words, that the war party did not care. No Mexican troops followed Geronimo’s war party back to Arizona.

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.