Not a Smart Move!

The Southwest Indians, namely the Navajo and Apache, had resisted white man's domination longer than any other tribes.  In the 1850s however, the Apache-American relationship was one of mutual respect.  Americans who came west to Arizona and New Mexico Territory were hardly a threat to the fierce Apache, and the Americans seems to be possible allies against the Comanche. Two incidents changed the good-feeling relationship.

An old Apache chief was seized and brutally whipped by a party of American miners in south-central New Mexico.  The victim, Mangas Coloradas, was a hero of great influence and of countless battles against the Mexicans.  The 2nd incident happened in 1861 when a group of Apache kidnapped a young American boy.  The American lieutenant blamed Apache chief, Cochise, and arrested him, his wife, his brother and his two nephews.  They were held as hostages until the American boy was returned.

Cochise escaped but his family remained behind at the mercy of the soldiers.  Meanwhile, Cochise went on a rampage, capturing a stage driver and two Americans from a wagon train.  He killed 8 Mexicans drivers as well.  Cochise offered to exchange the Americans for his family, but the offer was refused.  This led Cochise to murder all the prisoners he had.  In return his brother, and two nephews were hanged. 

Now there was a mess...enraging the Apache at the start of the Civil War when all the western forts were being deserted was not a smart move!  With New Mexican Territory stripped of soldiers, Cochise's tribe slashed their way through dozens of white settlements in Arizona Territory, taking 150 lives.  The American settlers fled. 

Ironically, it wasn't even Cochise's tribe who kidnapped the American boy in the first place...it was the Pinal Apache.  Cochise was a Chiricahua Apache, and it could have all be settled by a simple exchange. 

Next time - The Confederate Arrive
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Today in Pioneer History: "On November 17, 1821, Missouri Indian trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sells his goods at an enormous profit, and makes plans to return the next year over the route that will become known as the Santa Fe Trail.