Tiger of The Southwest

General Cook said of the Apache, "These tigers of the human race resented anything like an attempt to regulate their conduct, or in any way to interfere with their mode of life." (like the American Revolution??!)  The most "tiger-like" of them all was Geronimo who became a terror to Mexicans and whites alike in the Southwest - a symbol of the tenacious Indian resistance to white man's intrusion.

The Early Years

The Minbreno Apaches, led by chief Mangra Coloradas, made a living raiding Mexicans and young Goyathalay did his share of riding and fighting.  But in the 1850s Mexicans killed his mother, his wife and his three children and turned Goyathalay's hatred outward.  His hatred attracted the attention of Chief Coloradas and he sent him to Cochise, chief of the Chiricahuas tribe to enlist him in the fight against the Mexicans.

Goyathalay and Cochise's warriors invaded the town of Arizpe, captured ammunition and food, and fought a two-day battle against the Mexican forces.  During the battle Goyathalay was seen running around charging against the enemy when one Mexican yelled, "Geronimo!"  The cry was echoed by others and from that day forward Goyathalay was known as Geronimo, Spanish for Jerome.

Geronimo left his home tribe soon after and married a Chiricuhua squaw and accepted Cochise as his leader.  In 1876 he began using the Sierra Madre of western Mexico as a stronghold to raid both sides of the border and terrorize Mexicans and whites. 

Next time...fighting the white man
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On March 1, 1872, President Grant signs the bill creating the nation’s first national park at Yellowstone.

Carson to the Rescue

General Oliver O. Howard arrived in Arizona in 1872 with orders to make peace humanely with the Apache.  A deeply religious man, Howard was respected by most men who met him, including Thomas Jeffords.  The two men went to meet Cochise together and a truce was reached.  Cochise even agreed to go on a reservation if Jeffords was appointed Indian Agent for the Chiricahua Apache tribe.  Terms were met and the war seemed over.  It had cost the United States 1000 men and $40 million.  Cochise lived out his days in peace and died on June 8, 1874 with Jeffords at his side.

Meanwhile the Apache weren't the only trouble the white settlers had in the Southwest.  The Comanche and Kiowa had always been allies against the white men and other tribes, and during the Civil War it intensified.  In 1864, while the US was dealing with Cochise, the Kiowa and Comanche attacked a wagon train on the Santa Fe Trail, taking five small boys as hostages.  Kit Carson, a Union Officer then, took off in pursuit with 350 volunteers and 75 Ute scouts. 

At Adobe Walls, an abandoned trading post in the Texas Panhandle near the Canadian River, some 1000 Comanche and Kiowa waited.  The Indian numbers were offset by the Union's two howitzers.  The volunteers made an orderly retreat after burning down a Kiowa village as a parting gesture. 
Carson claimed victory with 2 dead and 10 wounded, but later admitted he was lucky to have gotten his men out of the Canadian River Valley.

Navajo also menaced the white settlers and the peaceful Pueblo  in New Mexico.  When the US troops has withdrawn for the Civil War, their attacks became bolder until Colonel Kit Carson led 400 men against them in 1863-1864.  Carson destroyed the Navajo flocks and gardens, then invaded the Canyon de Chelly stronghold.  3000 Indians were marched 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico where they were held for four years before being moved to a reservation.  The end of another proud civilization...

Next time...Sioux in Minnesota
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Today in Pioneer History:  On November 27, 1868, after being convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier in the year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer from rank and command for one year.  Without bothering to identify the village or do any reconnaissance, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living with Chief Black Kettle massacring all of them.  Not a hero!

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.

Suddenly It All Changes!

Little Iberian horses were kept in the pueblos for the benefit of the Spanish masters (caballero or horsemen).  Following the Spanish defeat at the hands of the Pueblos, these horses were either stolen or released to the wild by the Pueblo who had little use for them. The effect was revolutionary!

Of those of the Southwest who mastered the horse, the Apache, Navajo and Comanche - the Comanche did it the best.  It was said of Native Americans with horses "to have possessed a liberty and power which made them a terror to sedentary Indians like the Pueblo, to the northern Spaniards and to the Americans coming west."

The first horse masters were the Apache and Navajo who used their horses for lightning raids and quick escape.  They seldom fought on horseback, never bred them and often used them for food.  Raiding for new horses became as much as part of their lives as hunting. 

The Apache and Navajo spoke similar languages.  Both tribes were loosely organized in small family bands.  Both were skilled with the bow and lance.  Neither tribe had complex ceremonies or artifacts.  They came to the Southwest shortly before the Spanish arrived.  Rich mythology and long lists of taboos characterized both tribes. One taboo was a belief that a man must never speak or even look at his mother-in-law. 

 A horror for witches and the dead were shared by both tribes.  Ghosts were thought to have malign power.  Both tribes buried their dead along with their possessions as quickly as possible to ward off evil. 

The Apache and Navajo so closely resembled each other that the Spaniards first called them "Apache de Navajo". 

Next time...Fear the Comanche!
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Today in Pioneer History: On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born.  Keller was born blind and deaf but by the teachings of Anne Sullivan broke through her isolation to learn to communicate.  She was the first blind and deaf person to earn a Bachelor's Degree. 

Meet the Southwest Native Americans

The Spaniards claimed sovereignty over the vast land of the Southwest, settlements and people.  They saw the native tribes as incapable of assimilating true civilization and therefore easily exploitable.
Oh not so fast Spain!

These Native American tribes included:
*Pueblo - sedentary with terraced towns and well-tended farms.  Predates the Spanish arrival.
*Apache, Navajos - nomadic, raiders
*Comanche - nomadic, raiders and greatly feared by both Spanish and other tribes
*California tribes and Coahuiltecans (Texas) - primitive hunters of small game and plant gatherers who adapted rather easily to mission life.  Disease virtually wiped these peoples out in later years.

The Pueblo lived in what is now is Arizona and New Mexico and had a well-developed culture and extensive agriculture even before the Spanish arrived.  Tribal name - Hopi (peaceful ones).  The Pueblo taught the Navajo farming, herding and weaving. 

In August 1680 they finally rebelled against the Spanish rulers in one of the truly successful Indian rebellions in North American history.  Led by obscure medicine man Pope` Tewa who had ben publicly flogged twice for speaking out against Spanish rule, the rebellion exploded, routing the Spanish in a few weeks and sending those not killed back to Mexico.  The revolt had enormous significance to the nomadic for the tribes of the Southwest...

Next time...the significance of that victory
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Today in Pioneer History: On June 23, 1878, Martin Sweeny, a former Indian agent and Arizona mining entrepreneur, is murdered near Tombstone, Arizona, in a dispute over a mining property.

Comanche and Apache in the Southwest

When Spain gained control of the Louisiana Territory, she did nothing to establish her rule in this wilderness, nor did she do much to maintain control of her territories in the region except New Orleans.

Comanche and Apache warriors regularly raided Spanish missions in Texas.  In 1756 an Apache delegation showed up at San Antonio to request a mission which the Spanish quickly built by the San Saba River.  The Apache were more interested in protection from the Comanche than being converted to Christianity...no Apache ever came to the mission for instruction.

In 1758 the Comanche burned down the mission, and slaughtered all the priests and soldiers.  A 300 man expedition was sent to retaliate but failed.  In 1772 Spain abandoned four mission and two presidios (garrisons) in eastern Texas and fell back to San Antonio to guard Mexico. 

Jose de Galvez, general of New Spain, received word in 1768 that Russian fur traders were moving south along the Pacific coast from Alaska. Madrid recognized imminent danger and set out to secure California with another chain of missions and presidios. 

Next time - Inside a Spanish settlers home in the Southwest
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On this Day in Pioneer History:  On June 9, 1856, nearly 500 Mormons leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their goods and supplies in two-wheeled handcarts.