Who were the Civilized Ones?

In the Southwest, guerrilla war between the white settlers and the Apache had become long and bloody in the 1860s.  Cochise and Mangsr Coloradas had allied together and with 700 of their warriors, ambushed and ravaged the Southwest until the Gila River country in southern Arizona was cleared of all ranchers - except for one.  Pete Kitchen turned his hilltop adobe ranch house into a fortress and dealt out punishment and grief to the Apache raiders until they left him alone. 

There was another idea - Thomas Jeffords dealt with the problem by talking.  Jeffords was a six-foot New Yorker with a flaming red beard.  As superintendent of mail between Fort Bowie and Tucson, he had lost 14 drivers in just 16 months.  He had had enough.  He rode alone to Cochise's mountain stronghold where the only reason he wasn't killed was because he startled the Apache by his confidence.  Jeffords dropped his guns and requested to speak to Cochise.  Cochise was a courageous kind of guy and found the same in Jeffords.  They formed an immediate friendship with Jeffords staying on with Cochise for several days.  After that, the Apache never again attacked one of Jeffords drivers. 

The war between whites and Apaches went on however.  Mangas Coloradas was weary of battles and certain of coming defeat when we went to talk with General Joseph West in 1863.  He wanted peace - what he got was murdered.  Cochise doubled his raids, yet wanted peace as well.  The adds against him were too great.  In 1871, 128 unarmed Apache were massacred by a mob of Arizonans.  Humanitarians in the East wanted a stop to the slaughter on both sides.

Who were the uncivilized???


Next Time - Was peace possible?
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Today on Pioneer History: "On November 20, 1843,  the growing community along the banks of the Missouri River adopts the more impressive St. Joseph as its name. It was established as the Blacksnake Hills trading post in 1826, and as with many early western towns, St. Joseph began as a fur trading post. 

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.

Walker vs. Mangas

Mangas Coloradas, the only Apache chief with enough influence and reputation to work with other
tribes, met with the calvary military at Apache Pass in Southeast Arizona.  Along with his son-in-law, Cochise, and 200 Apache, Mangas fought well.  After 6 hours of battle, he was wounded and forced to retreat.  By the time Captain Joseph Walker and his men came along, the Apache wanted revenge.

It was a human chess game between the two old veterans.  Walker wanted to get out of Apache territory and to the Continental Divide in southern Arizona.  Mangas wanted to harass and stop Walker altogether.  Both wanted as little bloodshed as possible.

Since Walker and his men were outnumbered 3:1, they were relatively safe in the open with their sharpshooters inflicting ocassional wounds, while Mangas tried to lure Walker into an ambush and raided his livestock. 

Walker's party went up and down New Mexico, staying to the east of the mountains and looking for a way through.  Constantly dogged by the Apache, they eventually ran out of water and had to travel through Apache territory to a spring.

In the end, they outwitted the Apache, made it to water and out again to present day Sioux City and Fort McLane in January 1863. 

Next time...Walker's New Plan

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Today in History: On January 19, 1847,  Mexicans, angered by the abusive behavior of American soldiers occupying Taos,  strike back by murdering the American-born New Mexican governor Charles Bent.  (refer back to earlier posts in Pioneer Pieces for Captain Joseph Walker in Taos)