The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
and various
Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
tribal confederations fought in the
southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
in 1846, the United States annexed conflicted territory from Mexico which was the home of both settlers and Apache tribes. Conflicts continued as American settlers came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock and crops and to mine minerals.
The U.S. Army established forts to fight Apache tribal war parties and force Apaches to move to designated
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...
s created by the U.S. in accordance with the
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...
. Some reservations were not on the traditional areas occupied by the Apache. In 1886, the U.S. Army put over 5,000 soldiers in the field to fight, which
resulted in the surrender of
Geronimo
Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...
and 30 of his followers. This is generally considered the end of the Apache Wars, although conflicts continued between citizens and Apaches. The
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
briefly participated in the wars during the early 1860s in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, before being diverted to action in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
in
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
and
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
.
Background
Historically, the Apache had raided enemy tribes and sometimes each other, for livestock, food or captives. They raided with small parties, for a specific purpose. The Apache only rarely united to gather armies of hundreds of men, using all tribal male members of warrior age.
Cochise
The Apache Wars were sparked when American troops erroneously accused Apache leader
Cochise and his tribe of kidnapping a young boy during a raid. Cochise professed truthfully that his tribe had not kidnapped the boy and offered to try and find him for the Americans, but the commander refused to believe him and instead took Cochise and his party hostage for the return of the boy. Cochise escaped, and a standoff developed as Cochise's tribe and allies surrounded the American forces, demanding the release of the rest of Cochise's party. After a standoff, during which 3 additional braves and a number of American soldiers and postmen were captured, the Apache retreated, believing they were being
flanked, but in revenge for the continued holding of their people killed soldiers and postmen they had captured. The Americans in turn killed the 6 men they had captured, though they allowed the women and children to go free. In what became known as the
Bascom affair, three of the men killed were Cochise's brother and nephews, and Cochise gathered the Apache tribes and made war on the U.S. for vengeance, sparking the century-long conflict.
The first U.S. Army campaigns specifically against the Apache began in 1849.
Conflicts
Jicarilla War
At the start of the Mexican–American War in 1846, many Apache tribal chieftains promised American soldiers safe passage through their land, though other tribes fought in defense of Mexico and against the influx of new settlers to New Mexico. When the United States claimed the
frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary.
Australia
The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...
territories of Mexico in 1848,
Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeves"), or Dasoda-hae (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central Apaches, whose homela ...
signed a peace treaty, respecting the Americans as the conquerors of the Mexicans' land.
However, as Tiller relates regarding the treaty signed at Santa Fe on April 2, 1851, "The Jicarillas were expected to comply with the terms of the treaty immediately, yet as far as the new Mexicans were concerned, their part of the bargain would go into effect only after Congress had ratified it." The
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
never did ratify the treaty. An uneasy peace between the Apache and the Americans persisted until an influx of gold miners into the
Santa Rita Mountains of present-day Arizona led to conflict.
The Jicarilla War began in 1849 when a group of settlers were
attacked and killed by a force of Jicarillas and
Utes in northeastern New Mexico. A second massacre occurred in 1850, in which several mail carriers were killed. The U.S. Army became involved in 1853. The Army went on to fight at the
Battle of Cieneguilla
The Battle of Cieneguilla (pronounced sienna-GEE-ya; English: small swamp) was an engagement of the Jicarilla War involving a group of Jicarilla Apaches, possibly their Ute people, Ute allies, and the United States, American 1st Cavalry Regiment ...
, a significant Apache victory, and later the
Battle of Ojo Caliente Canyon, an American victory.
Chiricahua wars

In 1851, near the
Pinos Altos mining camp, Mangas Coloradas was attacked by a group of miners; they tied him to a tree and severely beat him. Similar incidents continued in violation of the treaty, leading to Apache reprisals against European Americans. In December 1860, thirty miners
launched a surprise attack on an encampment of ''Bedonkohe'' on the west bank of the
Mimbres River in retaliation for the theft of numerous livestock. According to the historian Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "...killed four Indians, wounded others, and captured thirteen women and children." The Apache quickly retaliated with raids against U.S. citizens and property.
In early February 1861, a group of Coyotero Apaches stole cattle and kidnapped the stepson of the rancher John Ward near
Sonoita, Arizona. Ward sought redress from the nearby American Army. Lieutenant
George N. Bascom was dispatched, and Ward accompanied the detail. Bascom set out to meet with Cochise near
Apache Pass
Apache Pass, also known by its earlier Spanish name Puerto del Dado ("Pass of the Die"), is a historic mountain pass in the U.S. state of Arizona between the Dos Cabezas Mountains and Chiricahua Mountains at an elevation of . It is approximately ...
and the
Butterfield Overland Stagecoach station to secure the cattle and Ward's son. Cochise was unaware of the incident, but he offered to seek those responsible. Dissatisfied, Bascom accused Cochise of having been involved. He took Cochise and his group of family members, including his wife and children, under arrest. Angered, Cochise slashed his way from the tent and escaped. After further failed negotiations, Cochise took a member of the stage coach station hostage after an exchange of gunfire.
With Bascom unwilling to exchange prisoners, Cochise and his party murdered the members of a passing Mexican wagon train. The Apache murdered and ritually scalped nine Mexicans and took three whites captive but murdered them later. They were unsuccessful in attempting an ambush of a Butterfield Overland stagecoach. With negotiations between Cochise and Bascom at an impasse, Bascom sent for reinforcements. Cochise murdered the remaining four captives from the Butterfield Station and abandoned negotiations. Upon the advice of military surgeon Bernard Irwin, Bascom hanged the Apache hostages in his custody. The retaliatory executions became known as the
Bascom affair; they initiated another eleven years of open warfare between the varying groups of Apache and the United States settlers, the U.S. Army and the
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
.

After the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
began in April 1861, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise, his son-in-law, struck an alliance, agreeing to drive all Americans and Mexicans out of Apache territory. Their campaigns against the Confederates were the battles of
Tubac
Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which ...
,
Cookes Canyon,
Florida Mountains,
Pinos Altos and
Dragoon Springs. Other Apache war parties fought the Rebels as well;
Mescalero
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache () is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central New Mexico.
In ...
Apache attacked and captured a herd of livestock at
Fort Davis on August 9, 1861, with the Apache murdering two guards in the process. The Army sent out a patrol to try to retrieve the livestock, and the Apache murdered them all in an ambush. Mangas Coloradas and Cochise were joined in their campaign by the chief
Juh and the notable warrior
Geronimo
Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...
. They thought that they had achieved some success when the Americans closed the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach and Army troops departed, but those actions were related to the beginning of the Civil War.
The United States military leadership decided to move against the
Arizona Confederates in what the Union considered part of the
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...
by dispatching a column of Californian volunteers under Colonel
James Henry Carleton. The
California Column, as it was known, followed the old Butterfield Overland Trail east. In 1862 the troops encountered Mangas Coloradas and Cochise's followers near the site of the spring in Apache Pass. In the
Battle of Apache Pass, soldiers shot and wounded Mangas Coloradas in the chest. While recuperating, he met with an intermediary to call for surrender with the United States.
Death of Mangas Coloradas' effect on wars
Betrayal and Beheading of Mangas Coloradas in 1863
In January 1863, Coloradas agreed to surrender to U.S. military leaders at
Fort McLane, near present-day
Hurley in southwestern
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. Coloradas arrived to surrender to Brigadier General
Joseph Rodman West, an officer of the
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
militia. American soldiers took him into custody where he was later tried, found guilty of murder and executed.
It cannot be overstated how strongly the death of Mangas Coloradas influenced Apache perspective on the Apache Wars to follow. Mangas Coloradas was not merely taken into custody; he was brought in under a white flag of truce and betrayed. After betrayal and custody, he was beheaded, his head boiled, and his skull sent east, either for study or to a museum. Most of the warriors who fought in the succeeding Apache wars over the next quarter century were tied to Mangas Coloradas through band affiliation, blood relation, or marriage. Naiche--son of Cochise--for example, was the maternal grandson of Mangas Coloradas. Mangas Coloradas was father-in-law to Cochise, and of the same band as Victorio. Geronimo fought under Mangas Coloradas. To betray and kill someone was enough to create a war; cutting of an Apache's head, boiling it, and sending it east for study also affected the afterlife, and was dehumanizing. The choice to do such a thing would affect the perspective of every warrior over the next quarter century.
Carleton--who was the overall commander of the U.S. forces in New Mexico at the time, and so ultimately in charge during the betrayal and beheading--then decided to move the Navajo and Apache to reservations. Initially, he intended to make the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
valley safer for settlement and end the raids on travelers. He began by moving various tribes of Mescalero and Navajo onto the reservation at
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner was a Fortification, military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero, Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.
History
On October 31, 1862, Congress of the ...
. He enlisted
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...
, one-time friend of the
Navajo
The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
, to round them up by destroying their crops and livestock, and moving them on the
Long Walk to Fort Sumner.
Texas Indian Wars
On November 25, 1864, the
Plains Apache
The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally ...
fought in one of the largest battles of the
American Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonization of the Americas, European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States o ...
at the
First Battle of Adobe Walls. Carson led an army of 400 soldiers and
Ute
Ute or UTE may refer to:
* Ute people, a Native American people of the Great Basin
* Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah
* Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
* Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern ...
scouts to the Texas panhandle and captured an encampment from which the inhabitants had fled. More than 1,000
Comanche
The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...
,
Kiowa
Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...
and Plains Apache attacked. Carson took a position in an abandoned
adobe
Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...
building on top of a hill and repulsed several attacks. After a day of fighting, Carson retreated and the Indians permitted him to leave without opposition. Iron Shirt, a Plains Apache chief, was killed in the battle. Six soldiers were killed; the army estimated that the Indians suffered 60 killed and wounded.
The last battle between the U.S Military and the Apaches in Texas were both the
Battle of Rattlesnake Springs and the Battle of Quitman Canyon, both taking place in the summer of 1880. The last well recorded Apache raid into Texas was the McLaurin Massacre of 1881, although Apache raids in the state were believed to have happened until 1882.
Yavapai War
The
Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the
Yavapai and
Tonto
Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...
tribes against the U.S. in Arizona. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a tribe of the
Western Apache people because of their close relationship with tribes such as the Tonto and Pinal. The war culminated with the Yavapai's removal from the
Camp Verde Reservation to
San Carlos on February 27, 1875, an event now known as Exodus Day.
In 1871, a group of 6 white Americans, 48 Mexicans, and almost 100
Papago warriors
attacked Camp Grant and massacred about 150 Apache men, women, and children. Campaigning against the Apache continued in the mid-1870s. The battles of
Salt River Canyon and
Turret Peak are prime examples of the violence in the Arizona region. Soldiers and civilians, especially from
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, frequently pursued various Apache tribal war parties, trying to end their raids.
Victorio's War
In 1879, the veteran Chiricahua war chief
Victorio
Victorio (Bidu-ya, Beduiat; ca. 1825–October 14, 1880) was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh (or Chihenne, often called Mimbreño) division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas ...
and his followers were facing forced removal from their homeland and reservation at
Ojo Caliente, New Mexico
Ojo Caliente is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, New Mexico, United States, along the Rio Ojo Caliente.
Description
Ojo Caliente lies along U.S. Route 285 in New Mexico, U.S. Route 285 nea ...
and transfer to San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. On August 21, 1879, Victorio, 80 warriors, and their women and children fled the reservation. Victorio was joined by other Apache, especially Mescalero, and his force may have reached a maximum of 200 warriors, an unusually large force of Apache.
For 14 months, Victorio led a
guerrilla war against the U.S. Army and white settlers in southern New Mexico, western Texas, and northern Mexico. He fought more than a dozen battles and skirmishes with the U.S. Army and raided several civilian settlements. Several thousand American and Mexican soldiers and Indian scouts pursued him, as he fled from one stronghold to another. Victorio and many of his followers met their end on October 14, 1880, when they were surrounded and killed by Mexican soldiers at the
Battle of Tres Castillos in
Chihuahua, Mexico. A lieutenant of Victorio's,
Nana, continued the war. With fewer than 40 warriors Nana raided extensively in New Mexico from June to August 1881. Nana survived the raid and died of old age in 1896.
Battles near Fort Apache
In August 1881, a force of soldiers from
Fort Apache Indian Reservation was sent to investigate recent reports of Apache unrest and to detain the
medicine man
A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...
Nock-ay-det-klinne. The arrest of Nock-ay-det-klinne by three Native scouts was peaceful until they made their way back to camp. Upon arrival the camp on August 31, had already been surrounded by Nock-ay-det-klinne's followers. The
Battle of Cibecue Creek began, and Nock-ay-det-klinne was killed. The following day, the Apache warriors
attacked Fort Apache in reprisal for the death of Nock-ay-det-klinne.
In the spring of 1882, the warrior Na-tio-tisha lead a party of about 60 White Mountain Apache warriors. In early July they ambushed and killed four
San Carlos policemen, including the police chief. After the ambush, Na-tio-tisha led his war-party northwest through the
Tonto Basin. Local Arizona settlers were greatly alarmed and demanded protection from the U.S. Army. It sent out fourteen
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...
of
U.S. Cavalry from forts across the region. In the middle of July, Na-tio-tisha led his war-party up Cherry Creek to the
Mogollon Rim
The Mogollon Rim ( or or ) is a topography, topographical and geological feature cutting across Northern Arizona, the northern half of the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately , starting in northern Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapa ...
, intending to reach General Springs, a well-known water hole on the Crook Trail. Noticing they were being trailed by a single troop of cavalry, the Apache lay an ambush seven miles north of General Springs, where a fork of East Clear Creek cuts a gorge into the Mogollon Rim. The Apaches hid on the far side and waited. The cavalry company was led by Captain
Adna Chaffee. The chief scout,
Al Sieber, discovered the Apache trap and warned the troops. During the night, Chaffee's lone company was reinforced by four more from Fort Apache under the command of Major A.W. Evans. Then they were ready to begin the
Battle of Big Dry Wash
The Battle of Big Dry Wash was fought on July 17, 1882, between troops of the United States Army's 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States), 3rd Cavalry Regiment and 6th Cavalry Regiment (United States), 6th Cavalry Regiment and warriors of t ...
.
Geronimo campaign

After two decades of guerrilla warfare, Cochise chose to make peace with the U.S. He agreed to relocate his people to a reservation in the
Chiricahua Mountains. Soon afterward in 1874, Cochise died. In a change of policy, the U.S. government decided to move the Chiricahua to the San Carlos reservation in 1876. Half complied and the other half, led by Geronimo, escaped to Mexico. In the spring of 1877, the U.S. captured Geronimo and brought him to the San Carlos reservation. He stayed there until September 1881. As soldiers gathered near the reservation, he feared being imprisoned for previous activities. He fled the reservation with 700 Apache and went to Mexico again.
On April 19, 1882, Chiricahua chief Juh attacked the San Carlos reservation and forced Chief Loco to break out. During the hostilities, Juh's warriors killed the chief of police Albert D. Sterling, along with Sagotal, an Apache policeman. Juh led Loco and up to 700 other Apaches back to Mexico.
In the spring of 1883, General
George Crook
George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. He is best known for commanding U.S. forces in the Geronimo Campaign, 1886 campaign that ...
was put in charge of the Arizona and New Mexico Indian reservations. With 200
Apache Scouts
The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States mil ...
, he journeyed to Mexico, found Geronimo's camp, and with
Tom Horn
Thomas Horn Jr., (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, rodeo performer, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committ ...
as his interpreter, persuaded Geronimo and his people to return to the San Carlos reservation. Chiefs Bonito, Loco, and Nana came with Crook at the time. Juh remained in Mexico where he died accidentally in November. Geronimo did not come until February 1884. Crook instituted several reforms on the reservation, but local newspapers criticized him for being too lenient with the Apache; newspapers of the time demonized Geronimo. On May 17, 1885, Geronimo escaped again to Mexico. Geronimo and his party killed dozens of people during the
Bear Valley Raid and similar attacks.
In the spring of 1886, Crook went after Geronimo and caught up with him just over the Mexico border in March. Geronimo and his group fled, and Crook could not catch them. The
War Department reprimanded Crook for the failure, and he resigned. He was replaced by Brigadier General
Nelson Miles in April 1886. Miles deployed over two dozen
heliograph
A heliograph () is a solar telegraph system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code from the 1840s) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a s ...
points to coordinate 5,000 soldiers, 500 Apache Scouts, 100
Navajo Scouts
The Navajo Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts between 1873 and 1895. Generally, the scouts were signed up at Fort Wingate for six month enlistments. In the period 1873 to 1885, there were usually ten to twenty-five scouts a ...
, and thousands of civilian militia men against Geronimo and his 24 warriors. Lieutenant.
Charles B. Gatewood and his Apache Scouts found Geronimo in
Skeleton Canyon in September 1886 and persuaded them to surrender to Miles.
An 1887 letter from Charles Winters from Troop D of the
6th Cavalry Regiment describes a soldier's experiences during the Apache Wars in New Mexico:
Dear Friend!
I will now take and write to you a few lines, to let you know that I am yet alive, and doing well. I joint icthe Army in January, 86 and had a good fight with Geronimo and his Indians. I also had two hard fights, where i came very near getting killed, but i got true icalright. I was made Corporal when i first enlisted, but have now got high enough to be in Charge of Troop D. 6th U.S. Cavalry and it requires a good man for to get that office, and that is more than i expected. Charley White from Cranbury came out with me and got in the same Troop with me, and I sent him with twenty more men out on a Scout after Indians and Charley was lucky enough to be shot down by Indians the first day, and only three of my men returned. I was very sorry but it could not be helped.
The Territory of New Mexico is a very nice place never no Winter and lots of Gold and Silver Mines all around but for all that it is a disagreeable place on account of so many Indians. I like it first rate and I think as soon as my five years are up I will go bak icto Old New Jersey but not today. My name isn't Charley Winters no more since i shot that man at Jefferson Barracks when he tried to get away from me. My Captain at time told me to take the name of his son who died and so my name since then is Charles H. Wood. I will now close and hope that you will soon write and let me know how you are getting along. Give my best regards to all and to yourself and oblige.
The Army imprisoned Geronimo and many other Apache men, including some of the local Apache scouts, then they transported them to the East as prisoners of war. They held them at
Fort Pickens and
Fort Marion in Florida. Northerners vacationing in
St. Augustine, where Fort Marion was located, included teachers and missionaries, who became interested in the Apache prisoners. Volunteers participated in teaching the Apache to speak and write English, about Christian religion and elements of American culture. Many citizens raised funds to send nearly 20 of the younger male prisoners to college after they were released from detainment. Most attended
Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, a historically black college. Many Apache died in the prisons. Later, Apache children were taken to the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where fifty of them died. Eventually, after 26 years, the Apache in Florida were released to return to the Southwest, but Geronimo was sent to
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...
, Oklahoma, where he died.
Post-1887 period
Despite the surrender of Geronimo and his followers in 1886, Apache warriors continued warfare against Americans and Mexicans. U.S. forces went on
search and destroy
Seek and destroy (also known as search and destroy, or S&D) is a military strategy which consists of inserting infantry forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing. Fi ...
missions against the small war parties, using tactics including
solar signaling, wire
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
, joint American and Mexican intelligence sharing, allied
Indian Scouts, and local quick reaction posse groups.
The U.S. Cavalry had several expeditions against the Apache after 1886. During one of them,
10th Cavalry and
4th Cavalry forces under First Lieutenant
James W. Watson pursued mounted Apache warriors north of
Globe, Arizona
Globe ( "Place of Metal") is a city in and the county seat of Gila County, Arizona, Gila County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,249. Globe was founded c. 1875 as a mini ...
, along the
Salt River. During the
Cherry Creek campaign, Sergeant James T. Daniels of the 4th Cavalry, and Sergeant
William McBryar of the 10th Cavalry, and Sergeant
Y. B. Rowdy of the Apache Scouts are the last recipients of the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
for actions during the Apache Wars.
[Melzer, p. 285]
Aftermath
The last Apache raid into the United States occurred as late as 1924 when a war party of natives, who were later caught and arrested, stole some horses from Arizonan settlers. This is considered to be the end of the American Indian Wars.
See also
*
Arizona War
*
Indian Campaign Medal
*
Navajo Wars
*
Buffalo Soldiers
*
Emmet Crawford
*
King Woolsey
*
Battle at Pozo Hediondo
Notes
References
*
*
*Pettis, George H. "Kit Carson's Fight with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians". ''Historical Society of New Mexico. Personal Narrative No. 12, Battles of the War of the Rebellion'', Santa Fe, 1908.
*Rajtar, Steve, ''Indian War Sites: A Guidebook to Battlefield, Monuments and Memorials, State by State with Canada and Mexico'', McFarland & Company, Jefferson North Carolina, 1999.
*
*
*Tiller, Veronica E. Velarde, ''The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History, 1846–1970'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1983.
*
*
Further reading
*Bigelow, John Lt ''On the Bloody Trail of Geronimo'' NY: Tower Books 1958
*
*Clarke, Dwight L., ''Stephen Watts Kearny: Soldier of the West''
*Cochise, Ciyé ''The First Hundred Years of Nino Cochise'' NY: Pyramid Books 1972
*Curtis, Charles A. ''Army Life in the West (1862–1865)''. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. .
*Davis, Britton ''The Truth about Geronimo''. New Haven: Yale Press 1929
*Geronimo (edited by Barrett) ''Geronimo, His Own Story'' NY: Ballantine Books 1971
* Kaywaykla, James (edited Eve Ball) ''In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1970
*Lavender, David. ''The Rockies''. Revised Edition. NY: Harper & Row, 1975.
*Limerick, Patricia Nelson. ''The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West''. NY: W.W. Norton, 1987.
*
*Smith, Duane A. ''Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, & Montana, 1859–1915''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992.
*Terrell, John Upton,
''Apache Chronicle"
*Williams, Albert N. ''Rocky Mountain Country''. NY: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1950.
*
External links
Map of Battles and Skirmishes Between the Apaches and U.S. Army
{{Buffalo Soldiers
Indian wars of the American Old West
Wars involving the Indigenous peoples of North America
Wars between the United States and Native Americans
Guerrilla wars
Arizona Territory
New Mexico Territory
Wars fought in Arizona
Military history of New Mexico
Wars fought in Texas
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...
1850s conflicts
1860s conflicts
1870s conflicts
1880s conflicts
1890s conflicts
1900s conflicts
1910s conflicts