Eskiminzin (
''Ndee biyati' / Nnee biyati: "Men Stand in Line for Him"; or ''Hashkebansiziin'', ''Hàckíbáínzín'' - "Angry, Men Stand in Line for Him", 1828–1894) was a local group chief of the Aravaipa band of the
San Carlos group of the
Western Apache
The Western Apache live primarily in east central Arizona, in the United States. Most live within reservations. The Fort Apache Indian Reservation, San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Tonto Apache, and the Fort McDo ...
during the
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexic ...
. Born about 1828 near the
Pinal Mountains
The Pinal Mountains (Yavapai: Walkame – "pine mountains", Western Apache: Dził Nnilchí' Diyiléé – "pine-burdened mountain") are a mountain range located in Gila County, Arizona. They have a maximum elevation of at Pinal Peak and a promine ...
as a Pinaleño/Pinal Apache, through marriage into the Aravaipa, he became one of them and later their chief. He desired a lasting peace between the indigenous peoples of America and the whites. In 1871, Eskiminzin and the Pinaleño/Pinal band of the San Carlos Apaches under
Capitán Chiquito accepted an offer by the
US Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
to settle down and plant crops in the vicinity of
Camp Grant, a fort near modern-day
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. The plan was short-lived; on April 30, 1871, a band of anti-Apache American civilians under William S. Oury, Mexican civilians under Jesús María Elías, and
Tohono O'odham warriors under their chief Francisco Galerita launched a merciless assault on the tranquil settlement without warning. In the process of what became known as the
Camp Grant massacre, 144 occupants (almost entirely children and women) were indiscriminately butchered and mutilated in the space of less than an hour, nearly all of them scalped. Twenty-nine children had been captured and were sold into slavery in Mexico by the Tohono O'odham and the Mexicans themselves. Eskiminzin was unfortunate enough to survive the tragedy. However, later in life he was suspected of sheltering his son-in-law the
Apache Kid
Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl ( 1860 – in or after 1894), better known as the Apache Kid, was born in Aravaipa Canyon (25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Carlos Agency) into one of the three local groups of the Aravaipa/Arivaipa Apache Band (in Apa ...
, was imprisoned without a trial, and soon after his release, died, a broken man, in 1894.
References
Bio Note
External links
1828 births
1894 deaths
Apache people
Native American leaders
Native American people of the Indian Wars
Native American people from Arizona
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