Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
tribe of
Southern Athabaskan
Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The language is spoken to a ...
–speaking
Native Americans. The tribe is
federally recognized
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.
In the 19th century, the Mescalero opened their reservation to other
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
tribes, such as the
Mimbreno
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehend ...
(Chíhéńde, Warm Springs Apaches) and the
Chiricahua
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende ...
(Shá'i'á-ńde or Chidikáágu). Some
Lipan Apache
Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...
(Tú 'édì-néńde and Tú ntsaa-ńde) also joined the reservation. Their descendants are enrolled in the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
Reservation
Originally established on May 27, 1873,
by executive order of President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, the reservation was first located near
Fort Stanton
Fort Stanton was a United States Army fort near Lincoln, New Mexico.
Army Fort
It was built in 1855 by the 1st Dragoon and the 3rd and 8th Infantry Regiments to serve as a base of military operations against the Mescalero Apaches. Numerous ca ...
(Zhúuníidu). The present reservation was established in 1883. It has a land area of 1,862.463 km² (719.101 sq mi), almost entirely in
Otero County. The 463,000-acre reservation lies on the eastern flank of the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
and borders the
Lincoln National Forest
Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, the forest begins near the Texas border and contains lands in parts of ...
. A small, unpopulated section is in
Lincoln County just southwest of
Ruidoso (Tsé tághe' si'â-yá).
U.S. Route 70
U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern United States, Southeastern, Southern Unite ...
is the major highway through the reservation.
Given that the Mescalero Tribal lands in the Lincoln National Forest are of ranked as one of the most beautiful scenic locations in the world, much of the tribal economy is in hospitality and tourism. The trades and ranching also contribute to their growing economy. With a growing technology sector their Native Innovation Centers and multi state University Consortiums will soon provide a robust research and development sector to their economy.
The Mescalero Department of Resource Management and Land Development celebrated 60 years of success in 2022 on the 20th anniversary of their two premier tourist destination resorts. The Mescalero designed, developed and own the Inn of the Mountain Gods (IMG) Casino and Golf Resort within the Lincoln National Forest.
The Mescalero designed, developed, own and operate Ski Apache Resort in the Sierra Blanca Mountains. This is the southern most large ski resort in North America.
The Mescalero ownership and management of these facilities including all of the Alpine Sports including equestrian center and zip lines requires effective resource management. They reflect the entrepreneurial vision and resilience of the Mescalero Tribe. These resorts are premier destination tourism spots according to New Mexico, US, North American and global travel guides. Native American heritage combined with one-of-a kind resorts that features hand made cultural accessories to high tech operations. The mountains and foothills are forested with pines; resource and commercial development are managed carefully by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council. The Mescalero Apache developed a cultural center near the tribal headquarters on U.S. Route 70 in the reservation's largest community of
Mescalero
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) 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-cen ...
. On display are tribal artifacts and important historical information. The tribe also operates another, larger museum on the western flank of the Sacramento Mountains in Dog Canyon, south of
Alamogordo
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
(T'iis ntsaadz-í 'úú'á).
New museums and exhibits are being planned to fully capture the Mescalero Space Innovation integration capabilities through partnerships with the New Mexico Space Consortium, Spaceport America, NASA, other commercial space companies, the Intl Institute for Homeland Security Defense and US military partners (Air Force-AFRL and Space Force) the Mescalero Apache Space Innovation and Integration Centers.
The ski area is situated adjacent to the massive peak of
Sierra Blanca (Dziãgais'â-ní = "sacred mountain") a mountain. It is the southernmost alpine peak in the continental United States, and is part of the Sacramento Mountains. Using the EPA's Level III Ecoregion System, derived from Omernik, this mountain is included in the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains, which are south of the Southern Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico. Sierra Blanca Peak, located on the reservation, is sacred ground for the Mescalero Apache Tribe. They do not allow access without a permit.
Tribal government
![Mescalero Apache Tribal Offices Community Center New Mexico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Mescalero_Apache_Tribal_Offices_Community_Center_New_Mexico.jpg)
The Mescalero Apache Tribe holds elections for the office of president every two years. The eight tribal council members also are elected for two years. Strong woman leadership is welcomed and encouraged in the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council. Election for the council is held every year, when one half of the members are up for re-election. The Apache nation of over 64,000 coordinate with each other through tribal meetings. The tribe comprised over 12,468 with 8,652 according to the
United States Census.
In 1959, the tribe elected
Virginia Klinekole
Virginia Shanta Klinekole (June 13, 1924 – March 13, 2011), born Virginia Shanta, was a Mescalero Apache politician from New Mexico. She was elected as the first woman president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and served on the Tribal Council f ...
as its first woman president. She later was elected to the tribal council, serving on it until 1986.
["Obituary of Virginia Shanta Klinekole"](_blank)
LaGrone Funeral Chapel of Ruidoso Website, accessed 1 August 2011 The tribe repeatedly re-elected
Wendell Chino Wendell Chino (25 December 1923 – 4 November 1998
) was a leader of the Mescalero Apache nation.
Wendell Chino was born in Mescalero, New Mexico, on 25 December 1923.
Chino, fiercely proud and independent, helped the Apache
The Apache ( ...
as president; he served a total of 43 years, until his death on November 4, 1998.
Soon after Chino's death, the late
Sara Misquez
Sara Jane Misquez (September 6, 1945 – January 9, 2008) was an American Mescalero Apache Native American leader. Misquez served as the president of the Mescalero Apache of southern New Mexico.
Early life
Evidently member of the same Miz ...
was elected as president. Chino's son, Mark Chino, also has been elected and served as president.
New officers elected to serve in Leadership positions of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in 2022. Mr. Eddie Martinez was sworn in as the new president of the Mescalero Apache tribe. Alamogordo Daily News reports. Leadership from Holloman Airforce Base attended the tribal council ceremony for newly elected President, officers and Tribal Council. Mr. Kelton Starr, retired Army veteran and Tribal Defense Liaison maintains coordination with the Defense Research Labs and US military bases in New Mexico. The new leadership is focused on building on past successes and accelerating economic development projects with a new focus on Native Innovation and “Made-in-Native-America” campaign. Mr.Martinez will chair the Native American Regional Commission (comprising all 34 states with Federally recognized tribes) to accelerate economic security, development and defense projects that benefit the Mescalero Apache Tribe and all Native American and other Indigenous peoples.
Culture and language
The
Mescalero language
Chiricahua (also known as Chiricahua Apache) is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Chiricahua people in Chihuahua and Sonora, México and in Oklahoma and New Mexico. It is related to Navajo and Western Apache and has been described in ...
is a
Southern Athabaskan language
Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The language is spoken to a ...
which is a subfamily of the
Athabaskan and
Dené–Yeniseian families. Mescalero is part of the southwestern branch of this subfamily; it is very closely related to
Chiricahua
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende ...
, and more distantly related to
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 ...
. These are considered the three dialects of Apachean. Although Navajo is a related Southern Athabaskan language, its language and culture are considered distinct from those of the Apache.
The Mescalero Apache were primarily a nomadic
mountain people
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
. They were innovative warriors, stealth, fierce, precise and tactical. Their capabilities are forever recognized as superior military tactics. Modern defense industrial base utilizes this irregular warfare precision and “brand” in naming the most superior military aircraft ie the Boeing Manufactured Apache helicopter, the Sikorsky Blackhawk etc after the Native Americans.
They traveled east on the arid plains to hunt the buffalo and south into the desert for gathering
Mescal Agave. Spanish colonists associated them with this plant and named them Mescalero Apache. The Mescalero Apache, along with the other Apache groups, lived by traditional hunting and gathering. The Mescalero Apache culture protected the ecology and were able to utilize their resources very effectively.
The Mescalero Apache relied on hunting and gathering for subsistence. Men led the hunting parties for buffalo, antelope, and deer. Women accompanied men and dressed the meat and skins and would also participate in the hunting of small game such as rabbits.
Women would gather Mescal Agave in groups of 4-10 people, mainly consisting of female friends and family members and usually several men. Men would also take an active role in the processing of mescal.
Family descent was
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
, but men's heritage would be remembered especially if there was a famous warrior in his lineage.
Extended families consisted of grandparents, unmarried children, and their remarried daughters' nuclear families.
The Mescalero also practiced
matrilocal residence
In social anthropology, matrilocal residence or matrilocality (also uxorilocal residence or uxorilocality) is the societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents. Thus, the female offspring of a mother remain ...
patterns.
When a woman married, the couple would move into a new
tipi
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan languages, Siouan, and in use in Dakot ...
or
wickiup close to her parents' home.
Origin of name
The Mescalero's autonym, or name for themselves, is Shis-Inday ("People of the Mountain Forests") or Mashgalénde / Mashgalé-neí / Mashgalé-ńde ("People close to the mountains" or "Mescalero Apache People"). The
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
(in Mescalero: 'Indaa bixú-ńde, modern name: Chushta 'íízha-ńde), another
Athabascan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Co ...
-speaking tribe, call the Mescalero Naashgalí Dineʼé. Like other Apache peoples they often identify simply as Inday / Indee / Ndé / Nndé-í / Nndé-ne / Nndé-ńde ("The People", "Apaches"). Neighboring Apache bands called the Mescalero Nadahéndé ("People of the Mescal"), because the mescal agave (''
Agave parryi
''Agave parryi'', known as Parry's agave or mescal agave, is a flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. It is a slow-growing succulent perennial native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.
The leaves are grey gr ...
'') was a staple
food source
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...
for them. In times of need and hunger, they depended on stored mescal for survival. They adopted and call identify today also as Naa'dahéńdé ("The People of the Mescal"). Since 1550 Spanish colonists referred to them as the ''Mescalero.''
Mescalero Apache bands were often referred to by European colonists and settlers by different names, some related to their geographic territory. They were recorded in documents by a wide number of names: ''Apaches de Cuartelejo, Apaches del Río Grande, Apachi, Faraones, Mezcaleros, Natage (more correctly, one of the Lipan Apache subdivisions, along with the Nahizan), Natahene, Querechos, Teyas, Tularosa Apaches, and Vaqueros.'' They were also distinguished as ''Sierra Blanca Apaches, Sacramento Mountains Apaches, Guadalupe Mountains Apaches, Limpia Mountains Apaches.'' according to their homelands in northern or southern Mescalero territory.
Tribal territory
Originally the different Mescalero bands and local groups ranged in an area between the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
(Tú 'ichii-dí - "the water that is the color of red ocher") in the west and the eastern and southern edge of the
Llano Estacado and the southern
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
in Texas in the east; from present-day
Santa Fe (Yuutu') in the northwest and the
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
in the northeast, down to the
Big Bend of Texas and what became the Mexican provinces of Chihuahua and Coahuila to the south. The diverse landscape of this area has high mountains up to 12,000 feet, as well as watered and sheltered valleys, surrounded by arid semi-deserts and deserts, deep canyons and open plains. The Mescalero Apache Reservation is located at
geographical coordinates
The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the vario ...
.
Mescalero identity is filled with legends of the past. For instance, four mountains represent the direction of everyday life for the Mescalero Apache people: those being (1)
Sierra Blanca Peak (White Peak), (2)
El Capitan
El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...
within the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
, (3) Three Sisters Mountain (Las Tres Hermanas) and (4) Oscura Mountain Peak (sometimes the
Salinas Peak
Salinas Peak is the highest point in the San Andres Mountains of south-central New Mexico, in the United States. It lies near the northern end of the range, about northwest of Alamogordo and southeast of Socorro. To the east lies the Tularosa B ...
within the
San Andres Mountains
The San Andres Mountains are a mountain range in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, in the counties of Socorro, Sierra, and Doña Ana. The range extends about 75 miles (120 km) north to south, but are only about 12 miles (19  ...
is listed as the fourth sacred mountain instead of the Oscuru Mountain Peak). Moreover, their forefathers spoke of a creator giving them life on White Mountain. It was there that
White Painted Woman gave birth to two sons, Child of Water and Killer of Enemies
Since each band of Mescalero had the right to use the resources of deer and plants of the neighboring groups, the different bands felt at home in any area of their wide tribal territory. The Mescalero or ''Mashgalé-õde'' bands often ranged widely for hunting, gathering, warring and raiding. They called their home Indeislun Nakah ("people, forming a group, when they are there," "place where people get together") or today Mashgalé-ne bikéyaa ("Mescalero Apache Country"; "Mescalero Apache Homelands").
When many Mescalero bands were displaced by the enemy
Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
(''
'Indaa tse'-éõde'' or ''Indassene''; modern name: Gumáõchí-í) from the Southern Plains in northern and central Texas between 1700–1750, they took refuge in the mountains of New Mexico, western Texas, and Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico. Some southern Mescalero bands, together with Lipan, lived in the
Bolsón de Mapimí
The Bolsón de Mapimí is an endorheic, or internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in Swamp, swamps and Ephemeral lake, ephemeral lakes. It is located in ...
, moving between the
Nazas River
The Nazas River is a river located in northern Mexico, in the states of Coahuila and Durango. It is part of the endorheic Bolsón de Mapimí. It is only long, but irrigates an area of in the middle of the desert. The Nazas is also nurtured by t ...
, the
Conchos River
The Río Conchos (Conchos River) is a large river in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It joins the Río Bravo del Norte (known in the United States as the Rio Grande) at the town of Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
Description
The Rio Conchos is the main riv ...
and the Rio Grande to the north.
Bands
The Mescalero were divided into some regional bands, which were known to the Spanish/Mexican ('indantûhé-õde) and later Americans ('indaa ãiga-õne bindáa-í datã'ij-í - "white
nemypeople with blue eyes" or 'indáá-õne - "white people"; "
hite Hite or HITE may refer to:
*HiteJinro, a South Korean brewery
**Hite Brewery
*Hite (surname)
*Hite, California, former name of Hite Cove, California
*Hite, Utah, a ghost town
* HITE, an industrial estate in Pakistan
See also
*''Hite v. Fairfax
...
enemies"; modern name: nndé bindáa datã'ijé-õne - "white people"; lit. "blue-eyed people") by different names (most were transliterations or renderings of the bands Apache name).
* Natahéndé / Nadahéndé / Naa'daõde / Naa'dahéõdé ("Mescal People", "People of the Mescal") or Natagés (Spanish rendering and transliteration, pronounced Na-ta-hay; lived between Rio Grande and
Pecos River
The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...
(also known as ''Rio Salado'' or ''Rio del Natagee'') in central
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, with several local groups traveling on the southern and western edge of the
Llano Estacado onto the southern
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
, original Apachean group who would become the Mescalero and
Salinero Apaches The Salinero Apaches were an Apache group closely associated with the Mescalero Apaches who lived in the area of what is now western Texas, eastern New Mexico and northern Chihuahua in the 18th century.
The name Salinero, "salt producer", was freq ...
("Salt producing People").)
* Guhlkahéndé / Guułgahénde / Guuãga-héõde / Guãgaõde ("People of the Plains", "The People of Open Spaces") or Cuelcajenne, later Llañeros ("Plains People"; lived east of the mountains and the Pecos River, on the High Plains from the Texas Panhandle to the Pecos Valley, between
Amarillo
Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...
(Bighââ' guãga-yá; Bighââ' guãtsúú-yá),
Tucumcari
Tucumcari (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,278 at the 2020 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was established.
History
In 1901, the Chicago, ...
,
Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...
and the Llano Estacado, along the Sandia and Tijeras Mountains westward to
Santa Fe, from Nogal Canyon to the north to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, from the
Organ Mountains
The Organ Mountains (also known as La Sierra de los Órganos) are a rugged mountain range in southern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument was declared a national monument on May 21, 2014 ...
(Tsé daadeezhá-yá; Tsé deezhá-yá - "The place where rocks are jagged") eastwards to
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
(Tsé táhúú'á-yá) in Texas (Ch'a nteeã-õde bikéé'yaa'). In Oklahoma (Indian Territory) they developed kinship ties by marriage with the
Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
.)
* Dzithinahndé / Tsilnihéndé / Dziã-í naaõde / Dziã-í naahõde ("Mountain Ridge Band People", "The People of the Mountainside", "The People who Live on the Edge of the Mountains") or Chilpaines (lived in the mountains west and south of the Pecos River, extending in northern
Chihuahua and
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
of present-day Mexico.)
* Ch'laandé / Tslahahéndé / Ch'ilaaõde / Jilaa'éõde ("Antelope Band People", "The People of Antelope") (lived west of the Pecos west to the Rio Grande in the mountains of central and south New Mexico and the
Tularosa Basin
The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas, in the Southwestern United States.
Geography
The Tularosa Basin is located prim ...
(Tséts'ùùs-í yaneeã'â'-ee tú nk'ûj-í sikâ-yá).)
* Nit'ahéndé / Niit’ahénde / Nii't'ahéõde / Niit'ahéõde ("The People of the Side of the Land", "The People at the Side of the Earth", "The People at the Edge of the Earth", "People Who Live Against the Mountains", "Earth Crevine (Deer) People") or Sierra Blanca (White Mountains) Mescaleros, sometimes Sacramento Mountains Mescaleros (so named because their 19th century dominant local groups lived in the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
and in the
Sierra Blanca (White Mountains) (Dziãgais'â-ní) in New Mexico with other local groups living east in the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
of western Texas.)
* Tsehitcihéndé / Tséichíõde ("People of Hook Nose", "The People of Red Rock", "The People of the Guadalupe Mountains") or Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros (several bands, who lived in the ''Tséichí'' ("red rock", i.e. Guadalupe Mountains), the adjacent Plains of Texas and in northern Coahuila and Chihuahua of Mexico.)
* Tsebekinéndé / Tsébikìnéõde ("Rock House People", "Stone House People", "The People of Rock Houses"), Aguas Nuevas Apaches or Norteños ("The Northerners"), later Limpia Mescaleros (have been based around the
Nuevo Casas Grandes
Nuevo Casas Grandes is a city and the seat of the Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality in northern Mexico. It is located in the northwestern part of the state of Chihuahua, on the Casas Grandes or San Miguel river, situated in a wide, fertile valley o ...
in Chihuahua, migrating north toward the Sacramento Mountains and south to Agua Nueva 60 miles north of
Chihuahua City
The city of Chihuahua ''(La Ciudad de Chihuahua)'' () is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a population of 988,065 inhabitants.
A ...
(Jâ'é ãâyá - "the place where (there are) many donkeys"), also on both sides of the Rio Grande between El Paso and
Ojinaga, Chihuahua
Ojinaga Municipality (formally: Manuel Ojinaga ) is one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Ojinaga, a rural bordertown on the U.S.-Mexico border. The municipality has an area of 9,500.50 km ...
; some local groups lived in the Guadalupe and Limpia mountains)
* Tahuundé / Tá'huú'ndé ("Mountains Extending into the River People") (lived on both sides of the Pecos River in southern New Mexico and into southwestern Texas)
* Chisos Apaches ("Forest People"), Chinati Apaches ("People at the mountain pass") or Rio Grande Apaches (one mighty band with several local groups living in the
Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower P ...
and arid mountains ranging on both sides of the Rio Grande from the
Trans-Pecos
The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas. The Trans-Peco ...
south down into the
Sierra Madre Oriental
The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...
of North Mexico, with strongholds in the mountain ranges of the
Davis Mountains (former Limpia Mountains),
Chisos Mountains
The Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos, are a mountain range located in the Big Bend area of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, United States. The mountain system covers 40 square miles (104 square km) and is contained entirely within the ...
and
Chinati Mountains
The Chinati Mountains of Texas are a small range in the high desert of far West Texas near the city of Presidio. There is a pass through the mountains on Ranch to Market Road 2810, also known as Pinto Canyon Road, which connects to Farm to Mar ...
(from Apache name ''ch'íná'itíh'' - "gate" or "mountain pass") of
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
and in the adjoining
Sierra del Burro (Serranias del Burro),
Sierra (Maderas) del Carmen of Coahuila and
Sierra Alamos of Chihuahua north of the
Bolsón de Mapimí
The Bolsón de Mapimí is an endorheic, or internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in Swamp, swamps and Ephemeral lake, ephemeral lakes. It is located in ...
, today's
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, and was named after ...
in Texas and the
Cañón de Santa Elena Protected Area and
Maderas del Carmen
Maderas del Carmen is a biosphere reserve in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.
Maderas del Carmen encompasses part of the Sierra del Carmen, a northern finger of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. The reserve includes both dry Chihuahuan De ...
Protected Area are part of their former band territory.)
* Tuintsundé / Túntsande / Tú ntsaa-õde ("Big Water People") (once the ''Tú sis Ndé'' band of the
Lipan Apache
Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...
, who lived in south central Texas and in northern Coahuila, camping together with several bands of the Mescalero on the Plains for hunting and raiding; they merged with the Mescalero, forming a Mescalero band)
* Tuetinini / Tú’é’dinénde / Tú 'édì-néõde ("No Water People", "Tough People of the Desert") (once the ''Tú é diné Ndé'' band of the Lipan Apache, who had territory in northern Coahuila and Chihuahua; they eventually merged with some southern Mescalero bands)
The ''Natahéndé'' had had a considerable influence on the decision-making of some bands of the Western Lipan in the 18th century, especially on the ''Tindi Ndé'', ''Tcha shka-ózhäye'', ''Tú é diné Ndé'' and ''Tú sis Ndé''. To fight their common enemy, the Comanche, and to protect the northeastern and eastern border of the
Apacheria
Apachería was the term used to designate the region inhabited by the Apache people. The earliest written records have it as a region extending from north of the Arkansas River into what are now the northern states of Mexico and from Central Tex ...
against the
Comancheria
The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...
, the Mescalero (''Natahéndé'' and ''Guhlkahéndé'') on the Plains joined forces with their Lipan kin (''Cuelcahen Ndé'', ''Te'l kóndahä'', ''Ndáwe qóhä'' and ''Shá i`a Nde'') to the east and south of them.
In August 1912, by an act of the U.S. Congress, the surviving members of the
Chiricahua
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende ...
tribe were released from their prisoner-of-war status. They were given the choice to remain at
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 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 ...
, Oklahoma, where they had been imprisoned since 1894, or to relocate to the Mescalero Apache reservation. One hundred and eighty-three elected to go to New Mexico, while seventy-eight remained in Oklahoma. Their descendants still reside in both places.
Notable Mescalero
Historical chiefs and headmen
Northern Mescalero
*
Barranquito (also known as ''Palanquito''): most influential chief of the ''Niit'a-héõde (Sierra Blanca Mescalero)'' band, which ranged between the
Sierra Blanca east toward the Pecos River, probably the most important Mescalero chief in the early 1800s, when he died in 1857, his three sons and/or nephews Santana, Cadete and Roman succeeded him.
*
Santana
Santana may refer to:
Transportation
* Volkswagen Santana, an automobile
* Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles
* Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer
Boats
* Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
(also known as ''Santa Ana'', ca. 1810 - †1876): son and successor of Barranquito, since about 1830' had been a local group leader of great authority of the Sierra Blanca Mescalero band, since the death of Barranquito Santana seem to have had the most influence within the northern Mescalero bands, but avoided the spotlight and was hardly known by the whites, in his later years he became the most steadfast friend of the whites, until his death of pneumonia or smallpox.
*
Cadete (also known as ''Cadette'' - "Volunteer", in Apache: ''Gian-na-tah'' - "Always Ready", also known as ''Zhee-es-not-son'', ''Zhee Ah Nat Tsa''): a son and successor of Barranquito, after Santana he was the most prominent and powerful chief of the Sierra Blanca Mescalero band, was more diplomatic than Santana and was a spokesman for the northern Mescalero bands. After the outbreak from Bosque Redondo on November 3, 1863, he had fled with his band toward the Staked Plains, trading stolen cattle and horses from Mexico directly or via the Comanchero to Comanche. He was murdered in 1872 while on a peace mission and returning from Tularosa.
*
Roman Grande: a son and successor of Barranquito, serving as chief of a local group of the Sierra Blanca Mescalero band. Less important than Santana and Cadete, he followed the lead of his brother Santana; died during an epidemic in 1885.
*
Josecito (also known as ''José Cito''): after Barranquito and Santana, the most prominent leader of some local groups of the Sierra Blanca Mescalero band. In April 1852 he signed a treaty with Calhoun representing the US, together with the minor leader of another group of the Sierra Blanca Mescalero and Chacon, leader of the Jicarilla Apache.
*
San Juan: chief of the ''Niit'a-héõde (Sacramento Mountains Mescaleros)'' band, his band ranged along the
Rio Bonito,
Rio Hondo and in the
Capitan Mountains
The Capitan Mountains are a mountain range in Lincoln County, in south-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The range is about 20 miles (32 km) long from east to west being about 6 miles (10 km) wide and were formed fr ...
with the Sacramento Mountains - the area where Fort Stanton was built -, had alliances with eastern Mescalero bands, Lipan Apache bands as well as some Comanche bands; after Santana and Cadete were gone, chief San Juan and Nautzili took over the leadership of the Mescaleros on the reservation, but, unlike Nautzili, San Juan left the reservation in spring 1880, after Caballero's outbreak, during "Victorio's war"; his son Peso would become the last Mescalero chief.
*
Caballero
Caballero (plural: Caballeros), the Spanish word for ''knight'' or '' gentleman'', is used as a form of address for older gentlemen and may refer to:
Places
* Caballero, Coclé, Panama
* Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, a city
* Santiago de los Ca ...
(''Ca-bal-le-so'', eventually to be identified with ''
Kutbhalla'' or ''Kutu-hala''): war chief and later principal chief of the ''Niit'a-héõde (Sacramento Mountains Mescaleros)'' local groups of the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
during the decades 1860s and 1870s, likely married to a daughter of the Chihenne Chief
Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeve"), or Dasoda-hae ("He Just Sits There") (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central ...
, close ally and long-time friend of the great Mimbreño 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, New ...
(and likely his brother-in-law as Mangas Coloradas' son-in-law); in March 1880 he left Tularosa and joined Victorio, fighting along with him in their last battles, but, according to some reports, he was killed in a trouble between the chiefs before the Tres Castillos massacre on oct. 14 1880.
*
Peso
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the Dollar sign, same sign, "$", as many currencies na ...
: ca. *1849 - †1929, was born in the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
near present-day
Carlsbad as son of chief San Juan and his wife Nagoo-nah-go, his ''Niit'a-héõde'' or maybe ''Tsehitcihéndé (Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros)'' band joined Nautzili's band of Guhlkahéndé on the Southern Plains, from time to time he also joined the ''Tu'sis Nde'' band of Lipan Apaches of southeastern Texas and northeastern Mexico under Chief Magoosh, he was an expert tracker and served as Apache Scout in the campaigns against
Geronimo
Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent 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 ba ...
, in the late 1800s he, together with his brother Sin Miedo (Sans Peur, Without Fear) and Magoosh were the three primary leaders on the reservation - Magoosh for the Lipans at Elk Springs, Sin Miedo at Tule Canyon and Peso representing the Rinconada and the Three Rivers.Tsehitcihéndé oder Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros
*
Sin Miedo ("Without Fear" = "
Sans Peur"): brother of chief Peso and son of chief San Juan, his ''Niit'a-héõde'' or maybe ''Tsehitcihéndé (Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros)'' band - were close allies of the eastern Mescalero band named Guhlkahéndé on the Southern Plains and of the ''Tu'sis Nde'' band of Lipan Apaches of southeastern Texas and northeastern Mexico; together with his brothers Peso, Crook Neck, and leaders as Shanta Boy and Big Mouth he served as Apache Scout in the campaign against Geronimo, the war leader and shaman of the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendhe Apaches; he, together with his brother Peso and Magoosh were the three primary leaders on the reservation - Magoosh for the Lipans at Elk Springs, Peso representing the Rinconada and the Three Rivers, and Sin Miedo at Tule Canyon.
*
Muchacho Negro ("Black Boy", born ca. 1860, died 1930): important local group leader and war chief, joined the Chihenne Chief Victorio, because of taking part in
Victorio's War
Victorios War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico ...
he was transferred to
Fort Union (where he was to be imprisoned), but he escaped early in August 1882. Muchacho Negro was considered a renegade who would return to his people and continue to cause trouble. He was captured in June 1883 and imprisoned at
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 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 ...
, Indian Territory.
*
Gorgonio: medicine-man, aide to old Barranquito and, later, to Santana.
Southern Mescalero
*
Carnoviste
Carnoviste (1825 ca. – 1876) was a southern (Guadalupe) Mescalero chief, his band—presumably Tsehitcihéndé or Niit'ahénde—lived in the Texan Big Bend Country, ranging on both sides of the Rio Grande from the Guadalupe Mountains toward ...
: chief of ''Tsehitcihéndé (Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros)'' or maybe ''Tsebekinéndé (Aguas Nuevas Apaches or Limpia Mescaleros)'', his band lived in the Big Bend Country, ranged on both sides of the Rio Grande from the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
towards east of the Limpia Mountains also known as Davis Mountains onto the edge of the Southern Plains, was reported to have committed frequent "depredations" on the San Antonio road and to have kidnapped Hermann - soon adopted in the tribe - and Willie Lehmann near Fort Mason in May 1870; in 1874 he promoted a council of Mescalero, Mimbreño and Lipan Apache chiefs, and Victorio succeeded in persuading the council to send peace messengers to the Comanches and Kiowas; he was killed by a medicine man of his band in the spring 1876.
* Gómez (also known as Chief Gómez or Juan Gómez or by the Apache Negoyani, "Old Man of Wisdom"): chief of the 1840s1860s who led a large ''Tsebekinéndé (Aguas Nuevas Apaches or Limpia Mescaleros)'' band of five local groups with about 400 warriors. His band lived in the Big Bend Country and the Trans-Pecos on both sides of the Rio Grande; his stronghold was in the
Limpia Mountains
The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President ...
, later named
Davis Mountains
The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President Je ...
. When the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Chihuahua Ángel Trías Álvarez offered 1000
pesos
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
for his
scalp
The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the human face at the front, and by the neck at the sides and back.
Structure
The scalp is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic:
* S: The ski ...
, Gómez offered an equal amount for any Mexican or American scalp. The
Glanton Gang John Joel Glanton (1819 – 23 April 1850) was an early settler of Arkansas, a Texas Ranger and noted soldier in the Mexican–American War, and the leader of a notorious gang of scalp-hunters in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States d ...
's quest to capture Gómez on behalf of Gov. Trías was dramatized by
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
in his 1985 novel ''
Blood Meridian
''Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West'' is a 1985 in literature, 1985 Epic (genre), epic novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified under the Western (genre), Western, or sometimes the Revisionist Western, anti-Western, g ...
''. Gómez's lieutenants ( es, segundos) were Cigarito, Chinonero or Chino Huero, Simón Porode, and Simón Manuel.
** Cigarito: leader of a local group in the Limpia also known as Davis Mountains and in the lowlands of the Trans-Pecos; ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero Chief Gómez, 1840s - 1860s
** Chinonero: leader of a local group in the Limpia also known as Davis Mountains and in the lowlands of the Trans-Pecos; ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero chief Gómez, 1840s - 1860s
** Simón Porode: leader of a local group in West-Texas; ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero chief Gómez. In 1850 he and Simón Manuel contacted the garrison at San Elizario to sue for peace, but were likely overruled by Gómez, 1840s - 1860s.
** Simón Manuel: leader of a local group in West-Texas; ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero chief Gómez. In 1850 he and leader Simón Porode contacted the garrison at San Elizario to sue for peace, but were likely overruled by Gómez, 1840s - 1860s)
*
Marco
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...
(also known as ''Marcus''): chief of about 600 ''Tsehitcihéndé (Guadalupe Mountains Mescaleros)'' or maybe ''Niit'a-héõde'', including about 200 warriors. They lived in the Big Bend Country, ranged on both sides of the Rio Grande from the
Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains ( es, Sierra de Guadalupe) are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both ...
(Tsé'íchîî') toward east of the Limpia Mountains also known as Davis Mountains onto the edge of the Southern Plains. He was reported to have led frequent raids and attacks of parties on the San Antonio road and in the settlement near El Paso. He wished to join the Sierra Blanca Mescalero band, but their request was refused, because they were considered a Texas Mescalero band; active in the 1840s - 1860s.
*
Espejo ("looking-glass"): chief of a large band of ''Tsebekinéndé (Aguas Nuevas Apaches or Limpia Mescaleros)'' with several local groups under his ''segundos'' (or war chiefs) Nicolás and Antonio. They ranged between Limpia Canyon,
Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos and east of the Limpia also known as Davis Mountains onto the surrounding desert lowlands of the
Trans-Pecos
The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas. The Trans-Peco ...
in
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
, from the 1840s - late 1860s.
** Nicolás: leader of a local group of the ''Tsebekinéndé'' band in the Limpia also known as Davis Mountains and east onto the edge of the Southern Plains, ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero chief Espejo, 1840s - 1860s.
** Antonio: leader of a local group of the ''Tsebekinéndé'' band in the Limpia also known as Davis Mountains and east onto the edge of the Southern Plains, ''segundo'' and war chief of southern Mescalero chief Espejo, 1840s - 1860s.
*
Mateo: leader of a local group of the ''Tsebekinéndé'' (often called by Spanish and Americans ''Aguas Nuevas'' or ''Norteños''), stayed together with Verancia in the vicinity of Dog Canyon in the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
and presumably followed the old ways of hunt and raid, since they were considered "troublesome.", 1840s - 1860s
*
Verancia: said to be a son of Gomez, leader of a local group of the ''Tsebekinéndé'', stayed together with Mateo in the vicinity of Dog Canyon in the
Sacramento Mountains
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, ...
and presumably followed the old ways of hunt and raid, since they were considered "troublesome.", 1840s - 1860s)
*
Alsate Alsate, also known as Arzate, Arzatti, and Pedro Múzquiz, (ca. 1820 – 1881/1882) was the last chief of the Chisos band of Limpia Mescalero Apaches.
He was the son of Josè Miguel Maria del Refugio Sabas Muzquiz Gonzalez, who was captured by ...
(also known as ''Arzate'', ''Arzatti'', also known as Pedro Muzquiz, ca. *1820 - †1881/1882): last chief of the Chisos Apaches (also ''Chinati'' or ''Rio Grande Apaches''), this band ranged in the
Limpia Mountains
The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President ...
(or
Davis Mountains
The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President Je ...
),
Chisos Mountains
The Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos, are a mountain range located in the Big Bend area of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, United States. The mountain system covers 40 square miles (104 square km) and is contained entirely within the ...
and
Chinati Mountains
The Chinati Mountains of Texas are a small range in the high desert of far West Texas near the city of Presidio. There is a pass through the mountains on Ranch to Market Road 2810, also known as Pinto Canyon Road, which connects to Farm to Mar ...
in the
Big Bend area, the
Sierra del Carmen
The Sierra del Carmen, also called the Sierra Maderas del Carmen, is a northern finger of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. The Sierra begins at the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park and extends southeast for about , r ...
of Coahuila and
Sierra Alamos in Chihuahua north of the
Bolsón de Mapimí
The Bolsón de Mapimí is an endorheic, or internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in Swamp, swamps and Ephemeral lake, ephemeral lakes. It is located in ...
, born to a Mescalero woman and a member by blood of the influential Muzquiz family, captured with his band in 1878 at San Carlos de Chihuahua and deported to Mexico City to be jailed in "la Acordada", succeeded in escaping with his people in December 1879 and came back to the Big Bend; was caught again at San Carlos de Chihuahua in 1880 and executed together with his ''segundos'' (or war chiefs) Colorado and Zorillo at
Ojinaga
Ojinaga (Manuel Ojinaga) is a town and seat of the municipality of Ojinaga, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2015, the town had a total population of 28,040. It is a rural border town on the U.S.-Mexico border, with the city ...
, opposite
Presidio del Norte, Texas, his people were sold into slavery in Mexico, ca. 1860 - 1882.
** Colorado ("Red", likely "Avispa Colorada" "Red Wasp"): leader of a local group of Chisos, or maybe Lipan, Apaches in the border region of Coahuila, Chihuahua and West-Texas, ''segundo'' and war chief of the Chisos Mescalero chief Alsate, was caught and executed together with Alsate and Zorillo at Ojinaga, opposite Presidio del Norte, Texas, late 1860s - 1882.
** Zorillo (likely "Zorrillo" "Little Fox"): leader of a local group of Chisos Apaches in the border region of Coahuila, Chihuahua and West-Texas, ''segundo'' and war chief of the Chisos Mescalero chief Alsate, was caught and executed together with Alsate and Colorado at Ojinaga, opposite Presidio del Norte, Texas, late 1860s - 1882.
Eastern Mescalero / Plains Mescalero
*
Nautzili (also known as ''Natzili'', ''Nautzile'', ''Nodzilla'', ''Nalt'zilli'' or ''Nut Cilli'' - "buffalo"): chief of the ''Guhlkahéndé (Llañeros)'' band and southern Lipan splinter groups living in northern Mexico, moved to reservation in 1876. In 1879 he had assumed leadership of most of the Mescalero reservation bands (including the Lipan) and persuaded many warriors not to join the Tchihende 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, New ...
in
Victorio's War
Victorios War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico ...
.
Other notable Mescalero
*
Gouyen
Gouyen (in Mescalero ''Góyą́ń'', "the one who is wise") (c. 1857-1903), was a 19th-century Apache woman noted for her heroism.
Early life and education
''Góyą́ń'' (Gouyen) was born circa 1857 into Chief Victorio's Warm Springs Apache o ...
(ca. 1857-1903), female warrior
*
Wendell Chino Wendell Chino (25 December 1923 – 4 November 1998
) was a leader of the Mescalero Apache nation.
Wendell Chino was born in Mescalero, New Mexico, on 25 December 1923.
Chino, fiercely proud and independent, helped the Apache
The Apache ( ...
, former tribal president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe for 43 years
Encyclopedia of World Biography: Wendell Chino
/ref>
* Virginia Klinekole
Virginia Shanta Klinekole (June 13, 1924 – March 13, 2011), born Virginia Shanta, was a Mescalero Apache politician from New Mexico. She was elected as the first woman president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and served on the Tribal Council f ...
, first female tribal president
* Sara Misquez
Sara Jane Misquez (September 6, 1945 – January 9, 2008) was an American Mescalero Apache Native American leader. Misquez served as the president of the Mescalero Apache of southern New Mexico.
Early life
Evidently member of the same Miz ...
, former tribal president
*Dr. Felicia Fontenot, DDS, the first Mescalero Apache Dentist
* George Aguilar
George Aguilar is a Mescalero Apache and Pascua Yaqui actor. He is best known for his roles as Cahuenga in ''Bagdad Café'', Johnny Sassamon in ''The Scarlet Letter'', Grandfather Stone in Dreamkeeper, Big Foot in '' Into the West'', and Ka ...
, actor
Education
Mescalero Apache Schools is the tribal school.
See also
* Lincoln National Forest
Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Lincoln Forest Reserve, the forest begins near the Texas border and contains lands in parts of ...
* List of Indian reservations in the United States
This is a list of Indian reservations and other tribal homelands in the United States. In Canada, the Indian reserve is a similar institution.
Federally recognized reservations
There are 326 Indian Reservations in the United States. Most of t ...
* Mescalero, New Mexico
Mescalero ( apm, Mashgal) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Otero County, New Mexico, United States, located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The population was 1,338 at the 2010 census.
History
The settlement was originally call ...
* Mescalero language
Chiricahua (also known as Chiricahua Apache) is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Chiricahua people in Chihuahua and Sonora, México and in Oklahoma and New Mexico. It is related to Navajo and Western Apache and has been described in ...
* Winnetou
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written in German by Karl May (1842–1912), one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide, including the ''Winnetou'' trilogy. The cha ...
* Mescalero Escarpment
Notes
References
* Debo, Angie, ''Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place'', Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (1976),
* Farrer, Claire R.
Thunder Rides a Black Horse: Mescalero Apaches and the Mythic Present
'. Waveland Press, 1996.
* ''New York Times'', February 6, 2005, section 5, pp. 7, 14.
*United States Census Bureau
Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico
Bibliography
*Casteter, Edward F.; & Opler, Morris E. (1936). The ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache: The use of plants for foods, beverages and narcotics. Ethnobiological studies in the American Southwest, (Vol. 3); Biological series (Vol. 4, No. 5); Bulletin, University of New Mexico, whole, (No. 297). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
* Debo, Angie, ''Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place'', Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (1976),
*Hoijer, Harry; & Opler, Morris E. (1938). Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache texts. The University of Chicago publications in anthropology; Linguistic series. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Reprinted 1964 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; in 1970 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; & in 1980 under H. Hoijer by New York: AMS Press, ).
*Opler, Morris E. (1933). An analysis of Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache social organization in the light of their systems of relationship. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
*Opler, Morris E. (1935). The concept of supernatural power among the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches. American Anthropologist, 37 (1), 65–70.
*Opler, Morris E. (1936). The kinship systems of the Southern Athabaskan-speaking tribes. American Anthropologist, 38 (4), 620–633.
*Sonnichsen, C. L. (1972) The Mescalero Apaches (The Civilization of the American Indian Series), Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (1972),
*Seymour, Deni J. (2002) Conquest and Concealment: After the El Paso Phase on Fort Bliss. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 525/528. This document can be obtained by contacting belinda.mollard@us.army.mil.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2003) Protohistoric and Early Historic Temporal Resolution. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 560–003. This document can be obtained by contacting belinda.mollard@us.army.mil.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2003) The Cerro Rojo Complex: A Unique Indigenous Assemblage in the El Paso Area and Its Implications For The Early Apache. Proceedings of the XII Jornada Mogollon Conference in 2001. Geo-Marine, El Paso.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2004) A Ranchería in the Gran Apachería: Evidence of Intercultural Interaction at the Cerro Rojo Site. Plains Anthropologist 49(190):153-192.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2004) Before the Spanish Chronicles: Early Apache in the Southern Southwest, pp. 120 –142. In "Ancient and Historic Lifeways in North America’s Rocky Mountains." Proceedings of the 2003 Rocky Mountain Anthropological Conference, Estes Park, Colorado, edited by Robert H. Brunswig and William B. Butler. Department of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2007) Sexually Based War Crimes or Structured Conflict Strategies: An Archaeological Example from the American Southwest. In Texas and Points West: Papers in Honor of John A. Hedrick and Carol P. Hedrick, edited by Regge N. Wiseman, Thomas C. O’Laughlin, and Cordelia T. Snow, pp. 117–134. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No. 33. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2007) Apache, Spanish, and Protohistoric Archaeology on Fort Bliss. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 560–005. With Tim Church
*Seymour, Deni J. (2007) An Archaeological Perspective on the Hohokam-Pima Continuum. Old Pueblo Archaeology Bulletin No. 51 (December 2007):1-7. (This discusses the early presence of Athapaskans.)
*Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Despoblado or Athapaskan Heartland: A Methodological Perspective on Ancestral Apache Landscape Use in the Safford Area. Chapter 5 in Crossroads of the Southwest: Culture, Ethnicity, and Migration in Arizona's Safford Basin, pp. 121–162, edited by David E. Purcell, Cambridge Scholars Press, New York.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2008) A Pledge of Peace: Evidence of the Cochise-Howard Treaty Campsite. Historical Archaeology 42(4):154-179. With George Robertson.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Apache Plain and Other Plainwares on Apache Sites in the Southern Southwest. In "Serendipity: Papers in Honor of Frances Joan Mathien," edited by R.N. Wiseman, T.C O'Laughlin, C.T. Snow and C. Travis, pp 163–186. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No. 34. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Surfing Behind The Wave: A Counterpoint Discussion Relating To "A Ranchería In the Gran Apachería." Plains Anthropologist 53(206):241-262.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Pre-Differentiation Athapaskans (Proto-Apache) in the 13th and 14th Century Southern Southwest. Chapter in edited volume under preparation. Also paper in the symposium: The Earliest Athapaskans in Southern Southwest: Implications for Migration, organized and chaired by Deni Seymour, Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts of Native Peoples along the Coronado Trail from the International Border to Cibola. New Mexico Historical Review 84(3):399-435.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Distinctive Places, Suitable Spaces: Conceptualizing Mobile Group Occupational Duration and Landscape Use. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 13(3): 255–281.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Nineteenth-Century Apache Wickiups: Historically Documented Models for Archaeological Signatures of the Dwellings of Mobile People. Antiquity 83(319):157-164.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Comments On Genetic Data Relating to Athapaskan Migrations: Implications of the Malhi et al. Study for the Apache and Navajo. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(3):281-283.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2009) The Cerro Rojo Site (LA 37188)--A Large Mountain-Top Ancestral Apache Site in Southern New Mexico. Digital History Project. New Mexico Office of the State Historian. http://www.newmexicohistory.org/ Select: Place, Communities, Click on 'Cerro Rojo' on the map (orange square-dot NE of EL Paso, East of Las Cruces and Dona Ana ).
*Seymour, Deni J. (2010) Cycles Of Renewal, Transportable Assets: Aspects of the Ancestral Apache Housing Landscape. Accepted at Plains Anthropologist.
*Seymour, Deni J. (2010) Contextual Incongruities, Statistical Outliers, and Anomalies: Targeting Inconspicuous Occupational Events. American Antiquity. (Winter, in press)
*
Profile
- Master's degree thesis
External links
Official Website of the Mescalero Apache Tribe
{{authority control
Apache tribes
Native American tribes in New Mexico
Populated places in Otero County, New Mexico