The Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of
armed conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
s between the
Yavapai
The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...
and
Tonto
Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Comanche or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and televi ...
tribes against the United States in the
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of
American settlers American settlers is a broad-concept term which may refer to:
* Settlement of the Americas, which began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers entered North America via the Beringia land bridge from Siberia
* European colonization of the Americas, which ...
on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a band 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 McDowe ...
people due to 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.
Settler–Yavapai conflict
With the Mohave people's power greatly diminished, Tolkepaya saw that they needed to make new alliances to protect their safety. In April 1863, Quashackama, a well-known Tolkepaya, met with Arizona Territory superintendent of Indian affairs
Charles Poston
Charles Debrille Poston (April 20, 1825 – June 24, 1902) was an American explorer, prospector, author, politician, and civil servant. He is referred to as the "Father of Arizona" due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory. ...
, along with representatives of the Pimas, Mohaves, Maricopas and
Chemehuevi
The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute. s, at
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of ...
, to sign an agreement intended "to promote the commerce in safety between the before mentioned tribes and the Americans." However, the agreement was not an official treaty, so therefore not legally binding in any way.
Despite this, the growing numbers of settlers (very quickly outnumbering Yavapai) began to call for the government to do something about the people occupying the land that they wanted to occupy and exploit themselves. The editor of a local newspaper, the ''Arizona Miner'', said "Extermination is our only hope, and the sooner it is accomplished the better."
Early in January 1864, the Yavapai raided a number of ranches that supplied cattle to the miners in the Prescott and Agua Fria area. As a result of this and a series of recent killings, a preemptive attack was organized to discourage future depredations. Therefore, a group of well-armed volunteers were quickly outfitted with King S. Woolsey as their leader. Their mission was to track the raiding party back to their rancheria. What followed was an infamous footnote in Arizona history known today as the Bloody Tanks incident.
According to Braatz, "In December 1864, soldiers from Fort Whipple attacked two nearby Yavapé camps, killing 14 and wounding seven." The following month, Fort Whipple soldiers attacked another group of Yavapé, this time killing twenty-eight people, including their headman, Hoseckrua. Included in the group were employees of Prescott's US Indian agent John Dunn.
Reservation wars
![Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation--Ba Dah Mod Jo Cemetery-Skeleton Cave grave-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Fort_McDowell_Yavapai_Nation--Ba_Dah_Mod_Jo_Cemetery-Skeleton_Cave_grave-2.jpg)
In 1864,
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
Governor John Goodwin advised the territorial legislature that all tribes be subdued and sent to reservations. The same year, a dispatch from the US Army stated "All Apache
avapai were routinely lumped in with their neighboring ApacheIndians in that territory are hostile, and all Apache men large enough to bear arms who may be encountered in Arizona will be slain whenever met, unless they give themselves up as prisoners."
Not long after, in retaliation for the murder of a Pai headman by Americans, a group of Pai attacked some wagon trains, and closed the road between Prescott and Fort Mohave to all traffic. In response, the US Army declared all Indians in lands beyond east of the Colorado River (the great majority of traditional Yavapai territory) to be "hostile" and "subject to extermination".
On November 5, 1871, the ambush of the Wickenburg stagethe
Wickenburg massacre
The Wickenburg Massacre was the November 5, 1871, murder of six stagecoach passengers en route westbound from Wickenburg, Arizona Territory, headed for San Bernardino, California, on the La Paz road.
Massacre
Around mid-morning, about six mil ...
in which a driver and five of seven passengers killedled to the relocation of the Yavapai from Prescott to San Carlos Reservation in February 1875.
Yavapai War
The Yavapai War, was an
armed conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
from 1871 to 1875 against
Yavapai
The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...
and
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 McDowe ...
bands of
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 ...
. It began in the aftermath of the
Camp Grant Massacre, on April 28, 1871, in which nearly 150 Pinal and
Aravaipa 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 ...
s were massacred by
O'odham
The O'odham peoples, including the Tohono O'odham, the Pima people, Pima or Akimel O'odham, and the Hia C-ed O'odham, are indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and ...
warrior
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
s, Mexican settlers, and American settlers. Some of the survivors fled north into the
Tonto Basin
The Tonto Basin, also known as Pleasant Valley, covers the main drainage basin of Tonto Creek and its tributaries in central Arizona, at the southwest of the Mogollon Rim, the higher elevation '' transition zone'' across central and eastern Arizo ...
to seek protection by their Yavapai and
Tonto
Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Comanche or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and televi ...
allies. From there followed a series of
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
campaigns, under the direction of
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
George Crook
George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...
, to return the natives to the reservation system. The conflict should not be confused with the
Chiricahua War, which was fought primarily between the Americans 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 ...
warriors of
Cochise
Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...
between 1860 and 1873.
In December 1872, Colonel
George Crook
George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...
used
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 ...
scouts to find the cave near the
Salt River Canyon
Salt River Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area located within the Tonto National Forest in the U.S. state of Arizona.
Background
The Salt River and its deep canyon bisect the entire length of the wilderness. Elevations range from 2,200 fee ...
that was being used by Guwevkabaya as a hideout from which to mount attacks on White settlers. On December 28, accompanied by 100 Pima scouts, Captain William Brown led 120 of Crook's men to
a siege of the cave. 110 Kwevkepaya were trapped in the cave, when Brown ordered the soldiers to fire at the roof of the cave, causing rock fragments and lead shrapnel to rain down on the Guwevkabaya. Having nowhere else to go, the besieged gathered around the mouth of the cave, where soldiers (accompanied by Crook) pushed boulders onto them from above, killing 76 of the group. The survivors were taken to
Camp Grant as prisoners. The Yavapai were so demoralized by this and other actions by Crook that they surrendered at
Camp Verde
Camp Verde ( yuf-x-yav, ʼMatthi:wa; Western Apache: Gambúdih) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873.
The town hosts an annual corn festival in July, sponsored and orga ...
(renamed Fort McDowell), on April 6, 1873. This was the start of the ''Tonto Basin Campaign.''
In 1925, a group of Yavapai from the Fort McDowell Reservation, along with a Maricopa County Sheriff, collected the bones from the cave, by then named
Skeleton Cave, and interred them at the Fort McDowell cemetery.
Exodus Day
In 1886, many Yavapai joined in campaigns by the US Army, as scouts, 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 ...
and other Chiricahua Apache. The wars ended with the Yavapai's and the Tonto's removal from the
Camp Verde Reservation to
San Carlos on February 27, 1875, now known as Exodus Day.
[Braatz, p. 88] 1,400 where relocated in these travels and over the course the relocation the Yavapai received no wagons or rest stops.
Yavapai were beaten with whips through rivers of melted snow in which many drowned,
any Yavapai who lagged behind was left behind or shot.
The march lead to 375 deaths.
Notes
See also
*
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 ...
*
Battle of Pima Butte
The Battle of Pima Butte, or the Battle of Maricopa Wells, was fought on September 1, 1857 at Pima Butte, Arizona near Maricopa Wells in the Sierra Estrella. Yuma, Mohave, Apache and Yavapai warriors attacked a Maricopa village named Secate ...
References
*
Sources
*
* Campbell, Julie A. (1998). ''Studies in Arizona History''. Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Historical Society.
* Coffer, William E. (1982). ''Sipapu, the Story of the Indians of Arizona and New Mexico'', Van Nostrand Reinhold, .
* Fenn, Al, "''The Story of Mickey Burns''", Sun Valley Spur Shopper, September 30, 1971
* Fish, Paul R. and Fish, Suzanne K. (1977). ''Verde Valley Archaeology: Review & Prospective'', Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona, Anthropology research report #8
* Gifford, Edward (1936). ''Northeastern and Western Yavapai''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
* Hoxie, Frederick E. (1996). ''Encyclopedia of North American Indians'', Houghton Mifflin Books, .
* Jones, Terry L. and Klar, Kathryn A. (2007). ''California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity'', Rowman Altamira, .
* Kendall, Martha B. (1976). ''Selected Problems in Yavapai Syntax''. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., .
* Nelson Espeland, Wendy (1998). ''The Struggle for Water: Politics, Rationality, and Identity in the American Southwest'', University of Chicago Press.
* Pritzker, Harry (2000). ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples'', Oxford University Press, .
* Ruland Thorne, Kate; Rodda, Jeanette; Smith, Nancy R. (2005). ''Experience Jerome: The Moguls, Miners, and Mistresses of Cleopatra Hill'', Primer Publishers, .
* Salzmann, Zdenek and Salzmann, Joy M. (1997). ''Native Americans of the Southwest: The Serious Traveler's Introduction to Peoples and Places''. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
* Swanton, John Reed (1952). ''The Indian Tribes of North America'', US Government Printing Office.
* University of California, Berkeley (1943). ''University of California Publications in Linguistics'', University of California Press.
* Utley, Robert Marshall (1981). ''Frontiersmen in Blue: The United States Army and the Indian, 1848–1865'', University of Nebraska Press, .
Big Dry Wash Battlfield, Arizonaat
NPS
NPS may refer to:
Organizations
* National Park Service, U.S.
* National Pension System, India
* National Pension Service, Korea
* National Phobics Society, UK charity
* National Piers Society, UK charity
* National Poetry Slam, competition
* N ...
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation history and culture
Yavapai–Apache Nation official site
Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe official site
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History of Arizona
History of United States expansionism
Military history of the United States
Wars involving the United States
Wars fought in Arizona
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1860s in Arizona Territory
1870s in Arizona Territory
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Native American history
Ethnic cleansing in the United States
Forced marches
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Forced migrations of Native Americans in the United States
Massacres in the United States
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