The American Indian in the United States, Period 1850-1914: ... The Present Condition of the American Indian; His Political History and Other Topics; A Plea for JusticeMoorehead, Warren K. (Warren King)
History
The American Indian in the United States, Period 1850-1914: ... The Present Condition of the American Indian; His Political History and Other Topics; A Plea for Justice
Moorehead, Warren K. (Warren King)
Indians of North America; Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1869-1934
Beyond question, this and several subsequent raids on the part of white
people, were responsible for the attitude of Geronimo, Victorio and
Cochise. In 1873 and again in 1880 there was hard fighting in Mexico. In
1884 Geronimo was head war chief, and fought his heaviest engagements.
How many men were killed in these actions is not stated.
In the early sixties United States troops invited the Apache chiefs into
a tent under promise, Geronimo states, that they were to be given a
feast. Geronimo says: “When in the tent they were attacked by soldiers.
Our chief, Mangus-Colorado, and several other warriors, by cutting
through the tent, escaped; but most of the warriors were killed or
captured.” Heavy fighting followed. Such Apaches as spoke English
visited the officers and advised them where were located camps they
sought, and while the soldiers hunted for these camps, Geronimo and his
warriors, “watched them from our hiding-places and laughed at their
failures.”
In 1863 the favorite chief, Mangus-Colorado, was put in the guardhouse.
He had been told by General West that he would be protected if he made
peace. As the old chief entered he said: “This is my end.” During the
night some one threw a stone through the window and struck him in the
breast. He sprang up, and as he did so the guard shot and killed him.
In the seventies the United States troops sent for Victorio and
Geronimo. As soon as they entered the camp they were taken to
headquarters and tried by court-martial. Victorio was released and
Geronimo was put in chains, remaining in shackles four months.
For the next ensuing years there was considerable fighting, the Apaches
being afraid to trust the United States authorities and the frontier
element anxious that the Apaches be exterminated. Our troops
occasionally defeated the Indians but were more often repulsed. General
Crook took away the Apaches’ cattle and horses, and as few of the
Apaches were horse Indians, preferring to fight or hunt on foot, and as
the cattle were an incentive to thrift and industry, this action of
General Crook’s was not a severe blow to the Indians.
The General followed the Apaches into Mexico and held an interview. I
quote Geronimo’s description of what occurred.[46]
“Said the General: ‘Why did you leave the reservation?’
“I said: ‘You told me that I might live in the reservation the same as
white people lived. One year I raised a crop of corn, and gathered and
stored it, and the next year I put in a crop of oats, and when the crop
was almost ready to harvest, you told your soldiers to put me in prison,
and if I resisted to kill me. If I had been let alone I would now have
been in good circumstances, but instead of that you and the Mexicans
were hunting me with soldiers.’
“He said: ‘I never gave any such orders; the troops at Fort Apache, who
spread this report, knew that it was untrue.’
“Then I agreed to go back with him to San Carlos.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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