February 2019 20 THREE GREAT APACHE CHIEFS OF ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO TERRITORIES By the time Geronimo surrendered with the surviving Apache chiefs in 1886, the great Apache leaders had earned the grudging respect and admiration of most of the Army officers who fought them. Who were these men? How, few in numbers, did the Apache leaders continue to fight U.S. Army Cavalry and Infantry troops numbering in the thousands. Here are the stories of these great Apache chiefs, in three parts, and their war against the United States for the very existence of their people. They fought a war against genocide, the total extermination of their people advocated by many Army Generals and by politicians. They fought for their way of life, the freedom of their people and in the end lost both. They did manage to prevent the total extermination of the Apache. Wiser leaders in Washington were made to realize that the “extermination” policy advocated by many could not be carried out. Mangas Coloradas, Cochise and Victorio. Names Americans should never forget. Mangas Mangas Coloradas was born in what was to become central New Mexico Territory along the Canada Alamosa near Oja Caliente. This was the tribal homeland of the Warm Springs or Chihenne Apache. A big man, 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing some 240 pounds. He grew into an excellent warrior who was a master at hand to hand combat. He also became a statesman who, from early manhood, advocated the union of the various Apache tribes scattered throughout the lands that would become New Mexico and Arizona Territories. Early white explorers and mountain men who met Mangas found him to be a man who earned respect, a noble specimen of the Apache and a chief who was fair and firm. By the late 1840’s, Mangas Colorados was not only the undisputed leader of the Chienne Apache, but he earned the reputation as the leader of the various other Apache tribes making up the Apache nation. Of these, the Chiricahua or Chokonen Apaches of southeastern Arizona Territory and the Mescalero Apache of East Central New Mexico Territory held Mangas in high regard as the leader of all Apache. So did the White Mountain and Tonto Apache. Only he had the wisdom and statesmanship among the Apache chiefs to weld them into an alliance that would for years fend off white domination of their lands. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Mangas had no real reason to fear the Anglos who were beginning to move across and into Apache lands. They were few in number. He did have reason to distrust Americans even then, but mixed with that distrust was a desire for peace and understanding between the Americans and the Apache. It was a desire that would cost him his life. The distrust sprang from an incident not far from the traditional homeland of his Warm Springs Apache. Incidents of Deceit Several incidents of deceit by whites were etched on the mind of the great Apache leader as he guided his people and other Apache tribes. The first was a murderous affair stage-managed by a scalp hunter, trader and hustler on the New Mexico frontier named John Johnson. Johnson invited some Warm Springs Apache to trade with him, among them a relative of Mangas who was also a chief. Johnson had some American soldiers with him. The white trader put a sack of cornmeal on the ground in front of the Apache and invited them to take what they wanted. As the Apache were dividing up the cornmeal, Johnson motioned to a concealed cannon loaded with scrap metal that was hidden from the Apache view. On his signal, the cannon roared. More than 20 of the Apache were killed. Among them was the chief who was a relative of Mangas. The chief’s son was badly wounded in the blast. Troops accompanying Johnson then began opening fire on the survivors. Mangas witnessed this massacre from the sidelines. He did not join the group dividing the cornmeal. Once the killing was over Johnson and the troops left. Mangas went into the grisly scene and picked up the wounded son of the chief who was killed, carrying him back to his people in his arms. Johnson and the troops accompanying him had made a lasting impression on Mangas, one that would be reinforced 14 years later. Miners Beat Great Leader Gold and other precious metals were discovered by prospectors in an area of New Mexico where the Warm Springs Apache ranged. To the Chihenne, as with most other Native American tribes, the earth is sacred and has deep religious significance. The miners, in the Apache view, were mutilating the Earth mother in reckless pursuit of rocks the Anglos considered of monetary value. Mangas took it upon himself to try to reason with these white men and protect his tribal homeland. In his typical statesman-like manner, he went to the miners’ camp with an offer. He told the miners he would lead them to vast gold deposits in Mexico if they would abandon their meager digs on the Warm Springs Apache lands. The miners did not trust the offer of this great Apache leader, known for his deep value in the truth and in keeping his word. The fact that he came to talk with them virtually alone and with only a small escort seemed to escape the miners. The miners grabbed Mangas, tied him to a tree and lashed him savagely with a bullwhip, taunting him the entire time with insults and chants that reached frenzy as the whip ripped apart the great chief’s back. Mangas survived this insult to the greatest of continued on page 22 The names of three great Apache leaders are etched in the history of Arizona and New Mexico Territory as deeply as the pictographs left by their ancestors on the rocks of their rugged homeland. Mangas Coloradas, Cochise and Victorio were three great warrior chiefs who battled the United States Army for nearly a quarter of a century, from the early 1860s to 1886. PART 1 By Bill Roberts — Reprinted from The Traveler