ArizonaRealCountry.com 23 March 2019 Cochise and Mangas saw the Carleton troops approaching. Knowing they would have to obtain water at Apache Springs, the two war chiefs positioned warriors for an ambush in the rugged hills above the springs. Captain Thomas Roberts moved an advance detachment of troops through the pass and to the springs on July 15. Roberts had two mountain howitzers with him and finally drove the Apache warriors from the rugged mountains above the springs. It was a vicious battle with losses on both sides, but the Apache could not stand up to the howitzer shells lobed at their positions. Six months later California Volunteers duped Mangas Colorados into a peace parlay where he was tortured and murdered (see February 2019 Arizona Real Country the Magazine). Victorio Emerges The Warm Springs Apache continued to war for two years after the death of Mangas, with Victorio emerging as the tribe’s top war chief. The American war in the east was at an end. Troops were being sent into New Mexico and Arizona territories by the thousands to protect the settlers and miners from Apache raids. As 1865 dawned, Victorio entered peace talks with the American military, but Cochise refused to participate. Instead, Cochise picked up the pace of the war. His warriors attacked both American and Mexican troops on both sides of the border, raided ranches and farms throughout the wide territory of the Chiricahua tribe. They killed travelers, miners, prospectors and wagon train crews attempting to move along lonely trails, and filled citizens of the few small settlements of the region with fear. In A Squeeze More and more troops and settlers moved in despite his campaign and Cochise, by 1866, soon learned the Americans were determined to stay. Cochise saw Mexican troops virtually closing his longtime hideouts in Mexico. A steady increase in American troops and groups of civilians were pursuing him. He adopted hit and run guerrilla tactics that worked well for a couple of years, but by 1868, Cochise realized that he would eventually have to make peace with the Americans if his people were to survive. Botched Reservation Policies Cochise knew from the experience of the Warm Springs Apache that the Americans had no idea what to do with Cochise and his people if he did make peace. The Canada Alamosa Reservation of the Warm Springs Apache was established following Victorio’s peace talks with the military and in 1870 Cochise visited the Chihenne at the reservation near today’s Monticello, New Mexico. The Pony 2nd Hand Store We Collect & Deliver Your Merchandise FREE LOCAL DELIVERY AVAILABLE 662 W. Wickenburg Way Wickenburg • Open Monday–Saturday thepony2ndhandstore.com 928-231-2730 • 928-232-2019 We Carry Quality 2nd Hand & New Merchandise Your Home Furniture Supplies Store Specializing in Appliances Jane and Peter Kibble pony2ndhandstore@outlook.com The Chiricahua leader met with New Mexico Indian Agent William Arny during a one month stay at the Canada Alamosa Reservation, then left, supposedly to round up his people and bring them to Canada Alamosa. While he was gone, Washington assigned a new Indian Agent to New Mexico. Cochise heard reports that officials were planning to put the Chiricahuas with the Mescalero Apaches on a reservation east of the Rio Grande. Cochise kept his people in Arizona. His guerrilla war with American troops, attacking in small detachments and then disappearing into mountain strongholds continued. Cochise returned to the Warm Springs Reservation in the fall of 1871 and remained until March of 1872 when the government relocated the New Mexico Indian Agency from Canada Alamosa to Tularosa. Cochise returned to the Dragoon Mountains disheartened by the ever- changing American reservation policies. Peace at Last Cochise had one white friend, a man he respected and could trust. His name was Tom Jeffords. Jeffords had impressed Cochise by riding out alone to meet with him and his warriors, an extremely brave act that won for Jeffords the undying respect and friendship of the great Chiricahua leader. President Ulysses S. Grant had sent Brigadier General Oliver O. Howard to Arizona to negotiate a peace treaty with Cochise in the summer of 1872. Tom Jeffords was responsible for bringing Howard and Cochise together for a meeting that resulted in the formation of the Chiricahua Reservation and a peace treaty. Jeffords was a man of vision, who believed that peace between the Apache and Washington was always there for the taking, but the bungling of the Washington bureaucrats and the instability of their policies made it constantly elusive. With his people at peace on their own reservation in the Chiricahuas, Cochise died of natural causes on June 8, 1874. He was about 64 years old. Next Month, Part 3: Victorio Apache Pass formed a trail between the heart of the Dragoon Mountains and the Chiricahua Mountains, the traditional strongholds of Cochise and his people. Cochise died of natural causes and is buried near Cochise Stronghold, Arizona. Three Great Apache Chiefs continued from page 20