Apache Series Marathon | BRUTAL Fights with the Comanche, Mexico, United States, and MORE!

welcome to dates and dead guys the Apache are among the most incredible Elusive and deadly Native American tribes to have lived inside North America throughout 2023 I have released nine videos detailing just how incredible this Indian tribe was their history is full of Triumph and disaster but it's really just a series of incredible stories I feel privileged to have gotten to tell you what follows is a compilation video of the stories I've released over the course of the last year about the Apache they don't appear in the order that they were released I put them as best I could in chronological order although it was hard to do because a lot of the stories do overlap in the video description I have labeled where each episode begins so that you are free to jump around to whichever topics most interest you if you've enjoyed the videos please leave a like And subscribe to the channel it really does help additionally if you have any questions about the Apache please leave them in the comments or if you have any suggestions for future videos leave them there too I thank you for watching and enjoy the Apache series Marathon welcome to dates and dead guys the conflict between the Apache and Comanche is among the most long lasting and brutal and all of Native American history sworn enemies they fought each other and what the Spanish and Mexico called a war of extermination by the late 1500s the Eastern Apache had established a dominant presence in the southern region of the Great Plains the area secured for them good buffalo hunting grounds while also giving them space to practice agriculture it was the best of both worlds a semi-agrarian lifestyle Diversified their diets and right next to the most valuable food source in all of North America the Comanche at the same time were Outcast forced to unfavorable territory by more powerful groups like the Apache their culture became aggressive and vengeful but in the middle of the 1600s one big change caused by their greatest enemy will lead them to becoming the most powerful native group in American history in the 1500s Spanish success in Mexico led to a continued desire to conquer it was kind of their thing the Europeans gradually moved North and had continued to colonize and spread their influence until they reached Apache territory Spanish Conquest was a directive they brought with them metal armor guns and hundreds of horses as they spread into the territory of modern New Mexico around 1600. with overwhelming power they quickly subjugated many Native groups within the region they forced them to take on Christianity and work for them as payment just as they had done in Central and South America for the previous hundred years however the nearby Apache were less agreeable the Apache violently rated these new Spanish settlements stealing horses in the process as they watched the Spanish from a distance they learned how to ride them by the 1650s the Apache were conducting mounted raids on Horseback the added speed of the horse made an even more dangerous and effective the constant harassment was more than the Spanish in the region could tick Spanish settlements like Taos and Santa Fe were frequent targets and the Pueblo Indians the Spanish had conquered were the unfortunate victims of Apache Terror as Spanish subjects the Pueblo expected protection but the Spanish could not effectively provide them with any the rage would be over quickly but they were devastating the Apache would kill anyone who opposed them and then disappear into the Western landscape with hundreds of horses and other supplies by 1680 the Apache rage became such a problem that the Pueblo had given up on Spanish protection and they revolted they drove the Spanish out of New Mexico but in the process 1000 of Spanish horses escaped Mustangs a horse well suited to live in the Great Plains a horse that will find its Way North here we fast forward a few decades as territory have been lost and regained the Spanish continued to be constantly raided by the Apache but Apache Behavior changed in 1706 almost at once the Spanish began to notice that the raids against them had stopped reports start to come in that the Spanish can't explain the Apache are acting strangely bands like the Jai gorilla and the mescaleros are seemingly leaving the plains abandoning their settlements and farms and doing so in a hurry the Spanish heard rumors of great battles but had no idea who the Apache were fighting they were told of Invaders from the north mounted on Horseback that they were powerful fast and Dangerous by the 1720s the Apache were so devastated that many bands had moved entirely into the mountains or even coming to Spanish for protection some bands didn't make it that far Spanish Expeditions found that planes dwelling Apache bands like the farones carlanes and Palomas banished entirely exterminated by an enemy the Spanish couldn't even identify so what was killing the Apache the answer came from the Utes they called the northern Phantom Invaders the comanchea in their language it meant those who are against me all the time an appropriate meaning for people the Spanish would come to call the Comanche the Apache created their own undoing from the Comanche historically the Comanche are commonly described as rather unimpressive they were bullied by the other tribes in the region including the Apache the Comanches were pushed to the Eastern side of the Rockies to scratch out a living in the least desirable territory in the rise to power that is something that they will not forget then in the middle of the 17th century like a gift from the gods they found the horse the same horses that were freed as a result of Apache harassment of the Pueblo in Spanish it changed everything for them the horses were Mustangs they were a breed suited for the planes in every way tough and rugged in the two decades that followed the Spanish Retreat from New Mexico the horse had spread like wildfire it's called the Great horse dispersal all the tribes of the region started using them but the Comanche did it better the first thing they did differently was learn to breed horses other tribes didn't bother they got their horses in raids not the Comanche they brought their own on the planes horses were currency and the Comanche were Rich the Eastern Apache like many Plains groups were at least semi-agricultural this tied them to land the Comanche didn't farm at all as full Nomads they could be anywhere on the Plains and horses gave them the ability to cover ranges previously thought impossible if you were within 400 miles of the Comanche you were in danger as Buffalo Hunters this range was incredibly valuable but as Warriors it made them terrifying most raids would come in spring and summer when the grass in the plains was high enough that the Comanche were sure they had enough food for their horses they would often move at night the light of the full moon would illuminate the planes offering them visibility to both attack and escape the raids were brutal murders tortures and acts I am reluctant to bring up on YouTube this was so common that settlers refer to these conditions as the Comanche Moon but their greatest Advantage what made them more effective than everyone else was that they fought fully mounted almost no other tribe did this George Catlin the artist for this image witnessed the Comanche first hand he described what he saw quote on their feet they are one of the most unattractive and slovingly looking races of Indians I've ever seen but the moment they mount their horses they seem at once metamorphosized I am ready without hesitation to pronounce the Comanches the most extraordinary Horseman I've seen yet in all my travels end quote they learn to fire a bow perfectly while riding at both enemy or Buffalo they would Shield their bodies from their enemies by hanging off the sides of the animals while simultaneously shooting under the neck with deadly accuracy the Apache used the horse to Aid travel but would Dismount the fight on foot they were a match for anyone and they were just as brutal as the Comanche if they could catch the Comanche without their mounts they may have even had an advantage at times but the Comanche lived on the horse finding them was even impossible because on the war path they never slept in the same place twice it wasn't that way with the Apache their agriculture made them predictable and their fighting style was outdated author TR farenbox said it best in his book Comanches a history of a people quote it was this very taste for corn that killed them when their land was invaded by true Savages on Horseback end quote if the Apache were a terror to the Spanish the Comanche were worse to the Apache but their true Mission wasn't to exterminate them they were after resources most importantly the range of the Buffalo I mentioned before the Comanche remembered how they were treated when they were weak it made them vengeful and very aggressive toward their enemies in the book light panopatches by Thomas Britton it's written quote the purpose of the Comanches was always the same to catch the Apache off guard of the rancherias to make a sudden assault kill as many Apaches as they could capture some women and children for the slave trade in New Mexico and plunder the rancherias and destroy the Hudson crops end quote the war between these two great Powers lasting decades has mostly been lost to history even the Spanish only witnessed it at a distance but we do know was brutal enough that all Comanches everywhere became foes of all Apaches the results that were recorded are what tell us the story The Light pan were among the last Apache remaining on the Plains by the 1720s the mescaleros and Jack gorillas had already retreated in 1723 a mysterious conflict occurred it's called El Gran Sierra Del Ferrero from what we can tell A Massive Attack by Comanche against the lifepan lasted several days it ended with many dead live and warriors but the Comanche also captured huge numbers of women and children like the other bands the Lipan were forced to retreat to the mountain deserts stuck as skulkers in the Spanish Borderlands with an overpowering Force to the north in the Comanche and a sworn enemy to their South in the Spanish for the Apache it was time for a new strategy in 1749 something weird happened the Apache rode into San Antonio looking to make a peace treaty with the Spanish the Spanish were thrilled because since the city was founded in 1719 the Apache had been constantly writing them and not on a small scale kidnappings and murders were common the Apache made off with thousands of horses and callous supplies in that time it was a serious problem and a major relief to the Spanish from the Apache asked for peace the uptick in raids coincided with the Comanche kicking them out of their territory the planes offered them more in food and resources than the mountains and deserts that they had been forced to the Apache didn't only ask for peace they also wanted the Spanish to build a mission and Presidio in their territory so that they could convert to Christianity this is something that they had been previously reluctant to do the Spanish priests leaped at the opportunity it took a couple years to approve but doing this would solve several issues for the Spanish they could put a stop to Apache raids maybe for good and they could also make them Catholic saving their souls there were rumors of gold and silver deposits in the area but I am sure that that was entirely unrelated to their decision locations for the mission were scouted and it was decided that they would build a mission and Presidio at a location called San Saba funding was secured by a rich Spaniard all he wanted in return for footing the bill was that his brother father Alonzo Geraldo di Toreros run the mission a competent and experienced Spanish officer Don Diego Ortiz de perilla would Overlook the project in April 1757 the Spanish gathered their supplies a few priests a hundred soldiers and about 2 000 animals for the project but strangely once they got on the way the Apache were absent when the party arrived at San Saba the Apache were also nowhere to be found regardless the mission and Presidio were built about two miles apart from each other and both were protected by a large wooden Palisade occasionally the Apache would visit the Mission they would ask for gifts and promise to relocate there soon but after months of them not doing that the Spanish were becoming increasingly frustrated some of the priests felt this whole thing was just a trick and that the Apache really only wanted gifts this whole thing was a trick but not for gifts in March the Spanish learned the real reason the Apache had led them there San Saba was not part of apacheria it was Comanche territory and the Apache were trying to start a fight as it turns out the Apache had been going north to conduct raids against the Comanche while the Apache were North they would spread rumors of the fort built in San Saba to provoke the Comanche even more following the rage the Apache would leave things like Spanish tools and shoes in their camps leading them to believe the Spanish were allied with the Apache in early March 1758 the spring grasses were beginning to grow and recent clear nights had left the full moon to brighten the plains the Spanish noted that all the Apache around San Saba had disappeared completely as the sun rose they began to hear War whoops from Beyond their walls over 60 of their horses were missing 15 soldiers sent out for reconnaissance returned in a hurry claiming the hills were alive with enemies for nearly the next two weeks the Comanche took their time staying at a distance the Presidio locked down most refused to leave the walls followed Toreros as well as about 30 others stayed in the mission two miles away from the Presidio on March 16th the Comanches showed up at the gates of both as the Spanish looked over the walls of their Palisade they were struck with all with what they saw farrenbach writes quote the Savages were breathtaking barbaric spectacle planes and mayor Indians in a full panoply of war the long lines of riders wore fantastic headdresses of plumes deer antlers and bison horns their face were painted red and black the color of death every Warrior carried a bow and Lance or spear the soldiers noticed that at least a few hundred had new muskets end quote at the mission the Comanche first feigned friendship and the priest just let them in the Comanche were accompanied by several other native tribes the Spanish had previously worked with peacefully once inside the gates the Spanish tried to appease them with gifts but it didn't take long to turn into a Slaughter I have seen differing figures but the Comanche killed between 8 and 10 in the mission including father torreiros they set fire to the buildings and mutilated the bodies of the dead as they were looting Goods a number were able to escape to the better defended Presidio likely the Comanche prioritized looting over fleeing missionaries who were no threat to them perilla tried to reinforce the mission but the soldiers he sent were immediately attacked and forced to retreat the Comanche never even attacked the Presidio they wouldn't they were smart they had the advantage against the mission and they had made their point two days later just as quickly as they appeared they were gone the immediate aftermath of the San Saba Massacre gets worse for the Spanish the next year in 1759 they sent out a punitive Expedition the point was retaliation against the Comanche it was led by Parilla it didn't go great the Spanish traveled North and killed a bunch of tonkwa for no reason other than that they were there they later encountered the Comanche at the Red River in October but the Comanche were prepared there was no going into their land without them knowing you were coming and there was no finding them without them letting you their force was overwhelming the Spanish had around a thousand people the Comanche had at least twice that it horrified the Spanish but at least they were initially somewhat organized the 130 Apache with them and the other Indian auxiliaries knew full well what the Comanche were capable of and were not looking for a fight like this Perla tried to keep the Expedition together but many fled just as the battle started it led to a panic in full Retreat without almost any fighting having occurred they even left their materials including cannons behind what was intended to be a show of Force turned into a massive humiliation the Apache plan to create a buffer of Spanish against the Comanche had failed miserably it appeared the Spanish couldn't stand up to them either but it's going to get worse for the Apache within a few years the Comanche had moved far enough South that they were regularly raiding the Spanish Borderlands Spanish settlements were spread out over arid country it was like Highway for the Comanche it was easy for them to avoid forts which were the only real threat that they perceived the brutality of the time is captured by SC Gwen in the book Empire of the summer Moon quote they never attacked an armed Fort they relished surprised insisted on tactical Advantage they would attack whole Villages and burn them torturing and killing their inhabitants leaving young women with their end Trails carved out men burned alive they skewered infants and took young boys and girls as captives then they used the speed of the Spanish Mustangs to get away leaving the elaborately equipped dragoons to rumble ponderously after them end quote any attempt for the Spanish to retaliate was generally met with disappointment the Spanish like the Apache struggled even fine the Comanche occasionally punitive Expeditions would be sent after the Comanche anyway some would come back empty-handed some wouldn't come back at all whether victims of the Comanche or the harsh plan's geography history will never truly know now it was the Spanish who needed a new strategy and the Apache will force them into one since the San Saba disaster the Apache had resumed their raids in the Spanish II it wasn't all malice having been driven completely from The Plains by the Comanche they were unable to farm and required more things in 1780 the Texas governor Domingo Cabello wrote from San Antonio quote there was no instant day or night when the reports of barbarities and disorders do not arrive from the ranches totally unprotected as we are this can only result in the complete destruction and loss of this province end quote the Spanish started to consider something they never had before a war of extermination they were being attacked by two great Powers simultaneously but those Powers hated each other the Spanish hoped to leverage that up until almost 1780 the Spanish had mostly failed at even communicating with the Comanche that all changed when an officer named Don Juan Batista De Anza was able to earn some respect he led an expedition into camancharia using familiar mounted tactics as the Comanche he was able to destroy a band they caught off guard near greenhorn Peak there was definitely some hubris involved in the part of the Comanche they were not impressed with the Spanish fighting ability up until this point and it seems they did not take them as seriously as they should have Anza followed up his success with more attacks and subsequent years after his attacks he would release those that he had captured with a message the Comanche you could have peace and trade whenever they wanted it by 1785 the Comanche losses were not great but serious enough that they were ready to meet several bands sent representatives to a meeting in Taos and in a work of magic bayanza he got them agreed to let one person speak for them at the end of the meeting they agreed to three things one the Comanche would stop attacking the Spanish two trade would open up between the Spanish and the Comanche and three the Comanche would help the Spanish destroy the Apache this was a massive victory for the Spanish not only do hostilities stop against the Comanche but their oldest enemy in the region would be hunted down and destroyed Band by Band something that Comanche were happy to agree to the best example of these Spanish Comanche campaigns comes from January 1790 a Spanish General Juan de ugaldi led a powerful horde of Spanish Comanche in wichita's against the Lipan Apache hundreds of warriors were trapped at a Canyon west of San Antonio and slaughtered after their defeat the Lipan Apache were left with less than a thousand Warriors in total the tribe like the rest the Apache bands abandoned whatever land they had left on the fringes of comancheria and retreated entirely into the mountains again for good as the most powerful tribe in North America the Comanche had completed their claim for the planes and the Spanish for time no longer had to consider the Apache a serious threat to their settlements and the peace between the Spanish and Comanche held for decades but the Apache are resilient on the plains the Comanches were victorious but the rugged nature of the mountains made the horses less of an advantage there and in that environment the Apache could resist successfully in that they did both the American civilizations of the Spanish and the Comanche would fall before them but those are stories for another day welcome dates and dead guys today are stories about what it would be like to be captured by and live among the Apache specifically we are going to follow Herman Lehmann after his capture at just 11 years old in 1870 he will forget all about his old world as over the course of nine years he is to fight for survival in his place among the Indians but before we get started I research historical topics I find interesting and explain them in a way I would to my friends if that is your kind of thing please subscribe and leave a like on the video If you really like it share it it supports me and it will help grow the channel but let's get to our story it's May 1870. Herman's mother sends him his brother Willie and his sister Caroline another family's Wheat Field to scare away the birds after a job well done the kid sat down in the field to play by the time they saw them they were already surrounded Herman later recalled quote when we saw their hideous painted faces we were terribly frightened and some of us pulled for the house Willie was caught right where he was sitting Caroline ran toward the house the Indians shouted her several times and she fell they chased me for a distance caught me I yelled and fought manfully when the chief connoviste laid hold upon me and a real scrap was pulled off right there the Indians slapped me choked me beat me tore my clothes off thought he was going to kill me end quote the Apaches trip both boys naked and threw them on the backs of their horses the boys were cut up as the raiding party stampeded through Briars thorns and Cat Claws and the endless ride left them sunburned thinking back the time Hermann wrote quote death just then would have been a relief to me end quote this is a dangerous world and not that long ago in 1870 the Apache and Comanche still roamed the plains murders and kidnappings of settlers in the frontier were still a regular occurrence his story comes down to us through a book nine years among the Indians in which Herman Lehman himself tells his story of survival decades later after they were captured Hermann and Willie were painted and dressed as Apache and then separated Willie's group ran into a group of Texas Rangers while the Rangers pursued the group The Horse will he was on was weakening and the Apache riding with him threw him off to lighten the load and escape the Rangers either didn't see Willie or they thought he was an Indian Child because he was dressed like one either way he was left on his own at just eight or nine years old he was able to make his way to a road and after failing to wave down a few Travelers he eventually was able to hitch a ride to a nearby town and make his way home Herman was not so lucky he was forced to eat raw meat which made him vomit regularly this display he's the chief konaviste and he was regularly beaten to keep him from running away the Apache telemus family is dead all killed in the raid they also tie him to Stakes face down with his arms stretched out and they put a large Stone on his back to keep him from moving as they sleep Herman was afraid tortured and he believed everyone he loved was dead night after night they traveled in the same manner for weeks sometimes they would go days without food Hermann became more accustomed to raw meat and over time did seemed the Apache were kinder to him until they reached the village there in a frightening scene where guns are firing and people are shouting and dancing all around Herman is grabbed the Apache forcefully pierce his ears with Hot Irons cut his hair and beat him until he passes out when Harman woke the next day he had been bathed and oiled confused he looked around he saw an Apache and he was taken to a feast on the ground where a blanket had been spread in front of him was sun-baked bread roasted meat and raw meat as he sat there the Apache just stared at him he had to make a choice Hermann writes quote either on account of my extreme hunger or Divine Providence I seized the raw meat and began to eat that pleased the Indians and they immediately began to Pat me had I first touched the cooked food the bread the Palencia and the roasted meat the food of civilized man I would likely have been tortured to death end quote the Apache were elated they cheered and made it clear Herman had pleased them they even gave Herman an Apache name Enda meaning white boy it wasn't a clever name but Herman was happy to have not been killed he became a servant to carnivise day fetching water lighting his pipe and taking care of his daily needs he was also forced to wrestle with Apache boys Herman was Scrappy and the patchy liked that about him Herman was growing more accepted by the Apache but he still lived in Terror at one point he was entrusted to watch over a small herd of horses at his lowest moment alone he would just sit there in a prairie and cry he wrote about what he was feeling quote civilized people call it homesickness I would sit there in my pony and cry I never cried while I was being tortured nor when I ran the gauntlet nor would I nearly drowned in all those times I gave a yell of defiance or a snarl of Vengeance but now in my loneliness and desolation I could weep a new thought struck me and my tears vanished a smile fitted over my face I made up my mind to escape end quote Herman grabbed a water bag and took off on the horse allotted to him he headed east at Gallup it didn't take long for the tribe to notice they'd been expecting this it was a test he had a head start but his horse tripped and he was overtaken by his pursuers he was tied and dragged back to Camp the tribe held Council but again they decided not to kill him they forced him to sleep tied up for a while but during the day they assigned boys to him to keep him company he starts to feel less lonely over time he learned the language and carnavista's wife laughing eyes lavished him with affection she had no son of her own and as an 11 year old boy Herman welcomed the motherly tenderness the Apache began to teach him valuable skills like how to make a bow in arrows and maybe most importantly how to make a shield out of buffalo skin part of this may have just been to shoot at him which they do to check to see if the shield works after a while they start taking him on raids at first he is just fodder the Apache come across the horse they want to steal but are not sure where the ranchers are sent Herman he's Expendable but when he kept on being successful he started to gain some respect while with a war party Herman and a group of Apache come across four Mexican Buffalo Hunters on foot they charged after them a few made their way toward cover but one panicked and fled out in the open the Apache captured him in Spanish he tells the Apache where his Camp is and that it's empty going for supplies the Apache left the Mexican with Herman to watch as the war party approached the camp men inside opened fire it was a trap upon hearing gunshots the captured Mexican begins throwing rocks at 11 year old Hermann Herman fired his Arrow at him hitting him in the arm and the man surrenders seeing that the camp is a bit more defended than they had been led to believe the Apache retreated back to where Hermann was keeping the Mexican he tells konavisti about the Mexican throwing rocks at him and he goes into a rage and orders Herman to kill him Herman raised his bow and set an arrow through the man's heart it's the first person he ever killed not satisfied carnoviste orders Herman to take the man's scalp fearing punishment he does that too for the Apache he was one of them now and for Herman there was no turning back as Herman was sinking into his new life among the Apache the world was changing around him he was captured in 1870 at the height of the Indian wars in the west with each passing season the Americans gained a stronger foothold and established their presence more and more it wasn't uncommon for the Apache to go to reservations even for a short time as they would be forced there by the Americans the growing pressure seemed constant as they were consistently working to avoid Rangers soldiers and the Mexican rulales the condensed space led to Common tension between the Apache and the Comanche battles were common but so were trees for peace gambling was actually a common solution Hermann would race Comanche Boys on Horseback or be forced to wrestle them these would be starting points for negotiation between groups even rival Apache Vance would fight each other over resources and territory and as these larger forces played themselves out one small thing will play a constant role in the background although the Apache had told him different Herman's Family was alive when he saw his sister fall in the field she was only playing dead and as they rode off with Willie and Herman they were never able to kill his family for the entire time Hermann was gone his mother would never stop looking for him checking every Fort and reservation for word on a white boy among the Indians but let's get back to Herman after three years with the Apache Herman was one of them he feared and hated white people he hardly remembered his old life and had forgotten his old name in native language during those years he had chances to escape but that wasn't what he wanted anymore he wanted to be a respected member of the tribe in an incident with Texas Rangers will give him an opportunity to earn that when Herman was 14 he was with a small party of patchy that were caught off guard by Texas Rangers Herman fled along with some others but his horse was shot and when it fell it landed on top of him he pleaded for his friends to help him but seeing he was trapped they took his bow and ran off without him Herman thought the Rangers would kill him but when they ran up to him they noticed he was white seeing him trapped the Rangers agreed to go after the fleeing Apache and come back for Herman the Rangers made it only a couple hundred yards before returning to the spot where Herman was trapped under the horse but he was gone vanished one of the ranchers Thomas P Gillespie related the story years later to a magazine he wrote of Herman's Escape quote at this they were puzzled Beyond expression the scene of the fight in the chase was an open plane with nothing to obstruct the view for miles and from the moment the horse was killed until they returned to the spot they'd been in full view of the surroundings and the boy could not have gotten away without their having seen him make the start there were a few scattering mesquites but none large enough to offer concealment the grass was green and seven or eight inches high and into this he must have crawled and secreted himself the search began and in a short time the entire company came up and all joined in the hunt every Square rod for a mile around was gone over and every Bush and tuft of grass was examined but the boy was nowhere to be found and we gave up the search as hopeless and went away completely mystified as to what had become of him end quote the Apache may be the most elusive group to have ever lived in three years Herman had mastered the skill Herman had managed to drag himself out from under the horse staying low to the ground he crawled until he found a depression in the field concealed himself with grass and stayed hidden until they left with his group of Apaches having fled Herman is all alone with no supplies and no horse he traveled 300 miles by himself to make it back to his tribe I know I said this before but he is only 14 years old when he makes it back he is looked at by his tribe like a ghost his comrades had told a story to his tribe that Herman had been killed and that they had buried him seeing that they had lied and in reality abandoned him carnoviste instead made Herman a petty Chief in the tribe he had gained his respect but all good things come to an end in just a few short years the amount of white encroachment on the territory was obvious the presence of the American Military made life very difficult for the Apache they look for new territory someplace they hope the white people would never go they found safer lands but they were Barren and didn't have enough food to support them in one case they found a perfect spot there was plenty of water in game but occasionally they would also find a strange yellow metal carnoviste wisely knew there was no long-term solution there the Americans would come at one point the military was able to force the Apache to the Fort Sill reservation oddly a Comanche the famous Quanah Parker was the one who persuaded them to surrender to the military they were there for a short time but hating the treatment there they attempt one last run for freedom in the middle of the night the Apache fled the reservation not nicely they killed several soldiers on the way out but they travel 100 miles west to make their final stand against the soldiers pursuing them and they make sure work of it quote the Indians decode them off on a route where there was no water we knew what the consequences would be so at the spring we filled up our water bags and pursued the soldiers soon we began to find dead horses on the way then We Came Upon A man nearly famished for water he was stripped scalped and cut into pieces we followed and found eight others and they shared the same fate as the first mentioned these soldiers passed close to the water but it was in a deep hole and the Indians kept it covered up we saw from the direction the other soldiers were traveling that they would all perish on the dry sand so we went back to the right trail of our people we found them at the Spring end quote initially the Apache thought that they were free but the problem now was one they had faced before they couldn't stay here the land was uninhabitable there wasn't enough water or game the Apache the group had found there were already in a deplorable condition half starving and cold they stayed for a short time but it was clear they would all die if they continued down this course after holding Council the band decided to return to Fort Sill a choice that will spell their Doom one nice thing about reservation was that getting whiskey was pretty easy one bad thing was that getting whiskey was pretty easy the bands that exist here although they are mostly Apache don't all get along tribes are not just one people they are groups with a similar language and culture and sometimes they fight one group in particular fought with Herman's band a lot they would torment them especially one of the medicine men one night the Rival Band came to visit our group after a big party Hermann calls it a carousel they demanded to be given Whiskey and a fight breaks out between the two groups one of our Apache was wounded honor demands the blood be repaid so our group goes to the Rival camp and steals their beer another larger fight breaks out and it has to be broken up by the soldiers now the authorities are involved and Herman's group knows that punishment is coming they don't want to deal with that so they plan to run away again but before they do another shipment a whiskey comes in staying one more night couldn't hurt anybody right that Carousel was the worst I've ever witnessed Herman describes a scene of drunken Madness women literally fighting each other over infidelity result in the death of several of them in a riled up State the men attacked the Rival ban before packing up all their materials their horses can carry and booking it off reservation for the Plains region a day later the Rival band catches up to them they fend off the attackers and as they Retreat our Apache pursue them but the attack was a ruse they were run right into an ambush quote Indians seem to rise up out of the ground and fired us all of our comrades were killed we turned and were treated slowly a kind of running fight to within a quarter mile of Camp two or three came up with us and we had a hand-to-hand combat Lance's Spears and tomahawks flew Lively for a while but I was too busy to take much notice of what was going on around me end quote in the middle of the battle carnevista steps in to stop a warrior attacking Herman with a spear in the process he has run through himself by the Rival fans medicine man at this Herman has left to face off against the man alone Herman already feared this man and he was always told medicine men couldn't be killed quote when carnoviste fell this medicine man came toward me with a Winchester and waving his shield he said to me this is your last day for now you die I ran behind a big rock and replied you or may end quote seeing the medicine man go after Herman the remaining Apache having dispatched the rest of the enemy head for the camp Herman is just 15 years old they were confident their medicine man would be able to win and rejoin them in a moment Herman was armed with a bow so we have an awkward situation where both are circling a big rock trying to get off a shot rounds from the Winchester or ricocheting off the Rocks just missing Herman then after circling the rock three or four times Herman is able to get a shot off of this bow it hits home right under the shield of the medicine man he lay on the ground bleeding begging for mercy Herman put one more arrow in his heart Herman grabbed his gun in all of his ammo before running off to hide killing a medicine man was a big deal the Rival Apache would be after him Harman sat on a Mountaintop thinking for hours after the body of the medicine man was discovered the Rival apache's search for him all of the men in his band were dead and there was no joining another they would know he had killed the medicine man one of them would come for him no matter what band he joined he would never be shaped with the Apache again so he made a decision after the search party had left he snuck back into Camp gathered all the supplies he could carry and managed to steal the fastest horse they had a beautiful gray stallion with nowhere to go Herman rides off to survive in the wilderness alone with everyone who's been killed the rest of the Apache wanting him dead and fearing the white people Herman had no real viable options he traveled for many days before finding a narrow Canyon with a stream and cottonwood trees there was game and he was able to use a cavern in the canyon walls as a shelter he stayed there for eight months all alone except for his horse you can't stay like this forever eventually he got his push one night during a full moon he's in a shelter and as he's trying to sleep he keeps hearing voices he thinks that it's just his mind playing tricks on himself they are faint then he hears a loud laugh and his heart drops Herman creeps out of his cave and a few hundred yards down the canyon he sees a fire and edit human shapes are moving around in the darkness using rocks for cover he makes his way closer to investigate they are Apache and he knows each and every one of them they know he killed the medicine man and if they find him they will kill him Hermann quietly gathered as much as he could pack on his horse and then he rode away this time riding north into the range of the Buffalo Comanche territory it was time to take his chances with them at this point in the story Herman is still only around 15 years old and like many 15 year olds he doesn't have a great plan he intends to find a Comanche Village ask them if he can join their tribe and hopefully not get murdered the Comanche often like to murder trust passers and they are very good at it so there is some risk oh and he doesn't speak the language he intends to use hand gestures and expression to get his point across and just hope someone there knows ASL or I guess nasl no one is going to get that joke Herman has no idea how or when he is going to find the Comanche but one creepy night lets him know that he's getting close quote one night I could hear wild animals running and a scream of something like a panther but I did not think there was that kind of animal it didn't sound right then the Wolves began to hound and they did not sound exactly right I was pretty sure Indians were near but the imitations were not of my tribe I lay perfectly still listening rattlesnakes seem more numerous than usual I can hear them rattling all around the whole Animal World seemed to be disturbed I silently secured my horse to run my equipment and stole away in the Darkness next morning I saw many Indian signs I must have been close to a large party end quote I don't blame him for not wanting to meet the Comanche that way but his way wasn't much better now that he knows they're in the area it doesn't take him long to track them he stalks them for a while and one night he sneaks into their Camp he sees a group of Warriors seated around a campfire telling stories laughing and joking he watches them and he knows how a little laughter there was among the Apache he musters up all of his courage and just walks in among them not expecting a visitor it takes the Comanche a moment to realize what has happened then seemingly all at once the Warriors jump up to their feet let out a war group and run away Herman just stands there in the fire light like an idiot he writes quote I must have been a vicious looking Indian long dangling hair uncouth and unkept there I stood wondering if they would come back and try to kill me end quote in a short time they do come back charging and yelling unable to speak the language Herman tries to make signs that he's peaceful he is sure they're going to kill him one Fierce old woman breaks in front of the men gesturing for them to do so but before they do another Comanche comes forward he speaks some Apache and they were able to communicate Herman tells them his story about how he was born white and became an Apache that he loves the Indian and hates the white man that his tribe was killed and that the Apache had forsaken him and that now he wanted to become a Comanche amazingly one of the Comanche she remembered him Herman had beaten him years earlier in one of the horse races carnavista used to make him do the Comanche welcomed him to stay the night it was his first night with people in as much as a year over the next few days Herman travels with the Comanche before they reach the main body of the tribe Herman makes his case the chief to become one of them the chief made Hermann promise to perform all the duties of a Comanche Warrior protect the tribe and obey the chief in all things in both peace and War he was even given a Comanche name monticena and for a while things were good Herman went on Rage with the Comanche he battled the Tonkawa and the American soldiers as he swore he would do but the same issue that plagued the Apache was true for the Comanche the American Juggernaut was encroaching again Kawana Parker was a voice of reason the options were to starve as the Americans killed all the Buffalo or resigned to reservation after enough time it was clear the Indian way of life was over and they agreed to go it was there that Herman would be reunited with his family his white family in his time with the Comanche Herman developed a close relationship with many but was literally adopted into the family of quanta Parker he treated him like a son while on reservation and he lived with them for a couple years it was notable that a white man was living among the comanchean reservation and word slowly got out amazingly after nine years Herman's mother never stopped looking for her son she had intentionally found herself in the company of General reynoldaus McKenzie he knew of a white boy at the Comanche reservation and agreed to have him sent down to her Herman however did not agree to be sent down he was a Comanche through and through and needed some convincing Hermann also believed his family was dead it's what the Apache had told him he didn't want to leave but Quanah pressed him to do so he promised that he could come back and live with him if it wasn't his family but he believed life would be better for Herman there than relying on the government on the reservation escorted by soldiers Herman made his way to Loyal Valley Texas where his family lived he said that when he left the wagon 300 people had gathered to greet him they all spoke a language he didn't understand they all looked at him he recalled quote quite a crowd of people gathered around and among them was my mother but I didn't know her the years of savagery which had passed over my head had erased from my memory end quote neither Hermann nor his family recognized each other at first they thought they made a mistake but then his brother Willie and his sister Mina found a scar on his arm from where she had cut him with a hatchet when they were kids as they examined it Herman wrote what happened in his mind quote the dark curtain of Oblivion which had been drawn so long was pulled back and to me there came a recollection of my early childhood I was restored I recognized my brother and sister and remembered them as my Playmates in a far distant past then somebody kept saying Herman Herman and that name had a familiar sound it then occurred to me that that was my own name slowly but surely the Mist began to clear away I knew I'd found my people but I was an Indian and I did not like them because they were pale faces end quote it took months maybe years the timeline isn't clear in the text but after a long time Herman is able to rejoin his family there were some quirks initially he tried to escape a lot his brother Willie had to stay around him and chase him down and bring him back he also refused to sleep on a bed preferring the ground he got a kick out of dressing like a Comanche and doing War whoops and brandishing his bow at the neighborhood kids but eventually the love of his family won him over they broke through and he was able to more or less move on with the normal life but what of the Comanche well that's kind of a fun way to end the story when Harmon was 17 two years before he was reunited with his family Juana Parker's family adopted him up until Herman Lehman's death he was still considered and treated as a full member of their family visiting them frequently and treated that way accordingly he was even enrolled as a full member of the Comanche tribe and received tribal benefits from the government in the end he rejoined his family but he never lost the Comanches welcome to dates and dead guys in 1863 a phrenologist in New York city named Orson Fowler was sent the skull of an Apache Indian it was massive a decade later he published a book called the human science or phonology featuring a diagram of the skull with a caption about how in size it had no equal its other distinguishing characteristic is that had a hole from a bullet entering in the back and coming out around the right eye the Apache was murdered after he had died his body was examined in life the seven-year-old man measured six foot four a giant among a people who averaged around five foot six in the 19th century he was their Chief one who stood out not just because of his size to the Apache he was the bravest and wisest also the most brutal to his enemies history knows him as Magnus Colorado the greatest Apache Warchief in this episode we are going to see how his life and Shameless murder ensure that there could never be a lasting peace between the Americans in free Apache prior to the 1840s Mangus Colorado was known as Fuerte a name meaning strong or Stout appropriate for a physical giant he was born around 1790 but fuertev likely came to power in his band of copper mine Apache before 1820. they are a subgroup of the shirakawa and also go by other names it was common for many Native American groups to have names for people as children and then as adults have a given name as well as other nicknames some point out physical characteristics others a significant event for Magnus Colorado or Fuerte we see both examples it wasn't typical for someone in their early 20s to become a chief but Forte wasn't typical he didn't just stick out because of his size he grew up in a time of serious turmoil and showed obvious propensities for leadership and wisdom between the 1820s and early 1830s the relationship between Mexico and the Apache began to disintegrate as an independent country from Spain they struggled obtain the previous Presidio system that pacified the Apache of previous generations the Mexicans would give the Apache rations and in exchange they wouldn't raid their Villages and towns that's easy enough but financial trouble made the Mexican governments be more stingy and cutbacks on the handouts led to predictable results if the Mexicans couldn't fulfill their needs with rations as they had promised the Apache would raid to take what they needed as they always historically did the results would devastate the states of Sonoran Chihuahua dozens of raids began taking place year after year they were violent but they didn't always kill people the goal was usually to gain resources but casualties were high as an out aside some historians claim that leaving people alive was part of the Apache strategy they were harvesting from their victims and could raid and take from them again in the future Mangus coloradus would say as much telling an American party in the 1850s quote if we kill off all the the Mexicans who will raise the cattle and forces for us end quote in a different video mostly about Geronimo I detailed the complex Apache relationship to Mexico if you are interested in that please check it out I will link it in the description but to get us to the next phase of the story this is what we need to know Mexico turned to mercenaries and Scout Bounties in the 1830s to handle their Apache problem honor cultures like the Apache meet those types of actions with retaliation and escalating violence the turning point was an event called the Johnson massacre in American John Johnson hired by Mexico had feigned friendship with a group of Apache in 1837. he got the group drunk and with a hidden swivel Cannon and Rifleman killed around two dozen Apaches they were all Scout including the chief that often worked with Mexican governments named Juan Jose compa Fuerte was rumored to have been there but escaped when the slaughter started raiding was a way of life for the Apache but incidents like this were different deceit was not taken the same way as direct and intentional war parties it led to some very intense hate in the 1850s Mangus Colorado once told an American Army Captain Enoch Spain that the hatred between the Apache and Mexico was eternal in that it was quote more to the knife end quote meaning that the Apache had nothing left they would still go to war with Mexico Fuerte as Chief had to make a choice on what his Warriors would do next his decision would earn him his new name shortly after the Johnson Massacre Forte LED several punitive war parties in one incident around the Santa Rita copper mines that killed 22 fur Trappers they followed that up by ambushing a wagon train moving up to Santa Fe and killed another 12. imagine that scene for a moment dozens of Apache waiting to Ambush a wagon train they don't war in the lead-up to battle like the Comanche or Lakota the Apache or quiet when you see them you know it's already too late they are LED from the front by a man who is a literal giant for his time you have heard the rumors about what they do to the capture maybe you've even seen things you know your death won't be quick two separate sources reported that the locals near the mines grew so terrified by the attacks that they fled for the Janos Presidio but in their flight the Apache killed them by the hundreds it sounds like death on an impossible scale and admittedly some historians are skeptical there is a lack of Mexican reports to verify it but two things are true following the retribution for the Johnson Massacre the Santa Rita copper mines were abandoned and the name Fuerte disappeared from the record books it would be replaced by Mangus Colorado's red sleeves a name earned because of the blood covering him following the violence Magnus Colorado's from this time up until the rise of Cochise his son-in-law was the most powerful and respected Apache Chief relations between the Apache and Mexicans did not improve over the next decade Bloodshed was relentless on both sides although it seems pretty clear that the Apache got the better of it but in 1846 came a serious change in 1846 Mexico went to war with the United States we stole Texas some people are still not over it but for the Apache the war was great news when it appeared the Americans had no intention to inhabit their territory they initially welcomed them with open arms and their initial relationship to the Apache was great there were some bumps America's peace treaty with Mexico said that they were supposed to intervene to prevent Apache raids into their country but that order was essentially unenforceable and the Americans mostly ignored it the Apache thought that was great they would raid Mexico and then return to New Mexico or Arizona Now American territory where the Mexicans couldn't come get them the real issue turned out to be gold American miners had the rise in the Pinos Altos mountains in the chirakawa Homeland magnus's territory it was a point of contention not because the miners wanted to travel through the territory the Apache more or less let people through for the gold rush to California the issue was in the Apache beliefs they were permitted to pick up pieces of gold in the ground but mining for it was an insult to usan their most prominent God in January of 1852 there was a significant incident of violence where a small group of Apache were killed by Americans the Apache retaliated by capturing and killing three other Americans a few days later cash they do one poor soul was tortured to death and Scout scalping was not typical practice for the chirakawa but they liked his red hair so there you go cooler Minds prevailed in Magnus Colorado's as the most respected Apache Chief signed a peace treaty at a coma with Colonel Edwin Sumner Magnus Colorado's was the Lone Apache who signed it because no other Chief was willing to go they felt it was likely a trap this is a notable thing with Magnus Colorado he was in his 60s at this point and as a Elder he was worried about the future of his people he really wanted peace with the Americans to work and operated in good faith to make that happen he even got the Americans to promise the Apache rations he felt that would go a long way in preventing them from raiding even as a chief he didn't have any legal authority over his people they followed him because they respected him so he worked very hard to put them in a good position in exchange for rations the Apache had to take up agriculture it was not their strong suit but they were making an effort one last notable thing about the Treaty of Acoma was that Magnus Colorado did not acknowledge much giving up any Lance in his mind apacharia belonged to his people that and good faith among the Americans were his lines in the sand for the next decade through the 1850s things went more or less well between the Apache and the Americans there was ninson in 1956 where the coyotero Apache killed an Indian agent the U.S wanted mangus's help in catching the Apache but he was unsure if they were guilty so when the Americans tried to approach he had set a forest fire and helped the coyotaro escaped into Mexico the Americans didn't like that or that a 65 year old was still leading others into Mexico for war parties or that the Apache were not being great Farmers they didn't grow much and much of what they did grow was corn and they made most of that into an alcohol called tiswin not what the Army had intended but they continued to issue the Apache rations anyway for Mangus coloratas it was really the miners that made the relationship go south around 1860 there were enough miners in the Pinos Altos mountains that conflicts between the Apache and the miners were becoming more common violence was growing likely but Mangus Colorado took a different approach now about 70 he took up the habit of visiting the miners he would tell them about the gold that existed just south in the mountains of Mexico he even promised a bunch of them that he would show them where it was but something went wrong the miners felt the tension with the Apache and they got the sense the old man was trying to lure them into a trap it is not truly verified but according to Legend on one of his visits a group of miners seized him and to teach him a lesson they bound the old Chief to a tree then lashed him with an ox whip until his back had deep Cuts this would have been humiliating for him for the Apache not to retaliate would only demonstrate how dedicated Mangus was to peace with the Americans other Apaches were having similar tense engagements and despite magnus's commitment relations were starting to crack in the next year 1861 they would completely shatter completely separate from Mangus coloradus was the infamous Bascom Affair if you are not familiar with the incident the chirikawa are Accused by Lieutenant George Bascom of having kidnapped a boy named Felix ward off of a local Ranch he was actually kidnapped by a completely different group of Apache regardless the Army meets with Cochise along with several of his family members Cochise is Mangus Colorado's son-in-law probably the most powerful Apache Chief at this point Mangus Colorado was over 70. the Americans took Cochise hostage but he escaped by cutting a hole through a canvas tent with a knife before running off into the mountains his family was not able to escape Cochise then captured several Americans and in the days that followed tried to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the Americans the negotiations fail and Cochise in turn tortured his prisoners to death he left them mutilated for the Army to find in return Lieutenant Bascom had cochise's family hanged as a result of this incident and the offenses of the miners Mangus Colorado's joins Cochise and they agree to go to war with the Americans they wanted to force them to leave their territory entirely near Cook's Canyon south of the Pinot southos mountains raids against Americans in the area would kill over a hundred a verifiable number the canyon got a reputation for it this part of the story offers the first real glimpse of what it was like to battle the Apache it wasn't just that they fought and killed their brutality cannot be overstated one Commander wrote that Coast Canyon was quote sadly to face with human bones and Graves end quote torture of prisoners was common and Cochise particularly had a habit of suspending people upside down about a foot and a half over an open fire due to the hostilities the Americans returned with a new approach to the Apache Major General James Henry Carlton was put in charge of operations in New Mexico and he took on a policy that was intolerant as Cochise and Mangus plan their next attack Carlton was instituting a policy of extermination in July 1862 Magnus Colorado San Cochise attempted to attack a large group of Americans going through the Apache Pass in Arizona Cochise felt that his 200 Warriors would have an easy victory over the 95 Americans that would have to travel 40 miles without water to get to the pass what should have been a massive Victory turned into a disaster with no water between the pass and Tucson the Americans would have to go to an abandoned station in the area with a spring just a few hundred yards from the spring is where the Apache would launch their attack initially they had the upper hand from a numerical advantage and the element of surprise but the Americans were equipped with Howitzer cannons a weapon the Apache were unprepared for in the battle they used sheltered positions to send rifle valleys at the Americans but they were destroyed by returning cannon fire and the Americans were able to get the Apache to retreat the Americans were still worried about their supply lines following just miles behind them were countless wagons that were vulnerable six soldiers were sent out to warn them on Horseback Mangus Colorados in about another 20 Apache chased The Messengers when they caught up they shot the horse out from a man named John teal he took cover behind the horse as the Apache approached teal felt that he was going to die and he was desperate to take someone with him he raised his rifle from behind the horse when he did he saw a giant among the Apache approaching him he took aim fired and shot him directly in the chest Mangus Colorado fell to the ground and the Apache immediately moved to rescue him leaving John teal alive the Apache then rode through the night and traveled 120 miles with the wounded Chief to Janus where there was a doctor that they knew when they reached the home of the doctor they laid Mangus Colorado's on the table they told the doctor that if he died they would kill everyone in the whole town whether by skill or by luck Mangus Colorado slipped but the Battle of Apache Pass was a disaster and as Mangus would recover he would be determined to take a different route moving forward understanding that the Apache were outmatched by the Americans Mangus now wanted to find a way for there again to be peace they have no weapons that can compete with the American can't their warriors were horribly outnumbered by the American soldiers and it seemed that since their actions at cooked Canyon that the political will for the Americans to fight them was in place he understood that war with the Americans was futile but for Mangus Colorado it was already too late General Carlton was set on a policy of extermination toward the Apache one that mirrored their own brutality in Cooks Canyon unknowingly Magnus Colorado's search for peace was going to lead him to his own end before he met with the Americans Mangus Colorado's conferred again with other Apache leaders like Cochise he told them of his plans for peace and that he wanted to call for a parlay they tried to talk him out of it but he believed that it was their only way forward Mangus went to the Americans in January of 1863. as he rode up to a meeting with a white flag rifles were raised against him and he was taken prisoner he was then put into the custody of Brigadier General Joseph West Carlton had made it clear to West prior that he didn't trust Mangus Colorado's Wish For Peace in that the policies toward the Apache she were to be followed before being sent off to the guards Weston Magnus Colorado have a meeting through a translator both men talk past each other it ignoring the injuries of the other and rather symbolically being unable to come to any sort of mutual understanding just before Magus Colorado was sent away West turned one final time and warned him that if he tried to escape these soldiers guarding him had been ordered to kill him that night was dreary and bitterly cold was that the only fire in the camp two guards were stationed with him at around 1am he laid on the ground wrapped in a blanket that was small for a giant man and light for the conditions but the old Chief didn't complain to pester him the guards began heating their bayonets in the fire and prodding his legs and feet they wanted him to react after enough abuse was had Mangus raised a protest yelling at the soldiers that he was not a child to be played with at this point they both raised the rifles and shot him a third Soldier then walked up to the Fallen body and put another round through the back of his head later it was discovered that the men were effectively acting under orders West reportedly had told them quote that old murderer has got away from every Soldier command and has left a trail of blood for 500 miles I want him dead end quote in the morning the body was scalped and partially buried after being thrown in a gully a few days later after West left on another assignment the soldiers dug up the body they decapitated it and boiled the head before sending it to the phrenologists Orson Fowler in New York when the Apache discovered what happened to Magus Colorado they were enraged like never before Geronimo later said that the murder of Mangus was quote perhaps the worst wrong ever done to the Indians end quote mengus Colorados had gone to the Americans for peace and he was betrayed and the Apache believed a person went to the afterlife in the state in which they died which meant that he would be headless for eternity with the Bascom Affair the Apache Wars had already started but if not for the mutilation of Magnus Colorado's the Apache may have been able to eventually come to peace with the Americans the reasons why the Americans were forced to fight the Apache for 25 years was that the Apache didn't trust them the chirakawa were United as Apache because of the murder despite the inevitable fate that was coming as for the head of magus Colorado it is missing to this day welcome to dates and dead guys in 1909 Geronimo lay in his deathbed in Apache he was among the final Native Americans forced out of his traditional way of life he had fought the Americans for 25 years as part of the Apache wars in the southwest he had seen his people pushed off their territory tortured and killed and he returned that treatment in kind he was very well known for being a brutal killer but at nearly 80 years old dying of pneumonia he was still angry as a prisoner he regretted surrendering and he wished that he could fight more but not against the United States if he had his way he would have gone back into Mexico on the war path to his dying day he hated Mexico for what they did to his people all Apache did Geronimo wanted more revenge and Mexico felt the exact same way today we are looking at the ruthless blood feud between Mexico and the Apache the Apache had many reasons to hate any number of groups for two centuries they had been effectively at constant war with the Comanche and they waged a 25-year war against the Americans that ended their whole way of life but for many Apache their hatred for those two groups paled in comparison to how they felt about Mexico and for good reason depending on how you want to count the Apache had been at war with Mexico on and off since the 1600s back then the territory was controlled by the Spanish their refusal to submit the Spanish rule and their constant rating of Spanish settlements led to a rather contentious relationship it got so bad that in the late 1700s the Comanche and the Spanish teamed up against the Apache in what was a literal attempt to exterminate them the Spanish and Comanche were so effective that by the 1790s the rating from the Apache had basically stopped most have been forced off the plains to the mountains and thousands of Apache out of necessity made peace with the Spanish they even lived outside Spanish videos many go into Spanish schools taking Spanish names and even adopting Catholicism to keep them pacified the Spanish very intentionally supplied the Apache with rations of food they felt if they supplied them with food and security that the Apache wouldn't be a problem and that was mostly true but things change what might happen for example if the government wasn't able to provide such subsidies fast forward to 1821 Mexico becomes independent of Spain intelligently the Mexican Government tried to maintain the rations being sent to the Apache at least initially but being a new country and having just fought a revolution these are hard times and resources are valuable the Mexican Government rolled back the subsidies in the early 1830s and wouldn't you know it without the rations the Apache began to leave these Mexican towns and raids to supplement their needs soon follow I'm sure that there is a societal lesson to learn here you are encouraged to let me know what it is in the comments when the Apache began raiding the Mexican the Mexican spelled betrayed they complained that their agreements with the Apache called for them to provide for their own subsistence they were supposed to be farming outside the presidios and the rations were just a supplement the Apache felt differently they were never Farmers not truly always at least semi-nomadic they were hunters and Raiders Raiders who took what the land didn't provide and they were only one generation or two removed from living that way the old one still remembered and they caught back on quickly the raids were immediately felt by the Mexicans the targets were not generally people at first they were after resources cattle horses food guns and ammunition all things that people are reluctant to give up and tend to defend making violence inevitable the Mexican Government tried to make peace with the Apache as a whole but it never really worked that way and they could never really figure that out the whole group of Apache broke into various tribes and those tribes broke into smaller bands the government might be able to make peace with one band but that doesn't mean the next is agreeing to peace the Mexicans are trying to make agreements with groups of maybe a couple hundred meanwhile a couple thousand are freely ignoring these agreements to make matters hilariously worse the Apache struggled to understand Mexican institutions when the Apache band would make peace with the Mexican town they viewed that agreement as being with that specific town they would trade and move freely through the town and then raid the next one over who they didn't feel they had any agreement with or obligation to the Apache had a difficult time conceptualizing the idea that the town felt they were negotiating on behalf of all of Mexico or even States like Chihuahua or Sonora where most of the violence was taking place there's even a point in geronimo's autobiography in which the editor SM Barrett makes a note in their conversations they just couldn't get to an understanding on how the Mexican institutions were set up because they were so different from that of the Apache by 1833 the raids had gotten bad enough that the Mexican Government was devoting additional resources to the problem they looked for public domain patients to hire additional soldiers and even reduce the salaries of State officials to help fund it something I do not imagine our politicians agreeing to today in certain areas civilian men were even ordered to carry a weapon at all times and be part of local Defense Forces The Mexican government was starting to become desperate to solve the problem and they took measures I would Define as escalatory one of the first things The Mexican government did was Institute a scalp bounty in 1835 the scalp of an adult Apache male would get you 100 pesos in later years it would get you even more additional bounties for captured women and children were also made so what was Mexico doing with captured Apache women and children well they were sent off into slavery it wasn't the most effective practice for the Mexicans Apache were experts in their environment and in stealth not all but many were able to escape one fun story includes a lady escaping who in the wilderness gets mauled by a mountain lion her name was Francesca she killed it with a knife it left her pretty scarred though later she married Geronimo he didn't mind the scars because he had other prettier wives in addition to scalps and slavery Mexican leadership often resorted to trickery in 1837 near the Santa Rita copper mine a group of 50 Apache were discovered by a group led by John Johnson the Apache were led by Juan Jose a man who was educated in Mexican schools outside the presidios feigning friendship Johnson invited the Apache into their camp with promises of gifts like flour and liquor while the Apache were feasting and drinking they were surrounded by soldiers without warning a cannon and several rifle volleys were launched at the Apache killing Juan Jose as well as around 20 others alcohol is hiding in the background of many historical downfalls but with the Apache it is littered all over the place some leaders in subsequent years will only allow half of their Warriors to drink on any given night or celebration because it was a common tactic of Mexican officials to seek the Apache out when they were intoxicated all of this the Scout bounties the slavery and the trickery backfired horribly on the Mexican Government the leadership felt brutal punitive Expeditions would dissuade the Apache but that's just not who they are they are a rough people it took the combined efforts of the Spanish and Comanche to do it in the decades prior further when John Johnson's group killed Juan Jose he was replaced with Mangus Colorado maybe the most talented Warchief the Apache ever had he led retaliatory raids against the Mexicans in Santa Rita one raid in particular led to the killing of 22 fur Trappers locals were so freaked out by the incident that they fled in Mass to the Janos Presidio nearby three or four hundred of them they didn't make it the majority were killed or captured by the Apache actually on Route the Santa Rita copper mine remained closed for most of the next 35 years so did the Mexican Government learn anything maybe think of a different approach of course not that's not how blood feuds work they raise an army of 200 men in 1839 to further suppress the Apache it was led by a North American named James Kaiser and Kaiser was effective kind of it's crazy how many times this happens among both the United States and Mexico but they take a very any Indian as a bad Indian kind of approach and they wind up killing friendly Apache who are negotiating for peace it's another example of both sides not understanding the social structure and institutions of the other as a result the Apache further increased their rating the Apache had a chief in addition to Mangus Colorado's who was very effective at leading Warriors whoa in Reading there were a lot of pronunciations and spelling the most common is Ja but in Apache writings whoa I think comes up more often when the Americans tried to force his band to the San Carlos reservation he refused he viewed life on reservation as basically slavery which is fair to avoid the Americans he went into Mexico to him the Mexicans to the South were Invaders on their traditional lands after a series of attacks the Mexican governor of Chihuahua at one point was able to get a meeting with woah a lot of Apaches spoke at least to some Spanish so translating wasn't usually that bad the governor didn't even try to negotiate for all the raids to stop he pleaded that the Apache limit themselves to just stealing male cattle he was afraid of the herds population collapsing if the Apache continued to take females that part of the conversation made sense to will then the governor demanded that the killing and scalping of Mexicans stopped at this point woe went into a rage he let the governor know that historically the Apache did not practice scalping which is true many Native American groups did but not the Apache it was something they picked up from the Mexicans when the government placed the literal Scout bounties on their heads and just to turn the knife he left the governor know that he knew why the bounties had been walked back in the 1850s in the decade prior thousands of scallops were turned in and paid out by the Mexican Government but the entire Apache population was only a few thousand total as it turns out it is very difficult to tell the scalp of one Indian from another or even an Indian from a Mexican and The Mexican government was becoming increasingly aware that they were paying these bounties for people other than the Apache have fun going down the mental Road of what all of that really means through the 1830s and 40s the casualty numbers are difficult to confirm but between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora we are talking about something to the effect of 6 000 deaths among the Mexicans and maybe a thousand among the Apache all of this leads us back to where we started Geronimo the blood feud between the Apache and the Mexicans is undeniable but Geronimo embodies Apache hatred for Mexicans better than any other example in the summer of 1858 400 Mexican soldiers found an Apache Rancheria outside of Janos the Apache men including Geronimo were in town trading when the soldiers attacked the village there was really no defense many Apache were killed but among them were geronimo's wife his mother and his three children from that point on Geronimo never forgave Mexico he vowed Vengeance and took his rage out on them every chance he got the best example would come in 1859 in his own book Geronimo details what happened he was able to raise a war party for an attack they entered Sonora and made their way toward a risby a place that used to be the state capitol until the Apache rates forced Mexico to move it eight of their party went toward the town any man they found was killed and Scout any woman or child was captured and brought back to camp but that was only the start this was bait when the kidnappings and murders were discovered the town would send troops into the mountains and the Apache were here for a fight in an eerie retelling Geronimo stated that they posted Sentinels after the killings that night but then they quote rested quietly all night for we expected heavy work the next day end quote in the early morning the bodies were discovered and by 10 AM two columns of soldiers backed by a Calvary Unit were set up into the mountains after the Apache Geronimo swears he recognized the Cavalry as the same soldiers present when his family was massacred the year earlier he was ready for Revenge Geronimo led the charge against them meeting them head on something the Apache were not known to do the battle lasted about two hours at one point late in the fighting Geronimo found himself surrounded in a field with four other Apache Warriors each of them out of arrows none with functional Spears fueled by his vow of Vengeance Geronimo drew his knife darting back and forth he avoided the weapons of the soldiers and he was able to kill several of them at one point only he and one other Apache remained in the area he watched as a Mexican Soldier ran his friend through with a saber Geronimo charged the soldier and they get into a kind of wrestling match the soldier holding his saber and Geronimo his knife both looking for an opportunity for the kill as they fall to the ground Geronimo got the upper hand and was able to deal a killing blow he laid on the ground for a moment exhausted as he breathed heavily from the fight he began to notice that he was covered in the blood of his enemies as he rolled over he grabbed the Soldier's saber And he kneeled as he looks up he sees a field full of dead Mexican soldiers and the surviving Apaches staring at him witnesses to what took place after a moment The Silence of the finished battle was broken by the war woop of the Apache and before they left Geronimo ordered them to scalp the Dead one caveat about that story and this is debated is that the battle is allegedly where Geronimo had gotten its name geronimo's birth name was goyale the legend around this story is that as he was in the final stages of the battle with only his knife the soldiers were yelling Geronimo the Spanish word for Jerome and the soldiers were in fact pleading to Saint Jerome to help them Escape goyale's knife again that is debated and Geronimo didn't include that in his own autobiography so I don't know some historians think that the Spanish just had a hard time pronouncing goyali regardless the name stuck geronimo's thirst for revenge against Mexico didn't fade in just two years 1859 to 1861 he traveled back into Mexico four times with war parties joining a war party for the Apache was voluntary he would have gone more but he had to convince other people to go and his hatred didn't make him any friends he was often criticized by his own people because his rage would get Apache killed they didn't have the kind of population where Reckless violence was tolerable nonetheless many Apache despised Mexico and he would get volunteers he would become so notorious that during battles the Apache reported hearing Mexicans curse geronimo's name Rage in New Mexico slowed down into the 1870s but they never really disappeared the Mexican military did everything they could to track down Apache bands but they were nearly impossible to find they were successful sometimes Mexico was able to track down and kill many Apache including Chief Victoria with the Battle of Tres Castillo in 1880. after Victoria died Geronimo who was never a chief was looked to as a leader for many of the remaining Apache during his famous escapes from San Carlos in the mid-1880s he would visit Mexico many times and the Apache were viewed as enough of a threat that the Mexican government supplied several thousand troops to Aid the Americans in trying to capture him but I think by now we more or less get the point point so I'm going to try to find a place to wrap this up within a couple years Geronimo like most of the Apache would surrender to the Americans he would be forced East but eventually find himself at Fort Sill in Oklahoma there as an old man he contributed to his autobiography in it a portion sticks out that really takes home the thoughts on Mexico from the Apache and Geronimo especially quote I've killed many Mexicans I do not know how many for frequently I did not count them some of them were not worth counting it has been a long time since then but still I have no love for Mexicans with me they were always treacherous and malicious I'm old now and she'll never go on the war path again but if I were young and followed the war path it would lead into Old Mexico end quote the blood feud between the Mexicans and the Apache was brutal the Mexicans would escalate hoping to pound the Apache into submission but they were not the people to do that to and every offense led to increasing violence until all both sides knew was hate I have one more episode on the Apache I would like to do before I wrap up this series next time we talk about those who didn't surrender the ones that resisted well into the 1920s and 30s next time we talk about the Broncos a Rancher is killed in Southern New Mexico horse thieves coming from the south were after his gun and mule they took him by surprise a day later the bodies discovered word travels fast by radio and epoxy forms tracking the group as they ride on Fresh Horses to Southern Arizona this is rugged country they have to travel as the Raiders do no adequate roads exist for cars to make it through the mountains story published from the Silver City Enterprise expresses the frustration of the locals quote a season has not passed when some citizens of Grant County have not lost their lives to this band of Cutthroats end quote as the policy gets closer to the criminals they find warm campfires and materials dropped by the fleeing Raiders to lighten the loads of the horses the Posse tries to cut off the horse thieves before they can dive back into Mexico but they're too late just as they reach the last Ridge before the Border some of the Posse see them on Horseback before they escape eight of them they are Apache the year is 1924. welcome to dates and dead guys the opening describes an Apache raid in 1924. think about that for a second cars and radios existed babies born after World War one could be as old as five and there were still Apache roaming the mountains of the Southwest there are people living today who were alive in 1924. not a lot but some the Apache were able to exist off reservation far longer than most people would believe it's because they were possibly the most elusive people in world history and today I'm going to share with you three stories to help explain how that was possible but before we get started here if you are new to the channel I research historical topics I find interesting and explain them in a story format if that is your kind of thing subscribe or leave a like and hopefully I can keep building the channel I release a video or two a month so be sure to come back for more content we need just a little bit of context on the Apache so that these stories make sense the Apache were Raiders and Nomads broken into several bands they inhabited the area of modern day Arizona New Mexico and northwest Mexico in the Sierra Montreal Occidental mountains the United States a little bit late to the scene heading west so a lot of the earliest known contacts are between the Apache and the Mexicans they didn't go well there was lots of murder that's actually where the Apache got their name the Spanish adapted the word from the neighboring Zuni tribe their word for them was Apache meaning enemy and relations between the Mexicans and the Apache will live up to that moniker there are reasons for the contentious relationship the biggest is cultural differences Mexico wanted the Apache to adapt to mainstream Society but the Apache didn't like the idea of toiling away as farmers and laborers they were Raiders it was a way of life when an Apache needed things like materials or horses they got a war party together and they took them but we all know what happens to horse thieves in the West for added drama it wasn't just horses and supplies they would take sometimes they would also kidnap people to Ransom off adopt or torture to death many people would say that was also bad to the Apache the raids were not even necessarily about animosity they were about subsistence the region they lived in didn't provide much it was hard country arid and hot and mountainous rattlesnakes everywhere if your people needed something a way to get it was to take it from others people will however get protective of their things so sometimes people die these Societies in the 1800s both Apache and Mexican didn't exactly have strong and effective political institutions to arbitrate their disputes so people do it and that often creates blood feuds you stole our horses and killed our brother now we're going to burn your village and kill your family the path to escalation is obvious and the cycle of violence will last in notable ways into the 1880s and then less obvious ways far longer this type of Lifestyle does develop a skill set and character that is unique the kind that makes it possible to survive and hold out longer than any other tribe and that's where we get to our stories the Apache were Experts of their environment they knew everything around them to forge and were so familiar with their territory that they knew every watering hole and every cave available to them their skills made them difficult to find and these mountains provide a lot of cover when armies were coming to Apache lands finding them was always an issue the U.S military would literally often have to hire Apache Scouts just to relay messages back and forth to different bands in the area they were experts in stealth the Apache would dress very simply it's not the way we picture groups like Lakota with massive feathered headdresses and when they needed to be stealthy they would often strip down to a breech cloth and moccasins taking off their shirt because their skin would serve as better camouflage against the red and brown Earth John kremeny wrote a book in 1868 called life among the Apaches and although he never truly lived with them the guy is about as legit as you could be at the time he is likely the first white man to speak the language and he spent an incredible amount of time with them he witnessed something that's hard to believe and recounts of story of an Apache that literally disappeared right next to him quote while crossing extensive Prairie dotted here and there by a few shrubs and diminutive bushes quick killer volunteered while resting at noon to show me with what dexterity and Apache could conceal himself even where no special opportunity existed for such concealment the offer was readily accepted and we proceeded a short distance until we came to a small Bush hardly sufficient to hide a hair taking his stand behind this bush he said turn your back and wait until I give the signal this proposition did not exactly suit my ideas of Apache character and I said no I walk forward until you tell me to stop this was agreed upon and quietly drawing my pistol keeping a furtive glance over my shoulder I Advanced but had not gone 10 steps when quick killer hailed me to stop and find him I returned to the bush went around it three or four times looked in every direction there was no possible covert in sight the Prairie was smooth and unbroken it seemed as if the Earth had opened and swallowed up the man being unable to discover him I called and paid him to come forth when to my extreme surprise he arose laughing and rejoiced within two feet of the position I then occupied with Incredible activity and skill he had completely buried himself under the thick Grandma grass within six feet of the Bush and had covered himself with such dexterity that one might have trotted upon him without discovering his person I took no pains to conceal my astonishment in admiration which delighted him exceedingly and he informed me that their children were practiced regularly in this game of hide and seek until they became perfect Adams end quote it sounds impossible but is it really people can hide in plain sight animals do it all the time I'll show you there is a tiger in this picture it's on the screen right in front of you can you see it found it it's hard to imagine a people that can hide like that creminy says they could General George crook an Indian Hunter who will come this close to catching Geronimo in our third story famously described the Apaches as having an acuteness of sense perfect physical condition absolute knowledge of locality and an absolute ability to persevere from danger crook added quote we have before us the tiger of the human species end quote think of what you saw in the video with the tiger and the story you've just heard the Apache are everything an apex predator needs to be and into the 1860s they were going to be backed into a corner relationships between the Americans and the Apache specifically the chiricawa one of the bands who are going to take a bad turn in 1861. by the time of the Mexican-American War the Apache had already been fighting Mexicans for many moons but the Americans were new to the scene they had to kill a lot of people to make it that far west but the process was expedited when they found gold the story played out in a familiar sense Mexico claimed land occupied by the Apache and they were like hey we live here and then the Americans take that territory including where the Apache live and again they are left like who the hell are these guys regardless the Americans in Apache get along pretty well for a while until in 1861 when a little white boy goes missing the chirakawa had a chief named Cochise he was called to meet Lieutenant George Bascom in regard to a young boy Felix Ward who had been taken in a raid Baskin believed that shirokawa took the boy but they didn't it was actually Apaches though but White Mountain Apaches not the chiricawa but that didn't stop ask him from getting overly aggressive and effectively taking Cochise and several of his family members as prisoners that didn't go well Cochise was an attempt with Bascom and when it was made clear to him through a translator that he was in fact a prisoner he wasn't having it and he pulled a knife that he had concealed and instantly cut his way out of the tent they were in sprinting into the surrounding Wilderness Cochise escapes but unfortunately his family was not as lucky for leverage Cochise captured some Americans in order to exchange them for his family Bascom however refused the trade demanding that the boy Felix Ward be returned I will remind you that the chair never had the boy Cochise fled to Mexico outside the jurisdictions of the Americans but before he did he tortured his three prisoners to death and left them for Baskin to find Bascom will in return hang his chiricow captives some of them family members of Cochise this event is commonly called the Bascom Affair it will lead to conflict between the Americans and Apache for decades it probably helped the Apache that the Civil War was going on the United States was distracted but Cochise was able to continue raiding and he avoided capture until 1872. during that time he and his people held up in the dragon mountains using the natural resources and natural cover to avoid the military they would move around and conduct raids in nearby areas with few exceptions they avoided pitch battles and stayed hidden relying on Covert actions creminy in his book compared the behavior of the Americans to the Apache during this time he wasn't Apache but in this section he writes as if it's them talking quote the Americans are brave but they lack astutinous they build a great fire which throws out so much heat that cannot approach it to warn themselves when they hear a gun fired they are absurd enough to rush to the spot but it is not so with us we built small fires and secluded Nooks which cannot be seen by persons unless close by and we gather near to them so as to obtain the warmth and when we hear a gun fired we get away as soon as possible to some place from which we can ascertain the cause end quote he goes on to explain that the Apache quote regarded hearing us Folly and think discretion the better part of valor end quote that says a lot toward their values and their thought process toward conflict the Apache were aggressive but not Reckless Additionally the land was hard but the Apache could stay there because they knew the natural environment so well they knew how to get meat and what plants to eat including sunflower weed seed wild grasses wild onions fruit of cactuses berries and nuts Paul Hutton wrote a book called Apache Wars in it he says quote it was a land where every plant for a Barb every insect is Stinger every bird of Talon every reptile a Fang an inhospitable deadly environment known to the outside world as apacheria end quote but up in those mountains the Apache could Thrive only coming out when they meant to take supplies they needed that part however the rating is what is going to keep the military on their back the Apache Wars ended in 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo if you don't know Geronimo isn't just a funny word you say when you jump from a high surface he was a medicine man and a warrior who will lewd capture for much of his adult life he's a chirakawa but one that his own people and maybe even the Army believed had Supernatural Powers as a young man his wife and several of his children were viciously murdered by Mexican soldiers as the story goes after he found them he heard the voice of ocean a God who told him that he will never die in battle nor will he die by gun and that the God will guide his arrows I've always wondered how many made that claim and no one talks about them because it turns out that they were wrong he was also supposed to be able to see far away events as they happened and his people say that one time he kept the Sun from coming up an extra few hours all useful skills when you are fighting people your whole life and evading capture regardless of Supernatural ability the man was respected by his people and had a reason to distrust outside governments but like much of the chirakawa he will resign to life on reservation for a time when the chirakawa agreed to live on reservation they were promised a large chunk of land in their home territory but they were moved to the San Carlos reservation rather quickly that place led to a lot of trouble it wasn't what the chiricawa were promised and the area was hot and the soil was not good for farming disease was also a problem as was getting the booze they wanted many did not want to stay there Geronimo LED his people in breakouts three separate times in 1878 1881 and 1885. each time he would travel with a group that like him wished for their former nomadic lifestyle they would flee Arizona and New Mexico and travel South to the Sierra Madre Arsenal mountains in Mexico during the breakouts the Apache would raid steal and kill people from the southern parts of the United States as well as the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua naturally the Mexican and American governments are going to push back on that a little bit in geronimo's last Escape he was on the run with a little over 130 people famously a quarter of the U.S military was used to try to capture him five thousand troops an additional three thousand Mexican troops were helping as well as over a hundred hired Apache Scouts literal Apache hunting Apache Mexico had a vested interest in stopping him as it was alleged that during that year and a half he was on the run his people may have killed hundreds of Mexicans he was pursued all year relentlessly traveling back and forth between Mexico and the United States raiding as they go for supplies one of the reasons the Apache was so hard to catch was that on Horseback they could travel as many as 70 miles in a day in rugged terrain they would literally run their horses to death butcher them for their meat and then steal more horses and then do it again Geronimo was almost caught in January of 1886. U.S Captain Emmett Crawford led a group that located and captured geronimo's materials and horses Geronimo with nowhere to go was set to surrender but at the last minute Mexican forces also looking for Geronimo happen upon the hired Apache Scouts they were helping the Americans search for group the Mexicans attacked the scouts thinking they are with Geronimo or perhaps they're just trying to cash in on a scout Bounty provided by the Mexican Government but a battle ensues Crawford himself is killed and Geronimo is able to escape just a few months later in March 1886 General George crook from the tiger quote caught up with him again and negotiated Geronimo surrender there is a literal picture of this meeting which is just incredible Geronimo was getting boxed in and he had been on the run for a long time but before his final agreement soldiers selling whiskey to the Apache may have told them that if they crossed the border into the United States there were plans to kill him so instead of doing that Geronimo and 39 of his people escaped in the middle of the night this time those remaining made it till September when after a full year and a half of constant Pursuit Geronimo finally surrendered for real they made it a full year and a half with thousands of people looking for him that's how Elusive and resourceful these people were this time when Geronimo was caught the Americans didn't send him back to reservation to send them to the worst place imaginable Florida if you like Florida now that's great but they didn't have air conditioning back then and I bet you don't let your grandma swim near the Everglades Geronimo won't be there forever he'll be moved from time to time but he's effectively held captive for the rest of his life largely because there was real fear that releasing him would mean more rebellions and violence he does meet Teddy Roosevelt though I opened this episode on Apache raid from 1924. we didn't get all the way to 1924 and this episode is long enough so we're gonna find a place to stop even though Geronimo was captured in 1886 not all of the Apache were some escaped reservations and returned to the resourceful life in the mountains raids and all the 1924 attack was the last recorded Apache raid in the United States but there were records of raids in Mexico into the 1930s in some serious claim that the Apache lived in those mountains until the 1950s there are a lot more stories that show just how capable and Elusive the Apache were but there's a comment section below let me know if you want to hear some more welcome to dates and dead guys today we have three more stories about the Elusive and terrifying Apache take a look at this picture what you see here are three Indian Scouts from the Apache Wars all of them helped track down Geronimo in 1886. one of them would go on to win a medal of honor two of them would want to become Outlaws hunted by the army they used to serve their Adventures are what old west stories are made of blood Feud raids prison escapes and journeys of survival one story even as a train if you like trains but before we get started I research historical topics I find interesting and explain them in a way I would to my friends if that is your kind of thing please subscribe and leave a like on the channel if you really like it share it it supports me and will help the channel grow but let's get to our stories everyone loves a good Outlaw a good bad guy makes every story more interesting especially if you can empathize with them and that's the case with the stories we have today our Outlaws are good reservation Indians they worked as Scouts helping the Army track down Rogue Apache bands the Apache were the Raiders of the Southwest fans unwilling to submit to reservation continue to plunder both sides of the U.S Mexican border to stop these war parties the military would hire Indian Scouts to help track them down problem was other tribes feared the Apache and those Scouts would often steer the military clear of them in order to avoid conflict to find an Apache you needed Apache they were among the greatest trackers in the world and the U.S army figured that out really fast and surprisingly many Apache were eager to help life in San Carlos Hells 40 acres didn't suit them it was embarrassing for men the Age of Warriors to be toiling away as Farmers so they took their skills out of the fields and with remarkable success eleven would go on to win Medals of Honor like rowdy from our title picture Indian Hunter General George crook stated quote I cannot too strongly assert that there has never been any success in operation against these Indians unless Indian Scouts were used end quote they were incredibly successful but sometimes the relationships with the United States would go bad front and center we have the Apache kid probably the most famous Apache Outlaw we will see him again in our second and third stories but first let's look at Maasai all right Messiah was a chirakawa Apache and one of the last remaining Apache outlaws like many Apache men who were kept on reservation he would struggle to find a balance between what he wanted for himself his people and the power of the Americans he worked as a scout on and off during several campaigns in the 1880s but he was also a bit of a flip-flopper finding himself escaping from reservation life several times only to then return because he missed his family or disliked life on the Run he would then join up with the Americans as a scout and literally help them catch the same Apache that he previously escaped with it's like snitching on your friends because you want someone to hang out with in prison speaking of prison when Geronimo and his Renegades were finally captured for the last time in 1886 Masai was arrested with them it's not perfectly clear why but it appears the Army was sick of his double agent routine and called for him to be sent away because they viewed him as dangerous he was sent with Geronimo on a prison train to Florida foreign there are several versions of what happened next but one thing is non-dispute Messiah got off that train in one version he is told by an officer that all prisoners who have a red handkerchief would be hanged when they got to Florida as a scout it would make sense that Messiah would have one of those since Scouts usually were given a red handkerchief to distinguish themselves from other Indians who were not Scouts maybe the guard was lying or maybe it was a marker the prison train cars with Apache were only sporadically populated with guards they were secure prison cars but they are dirty and dingy and the guards didn't spend a lot of time in there with limited supervision Messiah teams up with a Tonkawa friend that he has on the train gray lizard together they wiggle the bars free from one of the windows and over time they make enough space to escape they waited for the train to be traveling uphill because it had to slow down they checked to see that no guards are present and Messiah and gray lizard just jump out using the classic tuck and roll technique they remain unscathed and the train just keeps moving maybe they got lucky and no guards notice the jump maybe the guards assumed they had died in the attempt but once that train passed their problems only started they have no supplies they are dressed in Apache moccasins and breech clouds which are terrible disguises and they are in Missouri 1200 miles away from home what are a couple of bros to do they start walking West side and gray lizard travel by night and hid by day night after night they use the Dipper constellation in order to determine which way to go they tried to kill quail and rabbits with rocks with limited success they ate Roots but they didn't have enough food many years later messiah's daughter would recount the story she said quote they had nothing but breech clouds and moccasins so they suffered with cold as well as hunger but it is hard to starve in Apache end quote then just when they needed it they catch a brick and the Ozark Mountains a big fire LED them to a mining camp gray lizard and massage snuck up on the camp they patiently waited and in the morning when the workers entered the mine they stole everything they could carry meat bread coffee and maybe most importantly two guns ammunition and knives now they could hunt as they move west through Oklahoma and Texas the climate gets drier and more desert-like using an old Apache trick they used the stomach of a deer as a water bag so they could stay hydrated that is until gray lizard tripped while holding it and it got torn by a prickly pear a day later thirsty and unable to go on the two dropped the ground they prayed for rain in a stroke of luck or divinity they got it for the second time just when they needed it they got some relief as it poured the two men were able to drink and keep going they made their way to New Mexico they knew where they were when they saw the capitans they were not far from the Sierra Blanca and mesco Mountain this is now the fall of 1887. it had been a full year in 1200 miles since they escaped the train the two friends then separated Messiah stayed in the Sierra Blanca gray lizards split to go to his family in the Mescal mountains but gray lizard didn't make it there something happened and no one ever saw him again Messiah on the other hand was now one of the most Wanted Renegade Apache but we'll get to what happened to him in our third story first I want to tell you about the most famous Apache outlaw following the capture of Geronimo the most famous of the Apache Outlaws was haske bene diato but that's hard to pronounce so many American soldiers will refer to him as the Apache kid he was born around 1860 a member of the western Apache as a child he was captured by Yuma Indians but was freed by the U.S he stuck around the Army Camps and this is where he meets Al Seaver shiver was the chief of army Scouts he was famous for it everyone in these camps thought the kid was smart and friendly but sieber saw how skilled and ambitious he was and he took him under his wing he effectively adopted the boy by the time he was a teenager as early as 1879 the Apache kid enlisted in the Army as an Indian Scout and he thrived he was promoted within his first year and he became one of siva's most trusted men serving in several campaigns to help catch Geronimo as well as other battles against the coyotaro and White Mountain Apache the kid even adopted an American style of dress although that wasn't uncommon among the Apache it was considered very fashionable to dress like the Americans but the kid in siebers relationship took a dark turn the Apache kid's real father lived at the San Carlos reservation but in 1886 he was murdered and the incident escalated into a blood Feud one man the kid believed to be involved in the murder named Rip had gotten away and that was unacceptable Apache culture is not one to wait for arbitration the kid was honor bound to go out to rip for vengeance it was his duty knowing that going after this man would cause problems the kid goes to sieber first to seek his permission but he's denied the kid doesn't take it well but he respects sieber in the moment he listens but he doesn't forget he decides to be patient six months later in May of 1887 sieber had to leave San Carlos and he left the Apache kid in charge of the Guard house while he was gone this was his opportunity the kid tracks down a rip and kills him as he had felt the honor bound to do but sieber's coming back and he knows that what he did May cost him everything the kid goes on the run with friends of his that helped him and when sieber gets the news of the murder he orders him to return and face Justice staying on the Run means that he'll be tracked by the Army as other Apache had been the kid knows sieber has a temper but he hopes that he will understand enough that the Army might be lenient so after some negotiating mostly just to make sure army guns were not going to be blazing the second they saw him he returns to meet with sieber and the kid meet in the street in a crowd gathers during the meeting someone in the crowd fires their guns maybe friends of rip who are going after the Apache kid maybe Friends of the kid going after the officers regardless Siever is shot in the ankle and it shatters he lived but it left him a the kid doesn't stick around and again he takes off to escape he saw the running on the wall if he stayed Jack Ruby was going to get him this was the last straw for sieber he already felt betrayed but now he blamed the kid for his injuries a man who he used to think of as a son and from his perspective the kid caused this whole mess then took off and didn't even try to help him from that point on he will hold on to his Grudge the kid only made it a few weeks on the run before surrendering again no violence took place this time he was then court-martialed and charged for his crimes originally he was actually sentenced to death but the sentence was soon reduced to 10 years and he was sent to Alcatraz prison in San Francisco the kid was in prison for a year but in a stroke of luck his case fell under military review in April of 1888. prejudice was found in the trial and he was released and sent back to San Carlos the kids demeanor now matched the change we had previously saw in sieber formerly outgoing friendly and ambitious he was now jaded with life on reservation as a scout he had a job and status now he had nothing and he didn't trust the Americans he didn't cause trouble he mostly just stayed at the fringes of the territory but sieber still holding his Grudge wasn't done with the kit a new Supreme Court ruling had kicked federal crimes of Indians back to the territories where they lived even though illegal the territorial courts retried any unions they felt were troublemakers under the new rules a crippled Seaver forced to live on crutches took his Vendetta with the kid to trial and made sure the kid was put up for trying to kill him the thing was that everyone knew the kid had not fired the shot that had shattered sieber's ankle sieber had said as much in the days after the initial incident but the kid was once again convicted and this time was sentenced to seven years at the Yuma Prison in Arizona the relationship had crumbled but alciebrew had gotten his revenge he thought the guards still had to get the Apache kid to Yuma and now he had nothing to lose eight people were being sent to Yuma with the kid the first leg of the trip was by Stagecoach and they were meant to get the rest away there by train the Apache prisoners had a stagecoach driver and two guards sheriffs one was Glenn Reynolds fit in his mid-30s the other was William hunky dory Holmes a less formidable man with heart problems on the second day in the stage coach they reached a stretch of road called Kelvin grade it was Steep and the area had been raining from the two days before most the prisoners were required to walk up the hill to take the burden off the horses but not the Apache kid he stayed in the coach because Reynolds and Holmes considered him too dangerous to be set free it does turn out that other Apache are also dangerous while trudging up the hill some of the Apache prisoners saw an opportunity they slowly surrounded homes before pouncing on him he was quickly overpowered and the prisoners took its gun both he and Reynolds were shot before they were able to react meanwhile the coach driver Eugene Middleton was plotting up the hill with his horses when he had heard gunshots just as he saw the Apache were loose he was shot in the face and the bullet came out his neck laying on the ground helpless to Apache approach Middleton with a rock the Apache kid was let out of the stagecoach and he too walked up the Middleton he had every reason to finish him but he didn't according to Middleton he actually survived despite being shot in the face because the Apache kid called the others off saving his life knowing better than to trust the justice system at this point he and the others then scattered into the bush within a year by late 1890 all of the prisoners from the Escape called the Kelvin grade Massacre were captured except for the Apache kid but not for lack of trying rewards for his capture Dead or Alive were offered up to five thousand dollars a lot of money in those days although there are many reports for what may have happened to him he would never be definitively found the Apache kid in Maasai were not the only two Apache Outlaws hidden in the Sierra Madre Mountains into the 1890s well into the early 1900s many people in the region felt there could be at least a hundred or more Apaches still out there the Mexicans called them Bronco Apaches massage escape and the Apache kids took place within a few years of each other afterward dozens of unknown crimes were credited to both men but very few are known to be truly committed by either so what happened to them we don't actually know for sure but we are not lacking rumors a great article by Lee Paul had this to say quote between the years of 1890 and 1906 numerous reports circulated that both Messiah and the Apache kid were dead John Horton Slaughter Hualapai Clark Jack ganzhorn and Mickey free all claim to have killed the kid while in New Mexico Posse said they had got Masai one or the other of the two Renegades was said to have been found dead in a cave killed in the cornfield and bushed a water hole shot off his horse or brought down by Mexican rule Alles yet no one ever produced a body or collected a reward end quote we don't know definitively but there are a couple stories that pique my interest one by messiah's own daughter around 1900 Messiah was traveling north in the Sierra Madres with his wife and young child they were traveling to a reservation Messiah thought life in the mountains had become too dangerous he couldn't go live on reservation himself but he could have scored his family while traveling Masai spotted dust Rising on the trails in the distance behind them someone was following them the Mexican rulales were always trying to track them down Messiah sent his family up the trail but he stayed behind and waited concealed by a tree then he saw them two Mexicans he shot one but the other was able to rescue His companion and get him on his horse before riding off within hours they had reported what happened and the military came after Messiah and force within a day he was found and shot no reward for his killing was ever claimed instead it said they built a big fire decapitated him and boiled his head it's possible they didn't know who he was or maybe they wanted to send a message the brutality between the Mexicans and the Apaches are well documented in Apache religion mutilation is a fate worse than death because you go into the Afterlife as you are buried the fate of the Apache kid is just as mysterious it's likely he had gotten help from his mother she allegedly would leave caches of ammunition food and clothing in a cave for him it was common for the Apache to keep Goods hidden like this his sister says that he visited her frequently until 1896 when he stopped was he dead well in 1899 Mexican rulales reported that he was living peacefully in the Sierra Madres the kid's nephew said he was alive in Sonora in 1924 and others reported he visited friends at San Carlos as late as 1935. at which point he would have been around 75 years old I'm reluctant to make this a longer serious than it needs to be but I have more stories on the Apache I would like to tell particularly there are some stories of people who were captured and some that I found in regards to the last remaining Bronco Apache but there's a comment section below let me know if you want to hear them welcome to dates and dead guys the American frontier in the mid to late 1800s was a dangerous place for new settlers the Southwest was home to Native Americans like the Apache they were raiding people a brutal reputation and expertise and stealth made them terrifying and they would live up to their reputation if settlers were lucky they got away with their property or cattle before they even knew that they were there but many were not lucky rating societies inevitably have high mortality rates in order to sustain your population kidnapping your Rivals children becomes a viable option today we will explore the stories of two of the most significant kidnappings ever committed by the Apache the first is the story of Mickey free whose abduction caused a war between the Americans and the chiricawa the second is the story of Charlie mccombus a young boy whose kidnapping remains one of the great Mysteries of the late 1800s but before we get started I research historical topics I find interesting and explain them in a way I would to my friends if that is your kind of thing please subscribe and leave a like on the video If you really like it share it it supports me and it will help grow the channel but let's get to our stories foreign was one of the most famous of the Apache Scouts look through the images he comes up constantly because between 1872 and 1886 he was present on the majority of major military campaigns at the time but despite living with the Apache and working with them as a scout Mickey free wasn't born one as a child his name was Felix Ward and he lived on a ranch in the sonosha valley in Southern Arizona that is where he was captured many settlers were taken by raids but this one was different his kidnapping was going to trigger the longest war in American history even more crazy is that Mickey free will help end the war 25 years later after the Apache found him hiding in that peach tree quote we can reasonably surmise young Felix State of Mind as his captors carried him away from the senosha valley in 1861. here was a skinny five and one half foot tall 13 year old boy his childhood made wretched by the constantly marauding Apaches now he found himself in the hands of Los barbaros the boogeyman of his youth he must have expected horrible torture in a lingering death end quote when Felix was 13 he was playing outside in a peach tree his stepfather John Ward was away on business this is not the first raid the ranch had experienced three times over the past few years they had been hit and their cattle had been stolen years later when asked about a subduction he said all he could remember was the long ride the Apache took him rode East and disappeared Without a Trace rage were part of Apache culture they took the resources they needed they also captured settlers and other Native Americans regularly and whether they would keep them alive though that was a legitimate question women and young children had a good chance of being adopted into the tribe or being held as slaves over for ransom men and teenage boys were almost always killed and the Apache could get creative Felix was 13. in most cases he should have been killed but he wasn't so why not he was small for his age and very skinny making him look younger than he was that definitely helped but it was probably because he was blind in one eye left that way from an infection that he had when he was a baby the chief of the group that took him took pediano because he happened to also be blind in one eye although that didn't stop him from selling him a few weeks later John Ward returned home the day after the raid had captured Felix immediately he goes to the military at nearby Fort Buchanan and they send out Lieutenant George Bascom and 54 men to go get the boy back Bascom finds a trail heading east to where the chirakawa Apache live and the Apache Pass which is actually my background for this episode generally no other group would go that way so Bascom incorrectly surmised the chirakawa were the group of Apache that took Felix what he didn't account for was that new Forge being built might cause groups to change the routes and travel to avoid the US military using Indian Scouts because you have to even find the Apache Bascom made contact with the chiricawa and they meet with chief Cochise in a military tent and some of his family members came along with him Cochise was willing to do this because at this time there was relative peace between the chiricawa and the U.S Bascom however works to change that he recklessly accused the chirokawa of taking the boy and demanded that he be returned he told Cochise that he was their captive until Felix would be brought back Cochise tried to reason with Bascom even going as far as to offer his services and helping them find him but Bascom wasn't having it realizing this was a dead end Cochise Springs up takes a blade out that he had concealed in a split second slices through the canvas of the tent and escapes into the mountains his brother and nephews didn't escape and the military was able to hold them hostage all further attempts at negotiation fail so Cochise goes hunting he finds some Americans take hostage and offers Bascom in exchange his hostages for his family back but Bascom holds his ground and says that he would only take Felix in exchange who Cochise did not and never had so what was Cochise to do well he got creative with his captives and Bascom found the mess after he had fled back into Mexico Bascom in retaliation hang his cochise's family members this event the Bascom Affair starts the 25-year long Apache Wars all over a boy Felix Ward so let's get back to him Felix Ward wasn't taken by the chirakawa and different sources say different things but he was either taken by the Pinal Apache or the aravapa but he will later be traded to the coyotero or White Mountain Apache with the coil tarot Felix was adopted we don't have a lot of information of what his childhood was like his adopted brother however famous in his own right John rope of Medal of Honor recipient said quote he was raised with me but we always treated him like he was one of us end quote we know that as an Apache he went on rage against both Native Americans and white settlers but it seems that he had very few run-ins with the US military that is until 1872 when George crook would force his group to Fort Apache and he would wind up on reservation when the Apache were forced to reservations usually their captives would be reunited with their families but that didn't happen for Felix his brother Santiago would find him but told him that while he was gone both his mother and his adopted father had died Santiago tried to get Felix to come home with him but he decided to stay with the apacheon reservation and become a scout in November 1872 General George crook starts trying to enlist Apache to work as Scouts for the U.S army it sounds strange but this appealed to many Apache men life on reservation was not suited to Warrior culture but being a scout who seeks out and fights the enemy was so even though they were pressured to the reservation by the military it gave them their best option the military was rather choosy in picking Scouts and in a practice we would find rather offensive today the soldiers would rename who got in because they had a hard time pronouncing Apache names when Felix was selected as a scout he still went by his original name it seems the Apache never renamed him which is strange but it didn't stop the soldiers from Doing It Felix was five foot seven and about 135 pounds he had fairer skin than the Apache and reddish brown hair it is commonly said that he was half Irish and half Mexican but that may or may not be true additionally his one Blind Eye gave him a menacing appearance it reminded the soldiers of a character from a popular book Charles O'Malley the Irish Dragon the character was a manservant named Mickey free and from that point on and for the rest of his life he went by that name and Mickey free would turn out to be a hell of a scout and an interpreter throughout the 1870s and 1880s Mickey free was constantly used by General George crook Emmett Crawford and Al sieber the military could never find Apache without the scouts making them very useful having never learned to read and write we have no documents written by him directly but those around us give us a sense of his reputation and he stood out a soldier Mickey worked with Tom Horn Infamous in his own right he probably killed a kid said quote he Mickey now spoke both Mexican and Apache like a professor end quote maybe not like a professor others said he had a hard time with Spanish verb conjugation so it was hard to tell if he was talking about something in the past present or future horn recalled quote and was the wildest Daredevil in the world at his time end quote there are stories like the ones from John Burke's journals about how Mickey would throw himself In Harm's Way by literally running out to the Apache that they were just in a gunfight with to start negotiating in Horn's eyes Mickey quote was thoroughly qualified for a typical Scout and guide in every sense except for the fact that he had never any regard for his own life end quote he was also disliked by many Apache especially on reservation with the chirakawa who he helped Force there as a scout he wasn't nice about his work and was once called perhaps the worst man on reservation but his last big adventure would come in 1885 when Geronimo and the chirakawa break out of San Carlos reservation One Last Time strangely enough Geronimo blamed Mickey free for the chirakawa leaving when the Americans were given reasons that the chiricahua fled the San Carlos reservation in 1885. they blamed Mickey free Mickey had arrested some of them for drinking which was illegal and for beating their wives which the Apache argued wasn't one Apache Chief Nana is quoted by the reservation authorities to have said of the situation and Mickey quote he can't advise me on how to treat my women end quote it's really strange but nana May technically be correct at least from his point of view the Apache were promised when they came to the reservation that they would not be prosecuted for such offenses but domestic violence was an ongoing issue on reservation and attended to tie directly into drinking their favorite beverage this one regardless in May about 150 Apache led by Geronimo had broken out of San Carlos and fled into Mexico what followed was a massive effort to catch them Mickey free initially works as a scout and interpreter in their efforts they were able to catch up and locate the band several times even getting very close to a few surrenders but the death of Captain Emmett Crawford in the pursuit in an alcohol and rumor-fueled failure to close the deal in 1885 led a general crook being replaced by Nelson miles he used Scouts far less aggressively than Crook and left Mickey free in a bit of a limbo that is until he sent into Washington to try to handle negotiations with the Apache from there in July of 1886 Mickey free in a small delegation of Apache were sent to Washington Washington wanted interpreters there so that when Geronimo was caught they would be able to understand and send messages via Telegraph among them was a scout named chado who I only bring up because he will be present in our next story from before he was a scout the trip is hampered by poor communication due to Broken Telegraph lines but by September geronimo's band had surrendered for the final time the remaining shirokawa were believed to be too dangerous to send to a local prison or to be allowed to return to San Carlos so they were sent to a more serious prison in Florida other Apache they felt were dangerous like cheetah even though he was now a scout were sent there as well Mickey free was sent one last time as an interpreter and for about a month he stayed at Fort Marion in Florida translating the end of a war that started with his capture as Felix Ward 25 years earlier Mickey free lived a long life after the end of the Apache Wars in 1886 but there is a lot we don't know he never learned to read and write so we don't have his thoughts about anything or his account of events he's a bit of a mystery but if you like Mysteries you're really going to like this next story in 1924 a group of Bronco Apache conducted a raid in New Mexico the last known Apache raid on American soil Apache went through the countryside killing a Rancher and stealing supplies and cattle before they slipped back into Mexico a white bearded man on Horseback was witnessed who was this white Apache Warrior a kidnapped child raised Apache well some said it was Charlie McComas Charlie was a six-year-old boy in 1883 he lived with his mother and father in Silver City New Mexico that year in late March his family was having a picnic near Thompson Canyon a choke point that forces Travelers on a specific route unbeknownst to them a sub-chief named chado LED an Apache raiding party of nearly 30 men they knew of the choke point and were waiting for the unsuspecting Travelers hours later the results of the raid were discovered it appeared from the evidence that the Raiders were basically on top of the McComas family before they even knew they were there Charlie's father Hamilton McComas appears to have handed over the reins of their horse-drawn Buckboard to his wife juniana he then grabbed his rifle jumped out of the Buckboard and tried to make a stand while she and young Charlie made a run for freedom his body was found with seven bullet holes despite the heroic efforts of her husband Juliana didn't make it far she was overtaken by the Raiders she grabbed Charlie and tried to get away on foot but was caught and bludgeoned to death probably with the butt of a rifle what was missing from the scene was Charlie it was clear to those searching that the Apache had taken him before the locals or military were able to rally and take on the band of Raiders they had slipped back into Mexico this was a common tactic used by the Apache the U.S military was not permitted to cross the border so border hopping was very useful in conducting raids it plagued American efforts for years however just two months later in May a new international treaty gave the U.S military permission to pursue hostile Indians into Mexico General George crook took action immediately the purpose of the mission was not solely to go find Charlie but it was one of their objectives these missions always included Indian Scouts there was never any finding Apache without them and in just a few weeks the scouts and military forces found chado's Rancheria and wouldn't you know it one of the leaders of the scouts was Mickey free a fight breaks out many Apache Escape but nine are killed and five captured of those killed they are not just Warriors some are women young and elderly when the captured or question about Charles one of the women said he was taken away when the scouts were first detected but when many of the nearby Apache began to surrender to the Army Charlie never showed up and the Apache there said in the chaos he had gotten away and ran off John G Burke an officer with the Army wrote about it in his account called an Apache campaign in the Sierra Madre he wrote quote Charlie McComas was never found if you recall was an assist and I think truthfully that he was in the Rancheria destroyed by Crawford that he escaped Terror stricken to the depths of the mountains that the country was so rough the Timber and Brushwood so thick that his tracks could not be followed even had there not been such a violent Fall of Rain during the succeeding nights all accounts agree in this end quote so according to the chirakawa Charlie Got Away in the mountains and in the dense vegetation and with the rain he was just gone well that's what they said but that's not what happened we can say very confidently that with the chirakawa told the Army in the May of 1883 was a lie but there are two likely possibilities to what actually happened one explanation comes from Jason betzennis an Apache Warrior who fought against the U.S in the 1880s he wrote a book called I fought with Geronimo that was published in 1959. he wrote that after Charlie's capture he began to quickly learn the Apache language in that he was treated kindly between March and may an Apache family had taken him in and effectively adopted him they expected him to become a full member of the tribe in time but in May when the Apache Scouts had attacked the Rancheria many Apache fled taking Charlie with them in the fighting the scouts had killed an elderly woman the mother of an Apache Warrior named Speedy who had already escaped when Speedy discovered the death of his mother he went into a rage and bludgeoned Charlie to death with a rock now bedzinis says very clearly he wasn't there for this but a woman named Ramona who he knew was an eyewitness who had told him the only reason that it took 80 years to come out was because bedzenes wasn't willing to tell the story until everyone involved had passed but was the story true maybe but the Army searched for Charlie for quite some time and they never found a body there is one more explanation in the decades that followed the Apache were the last holdouts to life on reservation although the vast majority had already resigned there by the mid-1880s isolated groups of them called Bronco Apache existed in the Sierra Madre for years there were strange sightings and stories of a bearded white man among them they come from many sources as recent as 1924 in a raid in New Mexico or one even later in 1930 when a Mexican Village was attacked by these Broncos then in 1940 a woman who had been captured was interrogated she claimed that the white bearded Apache people had seen had been killed just a few years before that he was stabbed at death in a fight over a girl she said his body was thrown into a pit she even led a team of archaeologists to it the remains were taken for examination and it turned out to be a white man with blue eyes and red hair just like Charlie so was this Charlie McComas unfortunately will probably never know welcome to dates and dead guys Native Americans have myths and stories of people doing things that defy what we believe to be possible some were sent have abilities that were incredible and Supernatural descendants of the Apache claim that Chiefs or medicine men could heal the sick avoid danger even foretell the future they call the ability power they would use it for the benefit of their tribe power made them highly respected and valued by their people but there was a darker side those who use power against their own people were ostracized banished or even killed to the Apache these were the witches they feared witches and the Damage they could cause the Apache were always wary of the danger today we have five stories about Apache witchcraft we are going to see how the abilities from the Legends are used by them and against them but let's start with what power was the concept of power is just as mysterious to the Apache as it was to the 20th century historians who interviewed them about it many Apache didn't even want to talk about the abilities that they had seen they felt that they would be ridiculed by Americans who just couldn't understand a few books try to Define it the best that I have found is that it is a set of abstract forces that derive from natural phenomena to the Apache they couldn't be explained and they warned researchers that their attempts would be met with failure power was held by many Apache Chiefs and medicine men they were said to have incredible abilities like healing seeing the future or knowing how they would die they said they usually got this power when they were adolescents the Apache would go to a sacred Mountain to fast and pray for four days and nights they would be all alone with no food water or weapons for defense they were permitted a blanket and nothing else if they were spoken to it all it would usually be on the last night of the ordeal after they had proven their worthiness they they would hear a voice that would talk to them it would tell them how to obtain their power usually they would have to take the part of an animal tree plant or stone the voice would then tell them how to use it and from that point on they would carry it in a small Buckskin pouch it would hang on a small leather strap around their neck under their clothes and it would guide them throughout their entire lives power was viewed very differently than Superstition of which the Apache had many on the war path for example the Apache would use different words for everyday things they could cut but not puncture a hole through their meat and they would rarely travel at night no power was different from Superstition these taboos if not followed would make for bad Omens but Power was ability the Apache believed they were given it by their main God usum who spoke directly to them and who they spoke back to one Apache Chief Nana was said to always be able to locate and capture ammunition an important skill because without lead and gunpowder a rifle is a little more than a club the ultimate power over rattlesnakes he could move and handle them without being harmed power related to animals were among the most common listed but this one was significant to the Apache as a people they feared rattlesnakes many believe it's why there was a Superstition around traveling at night the snakes commonly hide during the day hunt at night other Chiefs could read spider webs Hermann Lehmann an American Boy captured by the Apache said he saw Chiefs who could tell the weather by examining spider webs if a web was thin long and high it was going to be dry but if it was low short and thick then it would rain if a power didn't work the Apache would search for a reason maybe their actions hadn't provoked a spirit in one instance witnessed by Layman a medicine man claimed rain would come during its route when it didn't the Apache became convinced that the Mexican with them who they had captured was the reason the great spirit was angry so to appease the spirit They Carried the Mexican up a great Mountain they bound him hand in foot to a large Rock and stayed take to Rattlesnake next to him just close enough that if he moved the snake could strike when they returned to Camp the medicine man repeated his past incantations for rain and when he did it began to pour so much that there was a great flood many Apache Chiefs claimed to control the weather just like many claimed to have power to heal illnesses or power to tame even the most Wild Horses others claimed to be able to see the future Willie Neal a western patchy medicine man predicted the arrival of automobiles while on reservation he foresaw iron objects with eyes that could see in the night headlights of oncoming Vehicles he said they would be commonplace as strange as all of this seems to be these Powers pale in comparison to what could be done by two of the most famous Apache lozen and Geronimo between 1861 and 1886 the Apache were at war with the Americans Geronimo is among the most famous Native Americans in history but losing a Medicine Woman and Warrior played an interesting role in the conflict as well both were said to have incredible power in Apache Society it was the man who took on the role of Warriors but Logan was an exception to the norm as the sister of Chief Victorio she was present for much of the conflict during the Apache Wars as a child she was strong and faster than all the boys and the men respected her enough as an adult that she was commonly invited to counsel Apache women wore two-piece dresses made of Calico lozen took that outfit and added a knife ammunition belt and a rifle the chief Nana said that she was his right hand and that she was as strong as a man braver than most and cunning in strategy her place as a warrior is enough to make her stand out but her power is what makes her a legend to the Apache she is said to have been able to locate the enemy with Precision win her brother Victorio wished to know the location of an enemy lozen with her power would stand with outstretched arms Palms up and pray to usom she would then turn slowly following the sun when an enemy was in front of her her palms would change color and her hands would get a tingling sensation the intensity of the sensation gave her an indication of how far the enemy was it was more intense there closer her nephew James kowakla said that he had seen her do this countless times Nana said that with this ability she was a shield to her people in October of 1880 Victoria and his band of Renegades was being pursued by Mexican soldiers there was a pregnant woman among them who needed assistance the upcoming fight was no place for her Victoria ordered lozen to break away from his Warriors and take the pregnant woman to a reservation to be safe as the rest of the Apache continued to trace castillos there without losing Victorio and the Apache were surrounded and massacred by Mexican Calvary nearly 80 were killed and another 68 were taken prisoner many Apache believed that had lozen been with her brother the Mexicans never would have been able to Ambush them as they had years later in 1886 she was with Geronimo when they surrendered to the Americans here we get the only known picture of her among the Apache before boarding the prison train to Florida but speaking of Geronimo geronimo's claims to power are much more widely known the Apache claimed his gifts were given to him by usam following the murdering of his family by Mexican soldiers his powers were numerous it was said that he could make it rain no bullet could kill them he could see into the future and even slow time it all sounds crazy but there are strange occurrences that are attached to Geronimo several Apache claimed that when Geronimo would get himself and his people into trouble he would pray and Saul then strange things would happen he would be being pursued by Mexicans or Americans sing about water and a big rain would start making his Trail more difficult to find or even halting the progress of his pursuers in one instance the Americans trapped him into a cave but he and the Apache were able to escape the Americans never found exits in the cave that he must have used but the Apache claim there were instances where he used power so the Americans couldn't see his people an Apache named Perico said Geronimo once talked to the moon and slowed the coming of the Dawn quote when on the war path Geronimo fixed it so that the morning couldn't come so soon he did it by singing they were going to a certain place and Geronimo didn't want it to be Dawn before he reached his objective he saw the enemy while they were in a level place and he didn't want the enemy to spy on them he wanted the morning to break after they had climbed over the mountain so the enemy couldn't see them so Geronimo sang and the night remained two or three hours longer I saw this personally end quote and in one final example after the murder of geronimo's family using is said to have told him you will never die in battle nor will you die by gun famously Geronimo was forced to surrender but he never died in battle however later when being painted for his autobiography the painter claimed his body was riddled with bullet scars as many as 50. all of these Powers were used by him in becoming one of the most elusive people in history both he and losin used their power to benefit the Apache and were highly respected for it but what about Apache who used their power for harm medicine men or shamans were respected by their people because they used their power for the Apache which is where the opposite to the Apache witchcraft was the wrong use of power like a gun or a knife it can be both good or bad Apache researcher Keith bosso wrote in Western Apache witchcraft quote power was bestowed for the benefit of the tribe there were those who use theirs for evil and these were regarded as witches end quote shamans were pro-social and prominent in their communities witches were not witches were feared and shunned by all they caused tragedy and sorrow betraying his people is the worst crime an Apache could make the punishment was commonly banishment because you had to leave your community tribe and family it was viewed as worse than death the Apache actually believed that locking someone up in prison is more cruel than anything they would ever do I won't comment on that but if you've watched the previous episodes in this series I will let you draw your own conclusions witches usually to harm to their people because they had become bitter they used evil magic that was conjured and deranged ceremonies witches would meet in groups at night usually in caves to remain unseen there they would dance holding the body parts of exhumed corpses like medicine men they would carry items around their neck and Buckskin pouches however instead of being the fur of an animal a stone or part of a tree it was commonly the powdered skin of human corpses or rattlesnakes it could be feces menstrual fluid or the blood taken from a tree that have been struck by lightning they would carry their poison with them at all times and they would use the poison to curse others it was most commonly administered in food and because of that the Apache were always watchful of Outsiders who had shared their meals with a witch could also call calls harm to people with spells or curses they would bury their poison near a person's Wikia or a place they would commonly go and then conduct a ceremonial chant a witch could increase their effectiveness by repeating what the Apache called bad words four times four seems to be a curse number as the witch might also walk around the person or their home four times if the poison or curse was effective then the victim might fall ill quickly or die without any explanation other spells might harm crops or cattle to protect themselves the Apache might carry tangible items like the breastfeeder of an eagle or turquoise beads medicine men may also conduct their own ceremonies to counter the work of witches with their own chants and songs if someone was suspected of being a witch then the Apache would most often have a trial at least what they call the trial as written by basso the Apache quote were directed by the headmen of a local group and the suspect was flatly accused of his crime if he denied it he was strung up by the wrists from the limb of a tree just high enough to allow his toes to barely touch the ground suspects who refused to admit their guilt were left suspended and fires might be lit beneath them to hasten their confession they were questioned repeatedly and their clothes and belongings were searched for poison end quote when found guilty a witch would most often be banished although some sources claim that the relative of a witch's victims might kill them now if you are like me at this point in the stories you might be thinking did the Apache believe this and if they did is any of it real power is an incredible part of the Apache story but in a world of tangible reality it makes sense for reasonable people to be skeptical of any of the claims made by the sources and the stories so let's take this home by looking at some alternative explanations as well as the Apache perspective first off the Apache like many Native American groups had a very different relationship to the environment than we do we would look like children in the wilderness next to them things that they would just intuitively know from a lifetime of experience would leave us speechless Herman Layman claimed that medicine men could read spider webs for rain well as it turns out that may be less of a power and more of an observation there are modern sources that claim that spiders lower their webs when it's about to rain these societies can pass down information like that we have weather.com in our pockets it's not shocking that I'm not Consulting spiders for their opinions on rain even though they might be better at it Willie Neal for Saul mobiles as iron objects with eyes that see in the night but this is also at a time when trains were becoming more and more common out west there is no reference to size or Wheels then this reference could easily be referring to Lantern light as the eyes as opposed to the headlights that we perceive there is no historical shortage of people who have made claims that we apply to the Future Lehman himself wrote about how confused the Indians were when they first encountered things like trains he says they thought they were alive it is weird that Nana could handle rattlesnakes but maybe he was a tad Pentecostal or like many of The Eccentric people online that we see these days he is just more comfortable with snakes than most as for his propensity for finding ammunition that doesn't feel like luck then there's Geronimo he would sing and make it rain when being pursued but accounts of rain could easily be coincidence sometimes people get lucky in highly religious societies like the Apache may find meaning in things like that his famous cave escape was likely the result of there being exits the American were unaware of no one knows where this cave is today but the Apache were widely known at the time for being aware of every single spring and cave in their environment I can't write off the stopping of time but it sounds like a fish story someone prays for time to escape and when they pull it off it isn't simply that they made it in time it was that time slowed for them in an oral history it makes sense to flavor the story this way it was divine as far as the painter seeing past injuries from bullets that never harmed him in his own autobiography Geronimo says he was wounded in battle at least eight different times with the amount of fighting in his life I would imagine his body is full of scars losing I can't explain that one freaks me out I don't know how she located her enemies but I will say the sources on her are scant and gathered decades later even the quotes by Nana are attributed to him by a secondary source but what I find most interesting is how they are both positive and negative aspects to power Apache tribal structure didn't compel people to follow Chiefs or medicine men they were followed because they were respected if people believed they had some sort of power given to them by God it seems likely that people would hold them in higher esteem it was probably better for the tribe if they believed that their Chiefs and medicine men had special abilities it would make them worthy of being followed there are clear social incentives the opposite is true for witches Keith bosso writes about this and it's fascinating the belief in witches can have positive societal benefits most importantly it encourages social behavior if you are hostile or violent toward people they would have a reason to do you harm if you believe in witches that would be a rather dangerous predicament treating your tribesmen and stranger as well is therefore in your best interest even being accused of Witchcraft is a serious indictment it suggests that you've acted out against your own even if it is unproven people are more likely to ostracize you it would force you to alter your behavior or potentially be rejected by your family or banished by the tribe plus if there is a trial you might be hanged over a fire that's not good we see the same type of behavior play out today on social media what do you think cancel culture is it is US finding witches and banishing them problem is is that people are complicated and one bad moment doesn't make you a witch mostly bosso quotes the Apache as a group and says the best way to stay away from witchcraft is to have many friends it is good advice in society that has a reason for both pro-social community and to be wary of Outsiders it also offers an explanation to sudden tragedy or Illness but I do acknowledge that all of that is within itself dismissive it would be silly to think that my interpretations are the only possible ones and that the experience the people who were there when I was not are wrong the Apache are historically reluctant to talk about the religion and especially their belief in power because westerners like me try to rationalize and debunk what four many of them were deeply held beliefs I want to make it clear that I have nothing but respect for the Apache I've spent the last nine months of my life researching them and making videos about them one thing that really made me think was the words of Apache a stock loogie and Eve balls into an Apache Odyssey he said that usan would speak to the Apache the way that we speak to people on the telephone today quote you people no longer believe in God and that is why he does not speak to you if you had faith of the old Apaches you could hear him end quote countless people have experienced things I can't explain so what do I know let me know in the comments what do you think welcome to dates and dead guys in the 1920s there were still free Apache Indians living their traditional way of life yes those 1920s they lived in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico and there could have been as many as a hundred it wasn't unknown or a mystery the locals knew they reported feeling watched rarely seeing but knowing the Apache were near they could hear sounds at night animal calls that were just not quite right there were warnings of Apache presence children were told not to play in the forest or stray too far from the watch of their parents the Apache were Raiders known to take young children when they had the chance more often cattle or supplies would go missing attacks ranchers had to pay because if they followed the trails into the Hills they likely wouldn't come back you were taught that the Apache Wars ended in 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo but they didn't these Bronco Apache as they were called by the locals would fight on well into the 1930s until a father out of Revenge becomes determined to make them extinct I'm warning you right now there are no Happy Endings here let's get into it it's October in 1927. riding on Horseback as fast they can a group of Mexican ranchers hurry to the location of the latest Apache raid when they get to the scene one man moving with more urgency than the others jumps off his horse and rushes to the body of a woman covered in blood on the banks of a Trailside Ravine as the others secure the scene he frantically checks the woman for signs of Life there aren't any stab wounds are all over a body the man kneels and begins to sob she was his wife but after just a moment he stands and with a look of panic he begins to search the area not seeing what he's looking for he stares Into the Wilderness his despair turns into rage his son was with his wife and the Apache had taken him from that day forward Francisco fembrass would only live for two reasons to get his son back and to kill every damn a patch he's still living in those mountains the Apache Wars ended in 1886 technically that is when Geronimo and his band of about 40 Apache last surrendered to the American government but geronimo's chirakawa were not the last of the free Apache there were more holdouts estimates are just that estimates but there may have been as many as a hundred or more Apache living in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains well into the 1920s the locals called them Bronco Apache they were the survivors after centuries of constant War they were still there the Spanish and Comanche teamed up in the late 1700s to exterminate them in the 1800s the Mexican Government paid scalp bounties to man Hunters to see them wiped out and the Americans dedicated a quarter of their standing army to bring in Geronimo but well into the 1900s they were still there they would travel incredible distances both on foot and by horse always moving to keep from being discovered they kept silent hiding their presents they would raid locals and rural areas stealing livestock but occasionally also killing ranchers or kidnapping women and children before disappearing Without a Trace into the mountains to the Mexican these Broncos were a menace Boogeyman of an untamed Wilderness always there always watching never seen But felt truly terrifying and they all knew they were there they would hear sounds like animals but not quite right hunting parties would find camps still warm with the Embers of fires but with no one in them to these Apache the Mexicans were simply obstacles to their survival in such small numbers they were mostly left alone but the Apache decision to raid the finbres family put an end to that prior to Francisco fembras finding his wife dead and his son missing they were together they were traveling near a small town in Sonora called nakorichico where they lived they had two horses on a narrow mountain path Francisco was riding along with his young daughter in the rear maybe 30 yards ahead was his wife Maria and three-year-old son Heraldo there in the foothills of the Sierra Madre the family continued down the winding path before turning a corner where there was a large Boulder on the trail side there are several versions of what happened next in one Maria had just rode past the boulder when Francisco heard the crack of a gunshot he saw his wife fall from the horse shielding Geraldo In Her Arms before a small group of Apache ran out from behind the boulder in another version there are no gunshots and Maria's rushed and dragged off the horses by two or three Apache women and maybe a man that we'll talk about later in either case the Apache present immediately Drew knives and began stabbing her at this moment Francisco fembras had to make a decision among the worst I can imagine several accounts say he had a gun either a revolver or a rifle some say he was unarmed but most do say that he was when he sees his wife attacked what should he have done should he have marched forward to try to save his wife and son or does he think of his daughter riding right there in his lap and retreat in order to ensure her safety Francisco retreated he gets his daughter to safety kind of he dropped her off in a bush a waste down the trail before rounding up some local ranchers and heading back up The Path that's where he would find Maria's body and heralda missing I've thought about this question a lot does retreating Meg Francisco a coward or did he make the best choice that he could there's a comment section what do you think I don't know that I have the right answer but I do know that I would hate to make the choice regardless I would bet everything I have that his guilt over this decision played a role in the Revenge he was about to bring to the Apache as soon as he was able Francisco organized a rescue trip into the Sierra Madre in order to get his son but a local girl in Apache who had been adopted into the village as a teenager named Lupe advised them against it she didn't believe that Francisco could find the Apache in the mountains she felt that no matter what he did they would see him coming Francisco tried to recruit her as a guide but she refused to go the last time she was with the Apache taught her better she was too frightened of what they would do to her if they found her again she said that the Broncos were led by Apache Juan the man who may have been present when Maria was murdered she said that he was a bad and cruel man the plan she suggested was heartbreaking to Francisco she wanted him to let the Apache go she believed through her experience that if the Apache learned they were being tracked they would kill Geraldo to get any pursuers off their Trail but if they thought that they were in the clear they would adopt him as they did dozens of captives over the years after a while haralo would become one of them they would become attached and develop an affection for him and hopefully become unwilling to hurt him then after a few years a rescue could be attempted Francisco didn't take the advice he is a father of course he didn't riddled with guilt he was set on a plan of action over the course of the next two or three years he organized over eight Expeditions into the Sierra Madres to look for the Broncos but as Lupe predicted he didn't find what he was looking for usually he found nothing sometimes he found Trails or empty camps but no Apache Francisco tried to advance his tactics he would conceal the presence of his expedition with darkened clothes they avoided fires so that they couldn't be located by light or smoke and they moved as much as they could in silence as possible but they still found nothing anyone who has read about the Apache isn't surprised by this during the Apache Wars of the 1800s the U.S was firm in their stance that only an Apache could find Apache and they employed hundreds of them as Scouts as proof of that fact these Broncos were the needle in the proverbial Haystack that is the Sierra Madre but experience is valuable and Francisco wasn't about to give up at the same time fimbres is conducting his Expeditions in Mexico an American named Grenville Goodwin is conducting research that will turn into several books on the western Apache he was deeply interested probably in a very romanticized sense that there were wild Apaches in the Sierra Madres he would track newspaper articles reporting anything about them and gather as much information as he could from his contacts at reservations like San Carlos he even went on two expeditions to Mexico in order to try to make contact he failed as most did at trying to find the Apache but he kept journals of everything he learned that would later be published in a book called the Apache Diaries by his son it's a great read it does a lot to verify rumors around the story and answer bigger questions like how the Apache were able to survive in the mountains from the 1880s on forward first the Apache were incredibly resourceful they could hunt in forage for everything available in their environment but they were not completely self-sufficient they were not farmers at least not at scale they had to raid to supplement their needs most of the time they wouldn't bother anyone they were extremely cautious raids were small they would take a cow or two from a farm here or there rarely the same farm at least not in a short time period they knew to spread out what they took some of the farmers even claimed to know the Apache were doing it they kind of viewed it as a tax they knew if they went after them they were never going to find the Apache but if they tried they would paint a rather large Target on their back they were a terrifying people to make an enemy out of so no let them take a cow here or there and they will simply return to the mountains some Broncos likely made visits occasionally to San Carlos or the mescaleros reservation they would receive help from the Apache there the Broncos were holdouts from the Indian Wars the Apache there although aging likely knew who some of the Broncos were there are enough sightings and accounts from people on reservation that make these visits almost certain lastly sometimes they would simply walk into Mexican towns and trade many Apaches spoke Spanish at least enough to get by there are reports of Apache camps discovered that had Mexican clothes dressed that way speaking Spanish Benny could go easily unnoticed especially as many of the Apache were of mixed Heritage Lupe said that Apache Juan would do this walk through towns completely unnoticed by 1930 finbrose attempts to rescue his son had garnered some Regional attention The Mexican government was hesitant to provide any assistance at least officially but fembras was able to get some support from eager Volunteers in the United States the Douglas Daily Dispatch invited people to enlist and pretty soon American volunteers outnumbered Mexican their enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed some applicants wrote in asking to be included I am not going to take the time to read them out loud but I have posted three here if you want to pause and check them out the Venture was sold as the last Apache hunt and the volunteers reflected that sentiment but before it could get underway the Mexican Government shut it down they were getting a little nervous at the idea of having hundreds of American militants on their soil many of them not hiding the fact that they were also into interested in the rumors of Gold Silver and copper in those mountains but even without his volunteers fimbres escalated his Pursuit and his efforts paid off in 1931 this bombshell hit the front page of the Arizona Daily Star quote revengeful father returned with Indian scalps end quote in April 1930 after the punitive force of Americans was grounded by the government fembras moved with 12 men from nakor Chico on Horseback they were following a new lead and scouring an area of the Sierra Madre they had never been to before Broncos had recently ambushed a small group between the Corey Chico and Casas grandas a few days in they spot sign of Apache and smoke from a campfire they approached the area in silence and with the utmost caution at first they see just two Apache women the group took aim and fired at them hitting one in the arm she screams nakaye the Apache word for Mexicans the other yells for help and she calls Apache Juan by name before the women can get away the Posse fires a second volley and kills them both the Mexicans see other Apache fleeing into the forest but Apache Juan ran toward the group and began firing back staying behind to defend his tribe despite being drastically outnumbered fimbra's team was able to pin him down behind cover before one of the group flanked him the initial shot injured him before the group moved in and finished what they started in the silence after the fight the Mexicans then inspected the camp they took valuables like Saddles and rifles as well as Apache trinkets that they found as souvenirs but before they left they made two very serious mistakes they Scout the dead and they left the bodies unburied and in the open fimbra's hoped that by being so Brazen that maybe the Apache would fear Him and they would free Heraldo to get them off their back but that's not what they do and this is not that kind of story the image published in the Arizona Daily Star is in essence a victory photo despite the warnings of Lupe fimbres thought this was the path to getting his son fear and intimidation the Mexican Government took this tactic throughout the last century but all of that history with the Apache should have told them that it wouldn't work failing to understand the Apache cost him everything a couple days after the expedition that killed Apache Juan and the two women two Mexican men riding horses in the area of the fight caught the smell of Decay and investigated the three Apache who were left out in the open had been carefully buried by their companions when they later returned but next to their graves was another buried shallow and with his legs sticking out was the body of Heraldo there were obvious signs of torture he would have been about seven accounts from Friends of fembras say that at this point he was a Broken Man his primary motivation before was to get his son back now he only lived for Revenge blood feuds dominate the story of Native American history and this one is no different a piece of tragic irony in this story is that from fimbreze's perspective his mission came from wanting Vengeance for his wife and to save his son but that attack was likely not a random act of violence around 1915 12 years before the attack on the fimbrose family the Broncos had stolen some cattle and a group of ranchers including fimbres caught up to them in doing so they capture a young Apache girl she lived with the fembras family for a while before being baptized and adopted by another she believed since she was taken that nakori Chico was constantly being watched and that the fembras family was marked by Apache Juan and her mother at one point a few years after her capture she asked to rejoin her people and the community decided to let her she went up into the mountains and found her family but she was told that she was no longer welcome with the Apache and that if she returned that they would kill her that little girl was Lupe the same Lupe who had been giving fimbra's advice since the attack in 1927. she believed that the woman who pulled Maria off that horse was her mother and that taking Geraldo was essentially an exchange a child for a child she also believed from the descriptions given to her from fembris that the Apache women killed in 1930 was her mother and her sister the violence between the Broncos and the finbres family had been going on now for nearly two decades but it wasn't over in 1934 Grenville Goodwin estimated that they were around only 30 of these Broncos left he made these estimates based on the amount of cattle taken on ranches in the area and what the Apache would need in food in order to sustain themselves it's for sure not a perfect estimate but it does give us a starting point he wrote to the Broncos quote they are fighting a losing battle in Mexico and it seems only a question of time till they will be exterminated end quote but news didn't travel especially fast to the United States and by 1934 that may have already happened despite his attempts Grenville Goodwin missed some news he had issues with tuberculosis and was out of commission for large chunks of time in the 1930s there is an incomplete record and frankly at this point the story I am not sure what is true and what is Legend some of the conflicts appear to be reported twice by different people on different timelines with different details but this is what can be put together in the spring of 1933 several sources claim finbres led a group of ranchers on an expedition that killed two dozen Apache but that fight mirror is one reported in 1932 in which far less Apache are killed in both three children are taken each of them dying within a year there was a report out of Tucson in September of 1934. that is eerily similar to one in 1935 in which a group including fembras and Bush Apache coming down from cover in the mountains following a heavy snow what does seem consistent is that in 1935 reports stopped so were all the Apache dead I don't think so in 1937 a Norwegian Explorer Helga ingstad LED an expedition into the Sierra Madres in search of any remaining Apache he didn't find them leading many to assume they were all gone but there is more to that story first is that the Expedition may have found more than was reported ingstad had two Apache guides one of them yinoza was a former Warrior who had surrendered with Geronimo way back in 1886. at one point during the Expedition ingstad separated from his guides for a few days they never told him but reported to people on reservation later that they didn't find any Apache but they did find a camp with evidence of Apache there recently whether that is true or not I have no idea but a year later in 1938 Grenville Goodwin was visiting the mescaleros reservation there he was told by two separate people of wild Apache who had visited the year before the witnesses said they spoke Spanish and in the decades that follow there are other rumors that are hard to ignore there was a story of a woman in Colorado who said her parents were from a small settlement in the mountains west of Chihuahua city they would tell stories of their Village and say that everyone there was related she said that when her children were little her parents would speak to them in Apache they left the village in the 1950s an anthropologist named Tom Hinton met a man who spoke with four men describing themselves as Apache in 1948 in the area south of nakori Chico the people who live in this area are mostly Mountain pemas Native Americans Hinton was told the men were wearing Buckskin clothing and moccasins and that they claimed to have been descended from the chirakawa it's not unlikely that a small number who survived moved to different locations or assimilated themselves into small Mexican towns or communities but a more romanticized view is that maybe a small population still lives out there the region is unbelievably rural the land is there and to this day every so often someone reports having seen them it's not likely but I know if I ever find myself in the Sierra Madre the most terrifying thing I can imagine is getting the feeling of being watched or hearing sounds I can't quite explain thanks for watching the video I hope that you enjoyed it and you come back to check out some of the other ones on the channel if you have any questions comments or ideas for future videos please send them in and we'll hopefully get to all those 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Channel: Dates and Dead Guys

Views: 634,707

Keywords: Apache, Arizona, Cochise, Comanche, Empire of the Summer Moon, Geronimo, History, Indians, Mexico, Native Americans, New Mexico, Top 10, Weird History, old west documentary, Man Hunt, Sierra Madre, Reservation, San Carlos, Wild West, History Channel, Diabolical, Old West, Raid, Aztec, Apache Kid, Herman Lehmann, Quanah Parker, Power, Magic, sorcery, compilation, full series

Id: RPmQucPVWqE

Length: 177min 18sec (10638 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 10 2023