The Apache Kid

Welcome to Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains  I'm Larry Hedrick where we bring the past into   the present for our future viewers today we have  another great story by Hank Sheffer today I want   to talk to you about one of the greater enigmas to  come out of our western Arizona history now it's   it's kind of interesting we know quite a quite  a lot about this fellow uh only because of the   people that he apparently ran a parallel life with  um he was with them and because of them we know   more about him and one of those people of course  is Al Sieber he was a very very instrumental in   how the Apache kid's life turned out but I don't  want to get too far ahead of myself with those   people uh some folks believe that the Apache  kid was born in the Aravaipe canyon just south   about 25 miles southwest of uh San Carlos  his given name you have to bear with me here   was house Cabane Nato that's right I didn't  make that up that was his name Haskell Bainettel   which means the tall man destined to come to a  mysterious end of course it does well according   to my sir my sources Al Sieber was the one who  came up with that uh calling him the Apache kid   because he figured it was a whole lot easier to  say that than it was to say the husqvaine natal   other sources say that he was born to an Apache  family who later moved down into the globe area   and he he was there for a while the bottom line is  no matter which one of the stories you hear about   where he was from and we'll talk about that a  little bit later on too was the fact that he   was abducted by the humans and he remained with  them until the 1870s when the army rescued him   and he he met Al Sieber at that time and  Al Sieber literally adopted the Apache kid   well now the history books tell us that Al Seiber  actually didn't join the cavalry everybody says   army but he joined the he joined the cavalry  after the civil war was over and that was in 1871   and he worked as a scout for General George  Stoneman and we've heard that name in our history   any number of times by November of 1872  he was employed as a scout at Camp Haulpai   and sometimes you'll see that as w-a-w-u-a-l-p-a-i or you'll see it as  h-u-a-l-p-a-i and it was essentially a   tent camp it wasn't much more than that then  in 1873 Al Seiber moved down into fort Verde   and he was in charge of a large body of Apache  scouts and of course the kid was with him   at that time and he was forever learning  more and more about the scouting business we find that Al Sieber during this time was  a very busy man because the Apaches were very   busy people they had this propensity you see  for killing people and marauding and robbing   anything they can steal and it did anyway that's  what they were doing so Al Sieber was busy   we also find that during the 1870s the Apache  kid attended school probably not of his choosing   but rather Al Siebers at any rate he went to the  school in at San Carlos and apparently he was um   a pretty pretty clever kid uh he actually said  that he could speak several different languages   uh and it is actually my belief that during  the indian campaigns in 73 he's now out of   school and he's back with Sieber this is where  he started learning all of his scouting skills   within a few years we're up to 1881 now  the kid actually was old enough to join   the cavalry himself and he did that and he  enlisted with the u.s cavalry as an indian   scout under a program that was designed by  General George Crook and this was to help   further quell all of the hostile raids that were  going on according to the writings of a Judge Dan   R. Williamson who later became the Arizona state  historian the first Sergeant post came open in   1882 under Sieber went out that I don't mean  it was the first sergeant I mean he was the first   sergeant and that meant that he needed somebody  to fill that post because the other fellow had   been killed earlier well the first guy that the  first indian that Al Seiber wanted to appoint   retired and he just left the cavalry altogether  because at that point in time they only had to   enlist for three months if they wanted to they  didn't have to enlist for any more than that   and so his second choice was actually the Apache  kid and that was in 1882. during the entire time   that followed while in pursuit of Geronimo  it was the Apache kid served with Sieber   as his first sergeant however it wasn't until  September of 1886 four years later when the   warring medicine chief Geronimo and what was  left of his meager band actually surrendered   and were shipped off to Florida now I have  an interesting little sidebar that took place   that I want to tell you about because we all like  rifles and we all like guns well most of us do during this time after the civil war uh the 1886  Winchester rifle there was one that once belonged   to a man who was instrumental in leading this  contingency of soldiers to actually capture or   get Geronimo when he surrendered more correctly it  was just sold at auction but the story that comes   with that auction is kind of interesting  to me it turns out that the fellow   a fellow by the name of George Albee  worked for the Winchester rifle company   after the civil war and while he was there  bear in mind it's 1886. so you've probably   guessed which rifle we're going to talk about  they introduced this brand spanking new lever   action rifle and it was the 1886 uh Winchester  lever action the fella's name was George Albee   and what he did was he managed to wander his way  in and he got the number one rifle that's the one   that everybody wants the one that says number one  on it and it was their newest design he presented   that rifle as a gift to his old civil war buddy  who was a U.S. Army Captain Henry Ware Lawton   well Lawton carried that rifle and it  was with him when Geronimo surrendered   did I mention to you that that rifle  sold for 1.265 million dollars. that's the highest price that's ever been paid  for an auction weapon in history at any rate   that in a dollar or gets you a pot of coffee  anywhere so anyway now you can tell that story   and make money at the bar or whatever you want  to or or don't tell the story and whatever as I  had mentioned earlier the place of the apache kids  birthdate has met with some question however the   next part of this story is quite explicit because  once again we refer to Dan Williamson the Judge   because he shares first-hand information that  he got from Al Sieber not only got from Al   Sieber but he was with Al Sieber on many of his  adventures and he writes about those in an Arizona   historical review titled al sieber the famous  scout of the southwest and you can look that up   it's a wonderful chapter in a book you enjoy  it after the Geronimo campaign everything   was working in the kids behalf he was doing  things right he was working for the government can he do that unfortunately right after this  time was when the wheels started to come off   of the wagon for the Apache kid in 1887 very  shortly after we're talking about September   and January so it's just that short distance of  time to 1887 a fellow by the name of Togadeshus   throw this horrendous dance party for  the indians this man was supposed to be   the kid's father now we really don't know that for  certain but according to Williamson that's a fact   so i tend to believe that to be true because  he was there and at this particular dance party   apparently there was uh an awful lot  of tissuing which is apache whiskey   was consumed and everybody was sufficiently  intoxicated by the end of the day   unfortunately come the following morning it  was discovered that the old chief toga deschus   had been murdered had something to do with a knife  that was sticking out of the middle of his chest   but he did not fare well with that now according  to the apache code what was supposed to happen if   this guy truly was the apache kid's father he was  supposed to go out and avenge his father's death   and kill the guy who killed him in this particular  case the fellow's name was rip well the kid   didn't go he was still on he was still at the  reservation but sieber and captain pierce who was   the he was actually the agent for the san carlos  reservation had to leave the reservation for some   for some uh errand that they had to run so  they left but they told the kid you just   leave rip alone don't do anything of course as  soon as they left guess where the kid went he   went no sherman were they gone then the kid took  five of his men to the camp of rip and shot him   killed him dead or in the doornail some  sources say that rip resisted the arrest   which got him shot either way old rip came up  short and the kid was blamed for it nevertheless   anyway so it really didn't make any difference  when seba returned to the agency he found that the   kid was not there or the other five guys that had  been with him uh they had gone off someplace else   they had gone back to where they would normally  have stayed with their family or whatever it was   but they didn't go back to the reservation  so sieber put the word out said get your butt   back here and believe it or not the kid did and by  june 25 of 1887 the kid and his warriors were back   now siebel lined them all up in front of  his tent and he told the kid to take the   guns and the cartridge belts away from all  of the other guys and when he was finished   doing that he then told the kid to put  his gun and his gun belt on the ground that part of the now this next part of the story  actually varies a bit but it said that when sieber   had told these guys that they were going to  go down to the to the guard house there was   a little consternation there and they were  resisting and because of that sieber he took   the opportunity to reach inside of his tent and  grab a rifle at which time he shot one of them   another version says that he went to retrieve his  rifle but never had a chance because there was a   45-70 rifle ball that hit him and he's in his left  ankle um and the other ones just took off they   they just disappeared as quick as they could now  it's kind of interesting to me because one of the   sidebars on al sieber is that uh through the civil  war and whatever else he did with the indians   he was wounded 28 times with bullets arrows knives  whatever one of the wounds that he had received   was received during the civil war that hit him in  his lower left leg traveled up his leg and came   out around his knee now bearing in mind that had  to be a slug that was somewhere around 58 caliber   to 69 caliber bullet and it just tore his leg up  something awful well now we have another shot and   he gets shot in the same leg with a 45-70 and you  think you had a bad day either way here's what   happened next the small band of apaches snatched  up some horses and they fled for the wilderness   the army cavalry reacted i mean  post haste they were after them   after them in a heartbeat and they were chasing  them up the banks of the san carlos river   telegrams were sent from San Carlos to San  Francisco this was the headquarters division   of the pacific railroad and if you start looking  at your railroad history you'll see why that's   important because in this whole San Carlos area  the railroad was becoming more and more important   territorial newspapers in Arizona and New Mexico  picked up on the story of these Indians that had   gotten away and for two weeks the marauding  Apaches led the cavalry on mary chase the   kid in his band finally located high in the  Rincon mountains which is down toward Tucson   the trooper surprised them and they captured  all their horses and all of their supplies   but the indians kind of got away they  just disappeared and now they're hiding   unfortunately what they're finding out is  they don't have any supplies they don't have   anything going for them and yet the cavalry is  not given up at all they're going to get them   and the it's not going to fare well for them  at all finally the kid the kid got a message   off to General Mills, Mills called off the  pursuit if they would surrender which they did   on june 22nd the kid and the others surrendered  by the 25th miles decided to try the kid in four   others in general court court-martial despite  the fact that they did not in all probability   understand anything about the charges that were  put up against them after the trial was concluded   it was nobody's surprise that they were all  found guilty of mutiny mutiny and desertion   and they were all sentenced to death by firing  squad a bit harsh according to General Mills who   was not very happy with the verdict at all he  ordered the court to reconsider the sentencing   and on august the 3rd the court convened and  reduced the sentences to life in prison miles   still wasn't very satisfied with that either and  he reduced the sentence down to 10 years the sense   began with the men in the San Carlos guard house  until such time as the army could decide what it   was they needed to do with them now this is  when things really start to get interesting   according to the court minute entry of January  23rd of 1888 time is not fleeting by here   it's only been a year or so and the prisoners  were originally slated to go to Fort Leavenworth   which is a military prison that was changed  to Alcatraz purely for the sake of appearances   because it wasn't a military it wasn't a military  prison now on top of that what happened next was   unprecedented but it worked out really well for  the government the Judge Advocate General's office   reviewed the case and was convinced that  the indians had not received a fair trial on October 13 1888 secretary of war William  Endicott authorized the remission that is to say   he let them all go for the remainder  of the sentences of the five prisoners   and by november they were all back on the san  carlos now on top of all that consternation   pressure was also brought to bear  by the indian rights association   I don't think they had signs out or marching in  the streets I don't think they did that but the   federal they were unhappy about the federal misuse  of the territorial jurisdictions with the Army   the court not only agreed to the release of those  named in the original suit but they also released   all of the Apaches that were held as federal  prisoners in Illinois and Ohio now why that had   anything to do with Arizona or new Mexico I had  no idea but that's what they did but that meant   that what they did was released at least  11 murderers people who had been marauders   and renegaders they were all out there  killing people and robbing and carrying on   and they were being released back to San Carlos  of course this made all the Indians really happy   but the people of the southwest were just  totally outraged all of these Indians who we know   are pretty proficient at killing people  maiming people torturing people are now   back on the streets as we would say  today okay now so here we go again   it's the middle of October of 1889's and  things were getting all turned around again   Sheriff Glenn Reynolds of Gila County  was was issued some arrest warrants   he was supposed to go out and re-arrest the freed  Apaches which of course included the Apache kid   they were all apprehended very shortly thereafter  the trial of the kid and four others was set for   October 25th so these guys didn't mess around they  got things done in a hurry the Sheriff did five   days later they were found guilty and sentenced  to seven years in the territorial prison at Yuma   on November 1 the Indians and one Mexican  prisoner were slated to travel through the   Pinal mountains by a special stage to make  their way to the territorial prison in Yuma I have to interject here  that I really don't believe   that Sheriff Glenn Reynolds  or his Deputy William Holmes whose nickname was honky-dory of all things  and the stage driver Eugene Middleton   took these prisoners very seriously  they really should have but I don't   think they did and i think perhaps part of  it was because uh even though we're now in   we're in Arizona we're in central Arizona but  it's it's getting into November it's November 1   and it's snowing and it's cold and the  temperature is below freezing it's miserable well by not taking these guys seriously it  proves once and for all that complacency can   get you killed the two-day trip started in  Globe and it was destined for Casa Grande   the remainder of the trip was then to be  completed by rail over to Yuma the journey   started out okay but by the second day the whole  the whole plan started going south as we say   on the Gila river near a little town of Kelvin  which later became known as Ray uh also became   known as Riverside those kind of crossed over uh  was in Pinal county the driver pulled the team up   and he said we're we're in loose sand here and he  says we're going up this grade known as the Kelvin   grade and he he found it necessary to unload at  least seven of those prisoners they were shackled   hand-to-hand to each other the kid and another  one of the uh one of the worst of the bunch   was a fellow by the name of Hoss Kalti I'm  not making this up that was his name Hoss Kalti  and these guys were handcuffed their wrists  were handcuffed and their ankles were   handcuffed so they stayed in the stagecoach  the driver according to one story says that   they would drive the stagecoach up to the top  of the hill the top of the grade Kelvin grade   after the others got up there he was going to  let the horses rest the other story says that   he drove ahead of him and he was waiting for the  other prisoners and the Sheriff and Deputy to come   up and greet them either way it doesn't matter  because the outcome would have been the same while the party started trudging up the hill  with Reynolds at the front Deputy Holmes   in the back two of the Indians suddenly grabbed  at Reynolds they grabbed these pistols they   got a hold of that and they got a hold of  holmes and they knocked him over backwards   didn't kill him but his heart attack did he had  a heart attack for pete's sake so they got they got him   and a fellow by the name of Pushlete a Veri Unnice  Indian proceeded to shoot the Sheriff in the neck   and then shot the helpless holmes through and  through and he was already dead in the meantime   Middleton whether it was at the top of the hill  at the bottom of the hill doesn't matter he was   guarding the other two prisoners it was cold and  it was starting to snow again and the kid told   him I will sit down and I will just sit here don't  shoot the scene up the hill was not visible from   the stage in either case whether it was up there  or down the hill as I mentioned and Middleton when   he heard the shots going off he thought that  it was the Sheriff that was doing the shooting well in what must have seemed like a heartbeat the  Mexican prisoner who was actually a horse thief   he had escaped and he managed to get  down the hill and he come down there   and he related to them what was going on  up there that was when all hell broke loose   posturete had run down the hill and all of  a sudden jumped out from behind the coach   he fired at Middleton with the Sheriff's rifle  and Middleton fell to the ground with a bullet   through his cheek that came out he's out  he's through well now Middleton was in bad   shape but he was still conscious laying there  on the ground he figured that he was a goner he   just knew that there wasn't anything he could  do he was he was a goner but it was the kid   who saved his life the kid told Pustler to he said  save your cartridges he's dead anyway Middleton   later related that while they were stopped waiting  for the others by the coach and sitting there   Middleton had given the kid a cigarette and  it may just very well have been that cigarette   that saved Eugene's life because the kid had  some compassion there whatever that was but   he didn't nobody killed uh Middleton oh yeah  I know I know you're probably wondering what   happened to the Mexican well his name near as  we can tell was Jesus Albert and he was a horse   thief and he'd been convicted of that he managed  to cut a horse loose and off he went he was headed   best he could to get to Florence after he got  to Florence he related all the stories to them   having stopped it at riverside first  he told them so they knew up there   and now he's in Florence and apparently after  going through all of this mess up here on the hill   the governor felt pretty bad for him and  gave him a pardon so Jesus was set free   now that left only middleton still lying there  playing possum while the indians unshackled   themselves they'd gotten the keys out of the  Sheriff's pockets and and their Deputies pocket   and so they were unshackling themselves and  they were making sure everybody was dead   it was supposed to be dead and then they  finally let out this this humongous yelp   and off they went when a cold still quiet finally  fell over the massacre scene Middleton staggered   to his feet to go and seek help he found that  holm's body had not been molested he'd been shot   but he hadn't been molested but now the Sheriff  was a different that was a different story he had   been terribly jabbed and cut up by the muzzle of a  gun and his forehead had been smashed with a rock   which was typical apache that was typical what  they would do with bodies because if they couldn't   recognize you in the great hunting ground then you  couldn't stay there it was not until the following   morning when Middleton managed to drag himself  back to Riverside Station it was a stage station   that was some five miles away don't forget it's  snowing like the dickens and this guy's hurting   so for him to even make those five miles to me is  amazing a posse from Globe started on the trail   of the fugitives but soon had to return on the  account of the snowstorm so we're not just talking   snow coming down we're talking about something  nasty happening here the indians had struck up the   river to the mouth of the San Pedro near the site  of the town of Hayden and then over to San Carlos   now for all of you out there who like to follow  these things on maps you can google them just   the way I'm saying them and you can follow  exactly what happened where it happened and how   it happened it's really kind of interesting to do  that but i can't do that while I'm talking to you   finally the head of pasta I was cut off  and carried to the agency headquarters   he did not fare well with that they took him to  Al Sieber thus proving that he was truly dead   one of the indians was badly  wounded and he wandered off but he was later this particular guy was  later captured in Florence almost forgot   that he was captured and he was the only one that  completed the trip to Yuma prison of all things   now the Apache kid on the other hand  did manage to make good his escape   this whole thing that took place on  the Kelvin highway which is known now   as the Florence kelvin highway  was known as kelvin massacre   for several years after that he was a veritable  nightmare to everybody in central and southeast   Arizona everybody knew the name of the kid and  whether or not it was him who was who was the   one that was causing all the problems we're  never going to know for sure but everybody   knew him he was known from the Tonto Basin  to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico   it's interesting that it really didn't matter  what he did he was playing for it anyway   because everybody knew him they knew  him all the way over to what now   is known as the Apache kid wilderness in the  Sebolda national forest over in New Mexico well   now this is where the enigma part comes in for the  Apache kid we've had a hard time narrowing down   where he was born we really don't know for sure we  have some ideas where he was born and anyone could   be true any one of them at all because they're  all somewhere near the San Carlos reservation now we get around to the other part of  the enigma we don't know what happened   to him after he disappeared from the kelvin  massacre for quite some time people knew   as I say they had known who the Apache kid  was and there were sightings of him they'd   say oh I saw him that kind of like I saw Elvis  eating a peanut butter sandwich in the in the a   p store over the next several years the kid was  accused of any number of crimes including rape   and murder but there was never any clear evidence  that it was actually him so we really can't   narrow that down to him but for all intents and  purposes with nothing being able to be confirmed   the apache kid just simply vanished the last  reported crimes allegedly committed by the kid   were in 1894. that year this one's important that  year in the San Mateo Mountains west of Socorro   New Mexico Charles Anderson a rancher and his  cowboys killed in a patsy who had been resting   their cattle they maintained that this was the  Apache kid while that identification was contested   um it was never proven one way or the other if  it was really the kid after that the kid became   something of a something of a legend in his  own right in 1896 John Slaughter claimed that   he shot him over in the mountains of Chihuahua  but that wasn't true either that didn't happen   in 1899 Colonel Emilio here you go Koster  Litzky of the Mexican Royales reported that   the kid was alive and well and living among  the Apache and the Sierra Madre accidental   that was never confirmed it was all hogwash for  what we know and from what I want to tell you I'm   not going to tell you it actually happened  because I don't believe that he was there   another source relates the story 17 year  old Billy Keane a member of one of the   many posses actually had the head of apache  kid in Chloride New Mexico as late as 1907.   well that one that that one's just way too far  out some of the demise stories go so far as to   say that the cattle ranchers well into the 1920s  we're still blaming the Apache kid I think they   they were drinking some of that tissue and uh  a patsy whiskey that the Indians had way back   they just most of the people just really believe  that he was dead of some sort of sickness or lead   poison of some sort and before we go I have to  tell you there's another interesting little story   about the Apache kid it's not really well known  but I found it kind of curious the Apache kid   along with everything else  had a propensity for the women   and he had this deal where what he would do is he  would go into a camp and he would abduct a woman   and haul her off with him he made sure he left the  kids with the father but he would take the wife   and he'd take the woman and off he'd go he'd keep  her for a while and I don't know what that wall   amounted to I don't know if he wore her at or  just got tired of her she got tired of him or   whatever the story was but what would happen was  he would take that woman back to where he got her and steal another one and haul her off and he  was known to have taken them as far as New Mexico   he'd taken him down into Mexico but then when  he was done with him he took them back so there   has to be something said for that I  guess well be that as it may today   about a mile from Apache kid peak high up in the  San Mateo Mountains of the Cibola National forest   there's a marker at the gravesite that  stands that come memorizes the Apache kid   and this is from the time when Anderson  supposedly killed the Apache kid back in 1894.   now according to the residents what actually  happened was he was killed all right but they   just left him lay and between the buzzards getting  him and people later on taking souvenirs to the   apache kid there's absolutely nothing left up  there at all of him other than that gravesite   and this pretty much is why the year of 1894  is the most widely accepted date of his demise   now it may be unfortunate but I believe that  we may never know the real truth concerning   what happened to the famous or infamous  Apache kid uh I'm afraid he's just gonna   have to stay stranded out there someplace  and apparently his name says it all because   it says he was the tall man destined to come to  a mysterious end right here on Mysteries of the   Superstition Mountains thank you for watching  this episode of Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains

Channel: Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains

Views: 22,830

Keywords: Superstition Mountains, The Lost Dutchman Mine, Superstition Mountain Museum, Opal Images, Arizona, History, Gold, Treasure, Apache Kid, Old Yuma, Al Sieber, Hank Sheffer, old west, apache wars, General Crook, General Stoneman, Sherif

Id: 5fgFwJ5IjUk

Length: 36min 48sec (2208 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 23 2021