APACHE

farmer-raider Indians of the North American Southwest who, under such leaders as Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Geronimo, and Victorio, figured largely in the history of the region during the latter half of the 19th century. Their domain extended over what is now east central and southeastern Arizona, southeastern Colorado, southwestern and eastern New Mexico, western Texas, and, in Mexico, northern Chihuahua and Sonora states. This distribution is a recent one. The ancestors of the Apache (and the Navajo) apparently were from the far north, for the Apachean languages are distantly related to other Athabascan languages spoken in Canada. These ancestors probably did not reach the Southwest until AD 1000 or later. Some Apachean peoples are known to have been in the Southwest prior to the 15th century, but as late as 1700 Plains Apache farmers were still living along the Dismal River in Kansas. With the introduction of the horse, these and other Plains Apache were severely pressed south and west by the Comanche and Ute. Culturally, the Apache are divided into Eastern Apache, which include the Mescalero, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Lipan, and Kiowa Apache, and Western Apache, which include the Cibecue, Mimbreo, Coyotero, and Northern and Southern Tonto or Mogollon Apache. Characteristic of both Eastern and Western Apache, with the exception of the Kiowa Apache (see Kiowa), was the lack of a centralized tribal organization. The band, an autonomous collection of small local groups within a given locality, was the primary political unit as well as the primary warring and raiding unit. The strongest headman of the local groups was recognized as an informal chief, and several bands might be united under one leader. Chieftainship was thus not generally hereditary. The Apache subsistence pattern was based partly on hunting and on gathering wild plant foods, partly on farming, and partly on raiding; but the proportion of each varied greatly from tribe to tribe. The Jicarilla (q.v.) farmed fairly extensively, growing maize and other vegetables, but also had adopted part of the Plains Indians reliance on bison hunting. The Lipan of Texas, who were probably originally a band of Jicarilla, had largely given up farming and were, therefore, more mobile than the Jicarilla. The Mescalero (q.v.) were influenced by the Plains Indians, but their chief food staple was the mescal plant (hence the name Mescalero). The Chiricahua (q.v.) were perhaps the most nomadic and aggressive of the Apache west of the Rio Grande, raiding into northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico from their strongholds in the Dragoon Mountains. The Western Apache appear to have been more settled than their Eastern relatives, with considerably more emphasis on farming, though they did raid, frequently with various Yuman tribes. Although the Apache wars were among the fiercest fought on the frontier, the Apache had attempted to be friends of the Spanish, the Mexicans, and, later, the Americans. As early as the 17th century, however, Apache were raiding Spanish missions, and the Apache may have been partial instigators of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 (see Pueblo Indians). In 1858 a meeting between Americans and Chiricahua Apache took place at Apache Pass in the Dragoon Mountains, resulting in a peace that lasted until 1861, when Cochise went on the warpath. This marked the beginning of the Apache and Navajo wars, a quarter-century confrontation between U.S. military forces and the Indians of the Southwest. Despite their adept use of swift horses and their knowledge of the terrain, the Indians were outmatched by the superior arms of the federal troops. The Navajo surrendered in 1865 and agreed to settle on a reservation in New Mexico. The Apache ostensibly followed suit in 187173, but large numbers of warriors refused to yield their nomadic ways and to accept permanent confinement. Thus, intermittent raids continued to be led by such Apache leaders as Geronimo and Victorio, evoking federal action once more. The last of the Apache wars ended in 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo and his few remaining followers. The Chiricahua tribe was evacuated from the West and held as prisoners of war successively in Florida, in Alabama, and at Ft. Sill, Okla., for a total of 27 years. In 1913 the members of the tribe were allowed either to take allotments of land in Oklahoma or to live in New Mexico on the Mescalero Reservation. About one-third chose the former and two-thirds the latter. The Apache population totalled about 11,000 in the late 20th century. The Western Apache live on the Fort Apache and San Carlos reservations in east central Arizona. The Chiricahua (except those still living near Apache, Okla.), the Mescalero, and the Lipan live on the Mescalero Reservation, which is located in southern New Mexico. The Jicarilla have a reservation situated in north central New Mexico.