VOICE ONE:
PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English on the Voice ofAmerica.
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During the eighteenth century Indians tried to halt the move ofwhite settlers into territory in the American West. I’m ShirleyGriffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Today we tell the story of one of theleaders of the Indian resistance, Apache chief Cochise.
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VOICE TWO:
In the middle eighteen-hundreds, there were only a few whitesettlers in the southwestern United States. This was Apacheterritory. The Chiricahuas were one of several Apache groups thatlived in what today is southern Arizona and New Mexico.
The Chiricahua war chief, Cochise had become used to Americantravelers and military officials stopping at Apache Pass. It was theonly place in the area where drinking water could be found. TheChiricahuas lived at peace with the settlers. They sold wood to thesettlers. And, in eighteen-fifty-eight, Cochise had permitted theButterfield Overland Mail Company to build a rest area at ApachePass. He let mail carriers and other travelers pass safely throughthe area on their way to California.
In February of eighteen-sixty-one, an American military officerasked to speak with Cochise. He wanted to discuss several problems.Some cattle were missing. And a boy had been taken from a farm inthe area. Second Lieutenant George Bascom had been ordered to dowhatever was necessary to find the child. He did not have anyexperience in dealing with Indians.
VOICE ONE:
Cochise was tall for an Apache — almost six feet. He had strongcheekbones and a straight nose. He wore his black hair to hisshoulders in the traditional Apache way. He carried himself as aperson with power does. One American officer said he stood “…straight as an arrow, built, from the ground up, as perfect as a mancould be.”
The Chiricahua Apaches believed that a leader was one who waswise and able to win in war. They believed that a leader is notchosen, but just recognized.
Cochise was the son of aChiricahua Apache chief. He had been trained to lead from a youngage. The whites who knew him both feared and respected him. Friendsas well as enemies considered him to be an honest man. He alwaystold the truth and expected others to do the same.
By the time he met with Lieutenant Bascom, Cochise was aboutfifty-five years old. He was an unusually powerful Apache leader.
VOICE TWO:
Lieutenant Bascom knew nothing about Cochise. The officer wasconcerned only with succeeding at his first command.
Cochise was not responsible for the raid against the farm. So,the Apache chief believed the American soldiers had come in peace.He went to meet them with his wife and four other people. Theseincluded his brother, his young son, and two other relatives. Thathe came with his family was a sign of trust. But, Lieutenant Bascomdid not understand the sign.
They met in Lieutenant Bascom’s cloth tent. Cochise told theofficer that his people were not involved in the raid. Cochise saidhe would do what he could to help them find the boy. He toldLieutenant Bascom that he believed the boy had been taken by theWhite Mountain Apaches, a group that lived north of the Chiricahuas.Years later, this was found to be true.
VOICE ONE:
Lieutenant Bascom, however, was sure Cochise was hiding the boy.He accused Cochise of lying. At first, Cochise did not understand.He thought the American was joking. Then Lieutenant Bascom toldCochise that he and his family would be held prisoner until thecattle and the boy were returned.
Cochise reacted quickly. He stood up, pulled out his knife andcut a hole in the tent. He escaped through the hole. The soldierswaiting outside were taken by surprise. They shot at Cochise threetimes but could not stop him. One of Cochise’s relatives also triedto jump through the tent. But the soldiers captured him. Cochiselater told an American that he ran all the way up the hill with hiscoffee cup still in his hand.
VOICE TWO:
Cochise captured four Americans and left a message for LieutenantBascom about exchanging prisoners. But Bascom did not find Cochise’smessage until two days later. By then, it was too late. TheAmericans already had hung Cochise’s brother and two otherrelatives. They released Cochise’s son and wife.
Cochise immediately made plans to repay the Americans for thedeaths of his relatives. Cochise killed his prisoners. He decidedthat Americans could never be trusted. He said, “I was at peace withthe whites until they tried to kill me for what other Indians did; Inow live and die at war them.”
VOICE ONE:
The incident led to years of violence and terror. Cochise unitedthe Apaches. They attacked the United States army and the increasingnumber of white settlers moving into the southwest. The Apachesfought so fiercely that troops, settlers and traders were forced towithdraw from the territory. It appeared for a time that the Apachescontrolled Arizona.
News of Cochise’s bravery in battle became widely known. Hefought as if he believed he was protected from harm. One Americansoldier described how his shots missed Cochise. He said Cochisewould drop to the side of his horse, hang on its neck and use itsbody as protection.
VOICE TWO:
In eighteen-sixty-two, about two-thousand men marched fromCalifornia to Apache Pass. General James Carleton commanded them.They were trying to re-establish communications between the Pacificcoast and the eastern United States.
Cochise had five-hundred Apache fighters hidden near Apache Pass.The Apaches attacked fiercely. Suddenly the Americans fired twolarge cannons. The Indians fled.
Mangas Coloradas, chief of the Chihenne Apaches, was badlywounded. He survived. Six months later, he tried to make a peacetreaty with a group of American soldiers. He was taken prisoner,shot and killed. Mangas’s murder confirmed Cochise’s belief thatAmericans must never be trusted.
VOICE ONE:
Cochise became the main chief of all the Apache tribes. He andhis warriors rode through southeastern Arizona torturing and killingeveryone they found, including small children.
The federal government began a campaign to kill or capture allApaches. Cochise and two-hundred followers escaped capture by hidingin the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. During this time, new whitesettlements were built. The Apaches continued to raid and return tohide in the mountains.
For twelve years, Cochise escapedcapture by troops from the United States and Mexico. Officials inArizona named him “public enemy number one.” The story spread thatno white person could look at Cochise and live to tell about it.
VOICE TWO:
Cochise refused to go to Washington for negotiations of any kind.He did not trust the United States government. Yet he permitted hisson, Taza, to go. Taza got the disease pneumonia and died. He isburied in the American capital.
In eighteen-seventy, General George Crook took command of theterritory of Arizona. He won the loyalty of a number of Apaches. Hegot many of them to live on reservations, the public lands set asidefor the Indians. But his main target was Cochise.
VOICE ONE:
Cochise agreed to come out of the mountains to discuss moving hispeople to a reservation in Arizona. But the federal government beganmoving other Apache tribes to a reservation in New Mexico. Cochiserefused to agree to move to any place but his home territory. Hereturned to the mountains to hide.
In the spring of eighteen-seventy-two, he decided to negotiate apeace treaty. General Oliver Otis Howard met with Cochise in hishidden mountain headquarters. That summer, they agreed to establisha reservation in Chiricahua territory in Arizona. General Howardpromised Cochise that his people would be allowed to live on theirhomeland forever. Cochise surrendered. He lived on the reservationpeacefully until his death, in eighteen-seventy-four.
VOICE TWO:
Two years later, the federal government broke the treaty andforced the Apaches to move. Some of them refused. Led by Geronimoand Cochise’s son Naiche, they fled to the mountains. For ten years,they continued raiding. Finally, they too surrendered and were movedfar away.
Cochise had fought fiercely to protect the land the Apachesconsidered home. But he lost. He once said, “Wars are fought to seewho owns the land, but in the end it posesses man. Who dares say heowns it–is he not buried beneath it?”
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VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Vivian Bournazian andproduced by Lawan Davis. I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE INAMERICA program on the Voice of America.