Apache is the collective name for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States, aboriginal inhabitants of North America, who speak a Southern Athabaskan (Apachean) language. The modern term excludes the related Navajo people. However, the Navajo and the other Apache groups are clearly related through culture and language and thus are considered Apachean. Apachean peoples formerly ranged over eastern Arizona, north-western Mexico, New Mexico, parts of Texas, and a small group on the plains. --------------------------------------------- There was little political unity among the Apachean groups. The groups spoke 7 different languages. The current division of Apachean groups includes the Navajo, Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan, and Plains Apache (formerly Kiowa-Apache). Apache groups are now in Oklahoma and Texas and on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. The Navajo reside on a large reservation in the United States. Some Apacheans have moved to large metropolitan areas, such as New York City. ------------------------------------ The Apachean tribes were historically very powerful, constantly at enmity with the whites for centuries. The U.S. Army, in their various confrontations, found them to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists.-----------------The name Apache was borrowed into English via Spanish although the ultimate origin is uncertain. It was first written in Spanish by Juan de Oñate in 1598. The most widely accepted origin asserts a borrowing of Zuni ?a·pacu which means "Navajos", although the Navajo were not distinguished from other Apachean groups (other Zuni words referring to modern Apache groups are wilac?u·kwe "White Mountain Apache" and cišše·k?e "San Carlos Apache, Apaches in general"). Another suggested derivation is from Yavapai ?pac? meaning "people". However, both of the origins are less convincing considering that Oñate encountered Yuman or Zuni peoples only after the word was recorded. Other origins include from Spanish mapache "raccoon" and from an unspecified Quechan word meaning "running warrior horse". ------------------------------------ The Spanish first mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navajo) in the 1620s, referring to people in the Chama region east of the San Juan River. By the 1640s, the term was applied to Southern Athabaskan peoples from the Chama on the east to the San Juan on the west. ----------------------------------- The tribes' tenacity and fighting skills, probably bolstered by dime novels, had an impact on Europeans. In early twentieth century Parisian society "Apache" essentially meant an outlaw.-----------The Apache were a powerful people, anxious to defend their territory and constantly at enmity with the aggressive European population that was confiscating their living area. In the 1820s and 1830s, the Apaches' chief enemy was the Mexicans, who had gained their independence from Spain in 1821. By 1835 Mexico had placed a bounty on Apache scalps. When Juan José Compas, the leader of the Mimbreño Apaches, was killed for bounty money in 1837, Mangas Coloradas or Dasoda-hae (Red Sleeves) became principal chief and war leader and began a series of retaliatory raids against the Mexicans. --------------------------------------------- When the United States went to war against Mexico, the Apache promised U.S. soldiers safe passage through Apache lands. When the U.S. claimed former territories of Mexico in 1846, Mangas Coloradas signed a peace treaty, respecting them as conquerors of the hated Mexican enemies. An uneasy peace between the Apache and the United States held until the 1850s, when an influx of gold miners into the Santa Rita Mountains led to conflict. In 1851, near Pinos Altos mining camp, Mangas was personally attacked by a group of miners who tied him to a tree and severely beat him. Similar incidents continued in violation of the treaty, leading to Apache reprisals. In December, 1860, thirty miners launched a surprise attack on an encampment of Bedonkohes Apaches on the west bank of the Mimbres River. According to historian Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "...killed four Indians, wounded others, and captured thirteen women and children." Retaliation by the Apache again followed, with raids against U.S. citizens and property. The U.S. Army, in their various confrontations, found them to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists.---------------In early February 1861, Lieutenant George N. Bascom and U.S. troopers lured Cochise, principal chief of the Chokonen Apache, his family and several warriors into a trap at Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona. Cochise managed to escape but his family and warriors remained in captivity. Negotiations were unsuccessful and fighting erupted. The "Bascom Affair" ended with Cochise’s brother and five other warriors being hanged from trees. Later in 1861, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise, his son-in-law, struck an alliance, agreeing to drive all Anglo-Americans out of Apache territory. They were joined in their effort by the chief Juh and the famous warrior Geronimo. Although the goal was never achieved, the Anglo-American population was greatly reduced for a few years during the American Civil War. -------------------------------------------- In the summer of 1862, after recovering from a bullet wound in the chest, Mangas Coloradas met with an intermediary to call for peace with the Americans. In January of 1863, he decided to personally meet with U.S. military leaders at Fort McLane, near present-day Hurley in southwestern New Mexico. Mangas arrived under a white flag of truce to meet with Brigadier General Joseph Rodman West, an officer of the California militia and a future senator from Louisiana. Armed soldiers took him into custody and West is reported to have given an execution order to the sentries. That night Mangas was tortured, shot and killed, as he was "trying to escape." The following day, U.S. soldiers cut off his head, boiled it and sent the skull to the Smithsonian Institution. The mutilation of Mangas' body only increased the hostility between the Apaches and the United States, with war continuing for almost another quarter century. The ongoing war impacted other Native American tribes, as well, as the Apache were significantly involved in trading networks. ---------------------------------------------- The final surrender of the tribe took place in 1886, when the Chiricahuas, the division involved, were deported to Florida and Alabama, where they underwent military imprisonment.