The Dread Apache—That
Early-Day Scourge of
the Southwest
By
DR. M. P. FREEMAN
Tucson, Arizona
November 14
1915
The Dread Apache—That
Early-Day Scourge of
the Southwest
BY DR. M. P. FREEMAN
A short time ago, idling through acollection of early-day photographs, Icame across two that vividly recalledthe closing scenes in that bloody frontierdrama in which the Apache wasthe chief actor. For many years therelentless foe of the pioneer, wary,tireless, cowardly and treacherous, hewas the very incarnation of fiendishness,if possible, more pronounced inthe squaw than in the man. Nevermeeting you in the open, always in ambush,concealed behind the big graniteboulder, the point of a hill or a clumpof brush, he and his fellows patientlyawaited your solitary coming, all unconsciousof danger, then—the crackof the rifle and it is all over. Todayhe might be a “sniper”, but in the daysof his hellish activities the word hadnot yet been given its more recentlyenlarged meaning.
2000 Pioneers Victims of Apaches.
How many breakers of the wilderness,hardy, fearless old-timers, weresent to their final rest by this earlyscourge of the desert, who can say!Some place their number at two thousand,some say more, others less. Thisdoes not include the soldier boy,whose profession it is to risk his life,and when necessary, his duty, its sacrifice.Of the number of these thereis probably a record somewhere, but ofthe old pioneer, only an estimate. Inthe valley, on the mesa and the hillside,on the mountain-top and in thedeep shadows of the canyon, everywherethis broad land is dotted withtheir unknown and unmarked graves.
Captain John G. Bourke, author of“On the Border with Crook,” and “AnApache Campaign,” who was with Gen.Crook, tells us that the Apache “is nocoward, but that he has no false ideasabout courage, that he would prefer toskulk like a coyote for hours and thenkill his enemy, rather than by injudiciousexposure receive a wound.”May we not attribute to the chivalrousspirit of Capt. Bourke, not to criticizea foe, his delicate way of putting this?
No, I do not recall that this earlyplague of the old pioneer ever “injudiciouslyexposed” himself unless drivento it. “Skulking like the coyote,” asCapt. Bourke so well expresses it, ismy conception of his bravery. Ifforced to the open he would undoubtedlymake a brave fight, but I have neverheard of his voluntarily seeking thatopen, meeting his enemy on anythingapproaching equal terms.
Paris Adopts Name of Apache
Being over in Paris a few years ago,a friend who had lived there a numberof years, and who was as familiar withParis from basement to roof-garden, asI am with Congress street of our goodold town of Tucson, suggested oneevening that we visit the “Apaches”.Expressing surprise that any of mypeople should have wandered so farfrom home, I suggested as a substitutethe Moulin Rouge. However, theApaches were agreed on, and in theevening, my friend, bringing a policemanwith him, called for me at myhotel.
Arriving at the door of theApache rendezvous in due course, wethree—my friend