Cochise was born in the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona in 1805. Cochise’s father and grandfather had been chiefs of the Central Chiricahua. Cochise married, Dos-teh-seh, the daughter of Mangas Coloradas. They had two sons, Taza and Natchez.
Cochise became an important Apache warrior and took part in a battle with the Mexicans in May 1832 on Gila River. In 1847 Cochise was involved in raids in Sonora and by the 1850s he had emerged as one of the main leaders of the Apache tribe. On the death of Narbona he became war leader of the Chiricahuas. In September 1858, Cochise joined Mangas Coloradas, his father-in-law, in an attack on Fronteras Presido.
On 27th January, 1861, Apaches stole cattle and kidnapped a boy from a Sonoita Valley ranch. Second Lieutenant George Bascom was sent out with 54 soldiers to recover the boy. Cochise met Bascom and told him that he would try to recover the boy. Bascom rejected the offer and instead tried to take Cochise hostage. When he tried to flee he was shot at by the soldiers. The wounded Cochise now gave orders for the execution of four white men being held in captivity. In retaliation six Apaches were hanged. Open warfare now broke out and during the next 60 days 150 white people were killed and five stage stations destroyed.
Cochise and Mangas Coloradas killed five people during an attack on a stage at Stein’s Peak, New Mexico. In July, 1861 a war party murdered six white people travelling on a stage-coach at Cooke’s Canyon. The following year Cochise ambushed soldiers as they travelled through the Apache Pass. The Apaches also attacked stage coaches and in 1869 killed a Texas cowboy and stole 250 cattle. Cochise and his men were pursued but after a fight near Fort Bowie the soldiers were forced to retreat.
In 1872 General Oliver Howard had a meeting with Cochise in the Dragoon Mountains and eventually it was agreed that a reservation would be established for the Chiricahuas in Arizona.
Cochise died of cancer on 8th June, 1874. He was replaced as leader of the Chiricahuas by his son, Taza.
MFW: Though it is stated from several sources that there is no known photographs of Cochise, the above image (a drawing?) is presented in several locations as being Cochise. ???
However, I cannot verify it’s authenticity.
Total population: 56,060 (self-identified) Regions with significant populations: Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma Languages: Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan Apache, Plains Apache, Mescalero, Western Apache Religion: Native American Church, Christianity, traditional shamanistic tribal religion Related ethnic groups: Navajo, Dene Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan (Apachean) language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan speakers of Alaska and western Canada.
The modern term Apache excludes the related Navajo people. Since the Navajo and the other Apache groups are clearly related through culture and language, they are all considered Apachean. Apachean peoples formerly ranged over eastern Arizona, northern Mexico, New Mexico, west and southwest Texas, and southern Colorado. The Apachería consisted of high mountains, sheltered and watered valleys, deep canyons, deserts, and the southern Great Plains.
The Apachean groups had little political unity; the major groups spoke seven different languages and developed distinct and competitive cultures. The current division of Apachean groups includes the Navajo, Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan, and Plains Apache (formerly Kiowa-Apache). Apache groups live in Oklahoma and Texas and on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico.
Some Apacheans have moved to large metropolitan areas. The largest Apache urban communities are in Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Phoenix, Denver, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Some Apacheans were employed in migrant farm labor and relocated to the central agricultural regions of Southern California, such as the Coachella, Imperial and Colorado River valleys, where now tens of thousands of Apacheans live.
The Apachean tribes were historically very strong and strategic, opposing the Spanish and Mexican peoples for centuries. The first Apache raids on Sonora appear to have taken place during the late 17th century. In 19th-century confrontations, the U.S. Army found the Apache to be fierce warriors and skilful strategists.
Apache – Geronimo
Without a doubt the most famous of those that are called Apache is Geronimo. Dozens of books, movies, documentaries have attempted to explore or exploit his fame. Were they successful?
Though there are said be about 15 Western Movies exploring/exploiting Geronimo, yet I was only able to discover 3 posters:
Geronimo: an American Legend (1993)
Despite a stellar cast that includes Wes Studi (as Geronimo), Robert Duvall, and Gene Hackman, Geronimo: an American Legend (1993) received only luckwarm reviews and fanfare – possibly not living up to hopes and expectations. The movie attempts an historical depiction of Geronimo, but seemed to fall down entertainment wise. It’s always a difficult balance to combine historical accuracy and Entertainment – even with subject matter like this.
“Geronimo said he was not a chief, but he was certainly a great military leader. He was one of many people with special spiritual insights and abilities known to Apache people as “Power”. Among these were the ability to walk without leaving tracks; the abilities now known as telekinesis and telepathy; and the ability to survive gunshot (rifle/musket, pistol, and shotgun). Geronimo was wounded numerous times by both bullets and buckshot, but survived. Apache men chose to follow him of their own free will, and offered first-hand eye-witness testimony regarding his many “powers”. They declared that this was the main reason why so many chose to follow him (he was favored by/protected by “Usen”, the Apache high-god). Geronimo’s “powers” were considered to be so great that he personally painted the faces of the warriors who followed him to reflect their protective effect. During his career as a war chief, Geronimo was notorious for consistently urging raids and war upon Mexican Provinces and their various towns, and later against American locations across Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas.”
Supernormal powers seem like fanciful stuff to us ordinary urbanites, but among those that live apart from the trappings of modern urban culture, such talents were mere and vital survival tools. And those who possessed such talents to greater degrees were highly respected and revered among their peoples. Such was Geronimo.
Yet who was Geronimo? A man of contradictions. Murderer? Spiritual leader??? Butcher? Baker? Thief? Politician??
“You call that life? If an Apache cannot live in his home mountains like his fathers before him, he is already dead!” Massai: (Lancaster)
When Rose and I got back from Arizona and the Apache Trail … I sat down in my living room and turned on the TV. Guess what’s playing? ??? Apache… of course – on Turner Classic Movies.
Interesting that foreign posters are often better than domestic.
But all they would have had to do was stick a pic of Jean Peters on the
poster and the theatres would have been full.
Jean … with a bullet
Well, I’ve known about this movie for some some, but never gotten around to seeing it. But since this was such a coincidence (I don’t believe in coincidences), I figured I better watch it. I’ve also known for a long time that my attraction to Sedona and Arizona country was due to past lives that I had spent here as a native in times that pre-dated the coming of the Whiteman. Much of Apacheis filmed around Sedona and though I have no clear recollection of being Apache in particular, Apache is a very large and board label that covers many tribes in the American Southwest.
Apacheis not high on the list of most Western Movie fans, and I don’t consider it to be a major Western classic myself. But it still has some interesting and noteworthy features. For starters, it stars Burt Lancaster – one of the greatest Western Film actors of all time.
“The film was the first in a series of movies Lancaster made for United Artists (under the Hecht-Lancaster studio)
It was originally budgeted at $742,000. The film was a big hit, earning over $3 million in its first year of release and $6 million overall.”
A study of the film industry gives is a study of inflation: The recent The Lone Ranger (starring Johnny Depp) cost approximately $250 million to make.
Casting
Besides Lancaster as Massail, it also has other notable casting: Jean Peters as Nalinlel; John McIntire as Al Sieber; Charles Bronson (as Charles Buchinsky) as Hondo; John Dehner as Weddle; Paul Guilfoyle as Santos; Ian MacDonald as Clagg; Walter Sande as Lt. Col. Beck; Morris Ankrum as Dawson; Monte Blue as Geronimo.
Charles Bronson billed as Charles Bruchinsky
Jean Peters, John McIntire, Charles Bronson, John Dehner, Ian MacDonald would all be well recognized actors even today.
Another 1950s pro-Indian Western featuring Caucasian actors in brown body paint speaking pidgin “Native,” Apache nevertheless manages to dispense more than the standard revisionist bromides. Showcasing his energetic style, director Robert Aldrich doesn’t stint on the violence perpetrated by either the whites or by star Burt Lancaster‘s athletic blue-eyed brave Massai, while Massai’s rough handling of Jean Peters‘ Nalinle makes him tough to admire. Nevertheless, Massai’s trip from Florida to his ancestral lands early in the film concisely and potently sums up the ruinous spread of white “civilization” across indigenous tribal territory, turning him into a Machiavellian hero saved by the agrarian ideal and Nalinle’s familiar instincts. As Aldrich figured, that salvation rings jarringly false, but the powers that be overruled the relatively inexperienced movie director’s artistically sound yet commercially difficult instincts. Aldrich’s first collaboration with producer/star Lancaster, Apache was also the director’s first hit and the beginning of Lancaster’s fruitful run as a Western action hero. According to historical accounts, the actual Massai’s eyes really were a Lancasterian azure.
Director Robert Aldrich
The film is directed my none other than Robert Aldrich – who also directed The Big Knife (1955), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Flight of the Phoenix(1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and The Longest Yard (1974).
Aldrich further directed the Western Classic Vera Cruz(1954) that featured Lancaster, Gary Cooper, Cesar Romero, Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine … among others.
Other Westerns directed by Robert Aldrich:
– 4 for Texas (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg, Ursula Andress, Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam,and The Three Stooges.(Yep, you’re reading correctly – obviously a comedy.)
– Ulzana’s Raid (1972) starring Burt Lancaster, Richard Jaeckel, Bruce Davison and Joaquin Martinez. The film, which was filmed on location in Arizona – portrays a brutal raid by Chiricahua Apaches against European settlers.
– The Frisco Kid (1979) – another Western comedy with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford …
Apache – Cathedral Rock in background, Sedona Arizona
