Lynda Sanchez is the authority on the Apaches in Mexico after Geronimo’s surrender. She has contributed another outstanding piece to True West Magazine, this one on the Apache Scouts who served in the Punitive Expedition to capture or kill Pancho Villa.
General John “Black Jack” Pershing assigned the Apache scouts from the 10th and 11th cavalry the task of tracking Pancho Villa. (Enjuh! It is good, they acknowledged.) The taste of new adventure and the hunt for the elusive bandit and his soldiers stirred their warrior souls.
The violence and upheaval of the Apache campaigns of the 1880s were long past. Compared to the dozens of scouts and troops who combed the Southwest and Mexico for renegade Apaches refusing to be confined on reservations, 1916 was pretty quiet. These particular Apache scouts were a band of brothers; they were tough and could track, fight and ride as their predecessors once did, but they were also immobilized in a time warp with tedious, uninspiring duty. That changed dramatically on March 9, 1916, when Pancho Villa and his angry revolucionarios had the audacity to wreak havoc on the border community of Columbus, New Mexico.
The Apache Scouts sure liked their Colt 1911 .45 pistols. And mules. I get a kick out of the way they pose with their 1911s. They must have felt like a status symbol. Early adopters of a cult that lives on even in this day of double-stack mags in polymer, striker-fired pistols. Enjuh!
U.S. Army Capt. John G. Bourke described the Apache scouts on the campaign in pursuit of Chiricahua Apaches in 1883 as following the ways of the natural environment. The scout knew every nook and cranny, every trail or mark along the way that told a story of people or animals passing by. A scout’s value was in their natural skills they were taught from childhood.
More than 30 years later, Capt. James Shannon, commanding officer of scouts, wrote:
“In order to get results, he must be allowed to play that game in his own way… This extreme caution…is one of the qualities that makes him a perfectscout. It would be almost impossible to surprise an outfit that had a detachment of Apache scouts in its front.”
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The Apache Scouts were some of the toughest and most capable men to ever serve in the U.S. military. Netflix is dropping a new series on the Toughest Forces On Earth. No Apaches, but it looks like a hoot.
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I am completely absorbed in The Unvanquished:
Powell is representative of the overlap of Confederate special operations with the Confederate Secret Service, which was pretty darn sophisticated and modern in its operations. The Lincoln Conspirators were not just a bunch of hapless, angry misfits, as has often been portrayed. There was more to it than that. It can’t be proven, but evidence strongly suggests that the assassination grew out of a Confederate Secret Service Operation, and Booth also seems to have had ties to the clandestine Knights of the Golden Circle, an outfit that promoted filibustering before turning its efforts toward secession.
The murder of Lincoln ushered in an era of political assassination that peaked with the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which touched off the powder train that would explode in the cataclysm of the Great War, which is the event that birthed the world in which we live today. In so many ways, the ACW was a harbinger of modernity, with all its wonders and terrors.
All this made me realize that I have neglected to watch Manhunt on AppleTV. Based on another truly outstanding book…
Many years ago, Lady Marilyn and my dad and I met up in Washington, DC, and explored a bunch of Civil War history, including the Gettysburg battlefield. Our visit to Ford’s Theater and the house across the street from it where Lincoln died came in the midst of a tropical storm that was dropping torrential rain from a leaden sky. It made for portentous and downright spooky doin’s.
I am so enamored of The Unvanquished that I want everybody to read it. To help that mission along, I’ll be giving away a copy to qualified patrons on the Frontier Partisans Patreon page. You can sign up for that here.
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Mother Nature gave us spectacular conditions over the weekend — starting with an unprecedented display of the Northern Lights, courtesy of the geomagnetic storm that hit the atmosphere Friday night. We’ve had glimpses of the Aurora Borealis in Sisters before — but nothing like this:
Ma Nature followed that up with a clear, sunny 80-degree Saturday, and you can bet I was going to take full advantage. Grabbed the 5.11 Tactical Rush 72 Pack and hit the trail. I really like that pack. It’s more than I need for a few hours of ramblin’ and, in fact, it doubles as my bug-out bag. But the extra load is part of the point — a good 6-miler is a worthy workout.
The CZ, the 5.11 Rush 72 Pack and a hickory walking stick are the tool kit for the pursuit of happiness.
I never tire of the unlimited route options in the shadow of the Three Sisters and Black Crater…
Thanks to a wet spring, Trout Creek was firing.
Paul McNamee says
Beautiful photos.
Quixotic Mainer says
Looks like a great ramble! I usually jettison my walking stick on my rambles after Spring gets some momentum going, in favor of carting my trout rod. I’m always on the scout for new ponds and streams out in Puckwudgie country, and am continually surprised on what might yield up little trout, hornpout or river chub.
Absolutely agreed on Ford’s Theater, as well as the room Lincoln passed away in. I will forever remember how eerily close the air felt in there. “Go then, draw breath freelier outside,” as Browning would put it. I’m glad you got the same thrill out of “Unvanquished” as I did! The Confederate Secret Service definitely put the op together for the assassination, though I fully believe they intended it as a “snatch and grab” at it’s outset. As things got more desperate near the end the plot got pared down to it’s final nasty version.
JimC says
Puckwudgie Country! Hell yes.
Matthew says
The Apache trained warriors from a young age like the Spartans. It’s no wonder so many were badasses. It included things like running with water in the mouth.
http://indigenousability.blogspot.com/2017/11/apache-running-by-mark-hatmaker.html
It also included giving children small animals to torture which is of course indoctrinating cruelty. That said no one in their right mind would say a Comanche warrior was not tough and skilled.
I sometimes wonder if Lincoln’s assassination did more harm to the South since Lincoln was strongly for reconciliation after the war. If Lincoln had lived maybe Reconstruction would have gone better. Not that we will ever know.
Travis Slusser says
Is there anything more badass than Apache scouts toting 1911’s and 03 Springfields? I’d never seen that photograph before, thank you for that!
JimC says
All credit to Lynda Sanchez for the Tier One badassery.
Ugly Hombre says
https://truewestmagazine.com/author/lynda-a-sanchez/
Wowser! Great thread and a fine article by Lynda Sanchez !
“First Lieutenant S. M. Williams, adjutant and quartermaster for the expedition, later wrote in an article for the US Cavalry Journal about his experiences at the Ojos Azules fight describing that this battle lasted for at least 20-25 minutes of furious fighting accompanied by Apache scouts shrieking shrill war hoops. Additionally, they also returned to camp with their booty: saddles, bridles, captured horses and mules, ammo, blankets, rifles and pistols. Afterwards, 1st Sgt. Chicken (Eskehnadestah) is recorded as saying: “Huli! Damn fine fight.” His men agreed.”
“It was a stunning feat for scouts and troopers because the forced all-night march with horses and mules carrying extra heavy loads was difficult for man and beast, and they were war-weary upon arrival at Ojos Azules. Courage and spontaneity carried the day as scouts and soldiers fought together well, carefully and with lightning speed when necessary.”
I don’t think the first shirts name was “Chicken” It was “Rooster.” I betcha.
Of course- the Apache Scouts were proud to have Old Slabsides at their sides!- Brand new high tech state of the art pistolas. Army showed rare good sense to issue them to the Apache Troopers.
One of the horse chit things inflicted on us in the digital age is the near extinction of print media I might drive the jalopy up north to get a paper copy of that issue of “True West”.
Thanks!
JimC says
You bet. And I endorse supporting print media wherever and whenever possible…
Lynda A. Sanchez says
Speaking of Ford’s Theater…I worked there right after it was re-opened and remodeled to appear as it had the night of Lincoln’s assassination. It was my privilege for many months to be a “Ranger historian” there, to give tours and presentations. The walk across the street to the Petersen house where he died was also thought provoking. I learned a lot about the Civil War during that time too.
Lynda A. Sánchez
JimC says
Wow… what a fascinating gig.
Lynda A. Sanchez says
All, thanks for the wonderful comments, and those great photos too Jim of your neck of the woods.
There is a longer article (twice as long with many more photos) that might be of interest to your readers regarding the Apache scouts. (Stirring the Warriors Soul) It is in the Wild West History Association Journal of Dec. 2023. The Journal gives authors/historians an opportunity to expand on topics where mostly they would be cut and we also are encouraged to use end notes.
Oh, and the guys name was really Sargeant Chicken. probably the best tracker ever!
Stay well and please go and buy that TW issue, or better yet, subscribe. We have to support our print publications or they will all go by the way side like Wild West, Natl. Geographic etc.
Lynda A. Sánchez
GAH says
I have always read anything that appears in print with respect to Mosby Rangers… My 2nd Great Grandfather, Sgt. GW Detwiler, of the 12th PA Cavalry was captured by Mosby’s men at Harmony, VA at the close of the war; and spent the last month of the war in Libby prison… GAH
JimC says
Whoa!
Ugly Hombre says
“Oh, and the guys name was really Sargeant Chicken. probably the best tracker ever!”
I believe you- Sargeant Chicken was a outstanding warrior/soldier & tracker. Its just that.. his name was “chicken” but, I would have felt weird calling him ‘chicken’- as he sure as heck was not.! Found some info on the “Wayback” on the Apache Scout’s from a old Army pub. Thought it was interesting
https://web.archive.org/web/20130502184833/http://huachuca.army.mil/files/History_ApacheScouts.pdf
“At Fort Apache I had excellent re-
lationships with Chicken. We hunted
together for a few days on Willow
Creek, a branch of the Black River.
He was on a manhunt with me after
a trooper, who went AWOL and was
hiking southward toward Globe. The
scouts successfully tracked the soldier.
We apprehended him near the lower
White River bridge, close to Tom
Wanslee’s trading store. In addition
to those trips together, there were
many other routine contacts at the
fort. He, of course, did not handle
the first sergeant’s paperwork; that was
done by white soldiers of the Quar-
termaster Detachment, but I always
gave him the orders and other mat-
ters regarding the scouts for him to
execute and pass along. He was a good
leader, and a highly respected man at
the fort.”
T/W has a phone number on their webpage plan to call them and sign up. should have done that before. Yep, have to support the last holdouts of print media!. And thanks for the info on the “Wild West History Journal” had not heard of that before looks very good. Esp the issue with the Apache Scouts story.
https://www.thearmorylife.com/apaches-with-1911s/
“Standard procedure in the U.S. Army was to enlist an Apache scout using an “Anglo” name or nickname. They were equipped with the latest firearms, in this case the .45 caliber M1911 pistol and the .30 caliber M1903 Springfield rifle. The Scouts wore much of the standard cavalry uniform with certain variations based on the style and preference of the individual scout. Clearly, the Apache scouts were treated with a great degree of leniency as compared with normal army (or national guard) troops.”
Article from Springfield Armory about the U.S.S. Scouts and the 1911 Colt with a few nice pictures.
I linked both the True West Article and the Frontier Partisan thread over at the Colt Forum there’s abiding keen interest in the Colt Automatic and the Apaches Scout use of them over there..
Gracias & Cheers!
Lynda A. Sanchez says
Ugly Hombre, and I bet you ain’t ugly either…
Thanks for linking TW and other like minded or interested folks in our unique history on the colt forum. I think sometimes we forget how to use these links to better inform ourselves or to share such special stories that often go back in time.
I also invite you to review that Wild West History Association Journal. It is one of the few remaining as well.
And I appreciate your becoming a subscriber to TW. I will forward your comments to Bob Boze Bell, owner and executive editor.
You all have a special Memorial Day! And a big shout out to “the boss”, Jim C.
Lynda