Civilization of American Indian S.
2 total works
Apacheria ran from the Colorado to the Rio Grande and beyond, from the great canyons of the North for a thousand miles into Mexico. Here, where the elusive, phantomlike Apache bands roamed, life was as harsh, cruel, and pitiless as the country itself. The conquest of Apacheria is an epic of heroism, mixed with chicanery, misunderstanding, and tragedy, on both sides.
The author's account of this important segment of Western American history includes the Walapais War, an eyewitness report on the death of the gallant lieutenant Howard B. Cushing, the famous Camp Grant Massacre, General Crook's offensive in Apacheria and his difficulties with General Miles, and the formidable Apache leaders, including Cochise, Delshay, Big Rump, Chunz, Chan-deisi, Victorio, and Geronimo.
The author interweaves the story of Victorio, an American Indian warrior, into the history of the Mimbrenos and their relationship with other Apache bands. He also examines the changing relationships between the Apaches and the US government and the Apaches' struggle to maintain their cultural identity. In what is primarily a life and times study of the plight of the Mimbres in the white man's world, Thrapp condemns the forces that drove Victorio to the warpath.