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{{Short description|Conflicts between the U.S. Army and native Apache tribe (1849–1924)}}
{{About|the Apache–US Wars|other Mexican–Apache wars|Apache–Mexico Wars|other wars involving the Apache|Apache War}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=es|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Apache Wars
| partof            = the [[American Indian Wars]]
| image             = A Dash for the Timber by Frederic Remington.jpg
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = ''A Dash for the Timber'', 1889, by [[Frederic Remington]]
| date              = 1849–1924
| place             = [[Southwestern United States]]
| coordinates       = 
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| map_relief        = 
| latitude          = 
| longitude         = 
| map_size          = 
| map_marksize      = 
| map_caption       = 
| map_label         = 
| territory         = 
| result            = American victory
| status            = 
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States|1912}}<br /> <hr/> {{flag|Confederate States}}<br /><small>(1861–1865)</small>
| combatant2        = '''[[Apacheria]]:'''
* [[Chiricahua Apache]]
* [[Jicarilla Apache]]
* [[Mescalero Apache]]
* [[Lipan Apache people|Lipan Apache]]
* [[Western Apache]]
* [[Plains Apache]]
'''Apache allies:'''
* [[Ute Tribe|Ute]]
* [[Yavapai people|Yavapai]]
* [[Navajo]]
* [[Yuma people|Yuma]]
* [[Mohave people|Mohave]]
| combatant3        = 
| commander1        = {{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[John Davidson (general)|John Davidson]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[James Henry Carleton|James H. Carleton]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Kit Carson]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Philip St. George Cooke|Philip Cooke]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[John George Walker|John G. Walker]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[George Crook]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[George Jordan (Medal of Honor)|George Jordan]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Eugene Asa Carr]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Philip Sheridan]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Nelson A. Miles]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Alfred Gibbs]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Henry Lawton]]<br />{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[James W. Watson]]
----
{{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} [[Sherod Hunter]]<br />{{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} [[Granville Henderson Oury|Granville H. Oury]]<br />{{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} [[Thomas J. Mastin]]{{KIA}}<br />{{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} [[Jack Swilling]]<br />{{flagicon|Confederate States of America}} [[James Henry Tevis|James H. Tevis]]
| commander2        = [[Flechas Rayada]]<br />Chacon<br />[[Baishan (Apache)|Black Knife]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Mangas Coloradas]]{{KIA}}<br />Iron Shirt{{KIA}}<br />[[Cochise]]<br />Francisco<br />[[Juh]]<br />Delshay<br />[[Victorio]]{{KIA}} <br />Nanni Chaddi{{KIA}} <br />Na tio tish{{KIA}} <br />[[Geronimo]]<br />[[Chatto (Apache)|Chatto]]<br />[[Apache Kid (Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl)|Apache Kid]]<br />[[Massai]]<br />Little Wolf (Mescalero)<br />Te-He-Nan{{KIA}} <br />[[Nana (chief)|Nana]] [[Natural death|#]]<br />Saguaro<br />Coronado{{KIA}}<br />Santos<br />Red Dog
| commander3        = 
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| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Apache Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Texas-Indian Wars}}

The '''Apache Wars''' were a series of armed conflicts between the [[United States Army]] and various [[Apache]] tribal confederations fought in the [[Southwestern United States|southwest]] between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the [[Mexican–American War]] in 1846, the United States annexed conflicted territory from Mexico which was the home of both settlers and Apache tribes. Conflicts continued as American settlers came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock and crops and to mine minerals.<ref>Thrapp</ref>

The U.S. Army established forts to fight Apache tribal war parties and force Apaches to move to designated [[Indian reservation]]s created by the U.S. in accordance with the [[Indian Removal Act]]. Some reservations were not on the traditional areas occupied by the Apache. In 1886, the U.S. Army put over 5,000 soldiers in the field to fight, which [[Geronimo Campaign|resulted in the surrender]] of [[Geronimo]] and 30 of his followers.<ref>Sweeney</ref> This is generally considered the end of the Apache Wars, although conflicts continued between citizens and Apaches. The [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] briefly participated in the wars during the early 1860s in [[Texas]], before being diverted to action in the [[American Civil War]] in [[New Mexico]] and [[Arizona]].

==Background==
{{further|Apache–Mexico Wars}}
Historically, the Apache had raided enemy tribes and sometimes each other, for livestock, food or captives. They raided with small parties, for a specific purpose. The Apache only rarely united to gather armies of hundreds of men, using all tribal male members of warrior age.

==Cochise==
The Apache Wars were sparked when American troops erroneously accused Apache leader [[Cochise]] and his tribe of kidnapping a young boy during a raid. Cochise professed truthfully that his tribe had not kidnapped the boy and offered to try and find him for the Americans, but the commander refused to believe him and instead took Cochise and his party hostage for the return of the boy. Cochise escaped, and a standoff developed as Cochise's tribe and allies surrounded the American forces, demanding the release of the rest of Cochise's party. After a standoff, during which 3 additional braves and a number of American soldiers and postmen were captured, the Apache retreated, believing they were being [[Flanking maneuver|flanked]], but in revenge for the continued holding of their people killed soldiers and postmen they had captured. The Americans in turn killed the 6 men they had captured, though they allowed the women and children to go free. In what became known as the [[Bascom affair]], three of the men killed were Cochise's brother and nephews, and Cochise gathered the Apache tribes and made war on the U.S. for vengeance, sparking the century-long conflict.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/qdXDeP205vY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190120183731/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdXDeP205vY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdXDeP205vY| title = History of The First Medal of Honor | website=[[YouTube]]| date = May 23, 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The first U.S. Army campaigns specifically against the Apache began in 1849.<ref>Rajtar, p. 159</ref>

==Conflicts==
===Jicarilla War===
{{Main|Jicarilla War}}
At the start of the Mexican–American War in 1846, many Apache tribal chieftains promised American soldiers safe passage through their land, though other tribes fought in defense of Mexico and against the influx of new settlers to New Mexico. When the United States claimed the [[frontier]] territories of Mexico in 1848, [[Mangas Coloradas]] signed a peace treaty, respecting the Americans as the conquerors of the Mexicans' land.

However, as Tiller relates regarding the treaty signed at Santa Fe on April 2, 1851, "The Jicarillas were expected to comply with the terms of the treaty immediately, yet as far as the new Mexicans were concerned, their part of the bargain would go into effect only after Congress had ratified it."<ref>Tiller, p. 37</ref> The [[United States Congress]] never did ratify the treaty. An uneasy peace between the Apache and the Americans persisted until an influx of gold miners into the [[Santa Rita Mountains]] of present-day Arizona led to conflict.

The Jicarilla War began in 1849 when a group of settlers were [[White massacre|attacked and killed]] by a force of Jicarillas and [[Ute people|Utes]] in northeastern New Mexico. A second massacre occurred in 1850, in which several mail carriers were killed. The U.S. Army became involved in 1853. The Army went on to fight at the [[Battle of Cieneguilla]], a significant Apache victory, and later the [[Battle of Ojo Caliente Canyon]], an American victory.

===Chiricahua wars===
[[File:DragoonMountains.JPG|thumb|The Dragoon Mountains, where Cochise hid with his warriors.]]

In 1851, near the [[Pinos Altos, New Mexico|Pinos Altos]] mining camp, Mangas Coloradas was attacked by a group of miners; they tied him to a tree and severely beat him. Similar incidents continued in violation of the treaty, leading to Apache reprisals against European Americans. In December 1860, thirty miners [[Battle of the Mimbres River|launched a surprise attack]] on an encampment of ''Bedonkohe'' on the west bank of the [[Mimbres River]] in retaliation for the theft of numerous livestock. According to the historian Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "...{{nbsp}}killed four Indians, wounded others, and captured thirteen women and children."{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} The Apache quickly retaliated with raids against U.S. citizens and property.

In early February 1861, a group of Coyotero Apaches stole cattle and kidnapped the stepson of the rancher John Ward near [[Sonoita, Arizona]]. Ward sought redress from the nearby American Army. Lieutenant [[George Nicholas Bascom|George N. Bascom]] was dispatched, and Ward accompanied the detail. Bascom set out to meet with Cochise near [[Apache Pass]] and the [[Butterfield Overland Mail|Butterfield Overland Stagecoach]] station to secure the cattle and Ward's son. Cochise was unaware of the incident, but he offered to seek those responsible.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} Dissatisfied, Bascom accused Cochise of having been involved. He took Cochise and his group of family members, including his wife and children, under arrest. Angered, Cochise slashed his way from the tent and escaped. After further failed negotiations, Cochise took a member of the stage coach station hostage after an exchange of gunfire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.desertusa.com/ind1/Cochise.html|title = Cochise and the Bascom Affair - DesertUSA}}</ref>

With Bascom unwilling to exchange prisoners, Cochise and his party murdered the members of a passing Mexican wagon train. The Apache murdered and ritually scalped nine Mexicans and took three whites captive but murdered them later. They were unsuccessful in attempting an ambush of a Butterfield Overland stagecoach. With negotiations between Cochise and Bascom at an impasse, Bascom sent for reinforcements. Cochise murdered the remaining four captives from the Butterfield Station and abandoned negotiations. Upon the advice of military surgeon Bernard Irwin, Bascom hanged the Apache hostages in his custody. The retaliatory executions became known as the [[Bascom affair]]; they initiated another eleven years of open warfare between the varying groups of Apache and the United States settlers, the U.S. Army and the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}}

[[File:ApachePassAZ.JPG|thumb|left|[[Apache Pass]] as viewed from Fort Bowie]]

After the [[American Civil War]] began in April 1861, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise, his son-in-law, struck an alliance, agreeing to drive all Americans and Mexicans out of Apache territory. Their campaigns against the Confederates were the battles of [[Siege of Tubac|Tubac]], [[Battle of Cookes Canyon|Cookes Canyon]], [[Battle of the Florida Mountains|Florida Mountains]], [[Battle of Pinos Altos|Pinos Altos]] and [[First Battle of Dragoon Springs|Dragoon Springs]]. Other Apache war parties fought the Rebels as well; [[Mescalero]] Apache attacked and captured a herd of livestock at [[Fort Davis National Historic Site|Fort Davis]] on August 9, 1861, with the Apache murdering two guards in the process. The Army sent out a patrol to try to retrieve the livestock, and the Apache murdered them all in an ambush. Mangas Coloradas and Cochise were joined in their campaign by the chief [[Juh]] and the notable warrior [[Geronimo]]. They thought that they had achieved some success when the Americans closed the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach and Army troops departed, but those actions were related to the beginning of the Civil War.

The United States military leadership decided to move against the [[Confederate Arizona|Arizona Confederates]] in what the Union considered part of the [[New Mexico Territory]] by dispatching a column of Californian volunteers under Colonel [[James Henry Carleton]]. The [[California Column]], as it was known, followed the old Butterfield Overland Trail east. In 1862 the troops encountered Mangas Coloradas and Cochise's followers near the site of the spring in Apache Pass. In the [[Battle of Apache Pass]], soldiers shot and wounded Mangas Coloradas in the chest. While recuperating, he met with an intermediary to call for surrender with the United States.


===Death of Mangas Coloradas' effect on wars===
[[Mangas Coloradas#Death|Torture and Beheading of Mangas Coloradas in 1863]]

In January 1863, Coloradas agreed to surrender to U.S. military leaders at [[Apache Tejo|Fort McLane]], near present-day [[Hurley, New Mexico|Hurley]] in southwestern [[New Mexico]]. Coloradas arrived to surrender to Brigadier General [[Joseph R. West|Joseph Rodman West]], an officer of the [[California]] militia. American soldiers took him into custody where he was murdered under the pretext of an escape attempt. On West's orders, Coloradas was stabbed with red-hot bayonets and shot. He was beheaded so that his skull could be sent to a phrenologist in New York City for study. 

{{quote|Men, that old murderer has got away from every soldier command and has left a trail of blood for 500 miles on the old stage line. I want him dead tomorrow morning. Do you understand? I want him dead.}}

The war dragged on for another 9 years as the Apaches fought harder to avenge Mangas Coloradas' memory. 

Colonel Carleton then decided to move the Navajo and Apache to reservations. Initially, he intended to make the [[Rio Grande]] valley safer for settlement and end the raids on travelers. He began by moving various tribes of Mescalero and Navajo onto the reservation at [[Fort Sumner]]. He enlisted [[Kit Carson]], one-time friend of the [[Navajo]], to round them up by destroying their crops and livestock, and moving them on the [[Long Walk of the Navajo|Long Walk]] to Fort Sumner.

===Texas Indian Wars===
{{Main|Texas-Indian Wars}}
On November 25, 1864, the [[Plains Apache]] fought in one of the largest battles of the [[American Indian Wars]] at the [[First Battle of Adobe Walls]]. Carson led an army of 400 soldiers and [[Ute people|Ute]] scouts to the Texas panhandle and captured an encampment from which the inhabitants had fled. More than 1,000 [[Comanche]], [[Kiowa]] and Plains Apache attacked. Carson took a position in an abandoned [[adobe]] building on top of a hill and repulsed several attacks. After a day of fighting, Carson retreated and the Indians permitted him to leave without opposition. Iron Shirt, a Plains Apache chief, was killed in the battle. Six soldiers were killed; the army estimated that the Indians suffered 60 killed and wounded.<ref>Pettis, pp. 28–35</ref>

The last battle between the U.S Military and the Apaches in Texas were both the [[Victorio's War|Battle of Rattlesnake Springs and the Battle of Quitman Canyon]], both taking place in the summer of 1880. The last well recorded Apache raid into Texas was the McLaurin Massacre of 1881,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=111361 | title=Site of McLaurin Massacre Historical Marker }}</ref> although Apache raids in the state were believed to have happened until 1882.

===Yavapai War===
The [[Yavapai Wars]], or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the [[Yavapai]] and [[Tonto Apache|Tonto]] tribes against the U.S. in Arizona. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a tribe of the [[Western Apache people]] because of their close relationship with tribes such as the Tonto and Pinal. The war culminated with the Yavapai's removal from the [[Yavapai–Apache Nation|Camp Verde Reservation]] to [[San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation|San Carlos]] on February 27, 1875, an event now known as Exodus Day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/all/apache/fapache1871.htm |title=USA Apache Indian War 1871-1873 |access-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-date=June 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606152444/http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/all/apache/fapache1871.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visitcampverde.com/yavapai_exodus.php |title=Visitcampverde.com :: Yavapai-Apache Exodus Day |access-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107232454/http://www.visitcampverde.com/yavapai_exodus.php |archive-date=January 7, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1871, a group of 6 white Americans, 48 Mexicans, and almost 100 [[Tohono Oʼodham|Papago]] warriors [[Camp Grant massacre|attacked Camp Grant]] and massacred about 150 Apache men, women, and children. Campaigning against the Apache continued in the mid-1870s. The battles of [[Battle of Salt River Canyon|Salt River Canyon]] and [[Battle of Turret Peak|Turret Peak]] are prime examples of the violence in the Arizona region. Soldiers and civilians, especially from [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], frequently pursued various Apache tribal war parties, trying to end their raids.

===Victorio's War===
{{Main|Victorio's War}}
In 1879, the veteran Chiricahua war chief [[Victorio]] and his followers were facing forced removal from their homeland and reservation at [[Ojo Caliente, New Mexico]] and transfer to San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. On August 21, 1879, Victorio, 80 warriors, and their women and children fled the reservation. Victorio was joined by other Apache, especially Mescalero, and his force may have reached a maximum of 200 warriors, an unusually large force of Apache.<ref>Gott, pp. 17-39.</ref>

For 14 months, Victorio led a [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against the U.S. Army and white settlers in southern New Mexico, western Texas, and northern Mexico. He fought more than a dozen battles and skirmishes with the U.S. Army and raided several civilian settlements. Several thousand American and Mexican soldiers and Indian scouts pursued him, as he fled from one stronghold to another.  Victorio and many of his followers met their end on October 14, 1880, when they were surrounded and killed by Mexican soldiers at the [[Battle of Tres Castillos]] in [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], Mexico.<ref>Gott, pp. 40–42</ref> A lieutenant of Victorio's, [[Nana (chief)|Nana]], continued the war. With fewer than 40 warriors Nana raided extensively in New Mexico from June to August 1881. Nana survived the raid and died of old age in 1896.<ref>Wellman, pp. 195–205</ref>

===Battles near Fort Apache===
In August 1881, a force of soldiers from [[Fort Apache Indian Reservation]] was sent to investigate recent reports of Apache unrest and to detain the [[medicine man]] Nock-ay-det-klinne. The arrest of Nock-ay-det-klinne by three Native scouts was peaceful until they made their way back to camp. Upon arrival the camp on August 31, had already been surrounded by Nock-ay-det-klinne's followers. The [[Battle of Cibecue Creek]] began, and Nock-ay-det-klinne was killed. The following day, the Apache warriors [[Battle of Fort Apache|attacked Fort Apache]] in reprisal for the death of Nock-ay-det-klinne.

In the spring of 1882, the warrior Na-tio-tisha lead a party of about 60 White Mountain Apache warriors. In early July they ambushed and killed four [[San Carlos, Arizona|San Carlos]] policemen, including the police chief. After the ambush, Na-tio-tisha led his war-party northwest through the [[Tonto Basin]]. Local Arizona settlers were greatly alarmed and demanded protection from the U.S. Army. It sent out fourteen [[Company (military unit)|companies]] of [[United States Cavalry|U.S. Cavalry]] from forts across the region. In the middle of July, Na-tio-tisha led his war-party up Cherry Creek to the [[Mogollon Rim]], intending to reach General Springs, a well-known water hole on the Crook Trail. Noticing they were being trailed by a single troop of cavalry, the Apache lay an ambush seven miles north of General Springs, where a fork of East Clear Creek cuts a gorge into the Mogollon Rim. The Apaches hid on the far side and waited. The cavalry company was led by Captain [[Adna Chaffee]]. The chief scout, [[Al Sieber]], discovered the Apache trap and warned the troops. During the night, Chaffee's lone company was reinforced by four more from Fort Apache under the command of Major A.W. Evans. Then they were ready to begin the [[Battle of Big Dry Wash]].

===Geronimo campaign===
[[File:Geronimo 17apr1886.jpg|thumb|Geronimo, before meeting General Crook on March 27, 1886.]]
After two decades of guerrilla warfare, Cochise chose to make peace with the U.S.  He agreed to relocate his people to a reservation in the [[Chiricahua Mountains]]. Soon afterward in 1874, Cochise died. In a change of policy, the U.S. government decided to move the Chiricahua to the San Carlos reservation in 1876.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} Half complied and the other half, led by Geronimo, escaped to Mexico. In the spring of 1877, the U.S. captured Geronimo and brought him to the San Carlos reservation. He stayed there until September 1881. As soldiers gathered near the reservation, he feared being imprisoned for previous activities. He fled the reservation with 700 Apache and went to Mexico again.

On April 19, 1882, Chiricahua chief Juh attacked the San Carlos reservation and forced Chief Loco to break out. During the hostilities, Juh's warriors killed the chief of police Albert D. Sterling, along with Sagotal, an Apache policeman. Juh led Loco and up to 700 other Apaches back to Mexico.

In the spring of 1883, General [[George Crook]] was put in charge of the Arizona and New Mexico Indian reservations. With 200 [[Apache Scouts]], he journeyed to Mexico, found Geronimo's camp, and with [[Tom Horn]] as his interpreter, persuaded Geronimo and his people to return to the San Carlos reservation. Chiefs Bonito, Loco, and Nana came with Crook at the time. Juh remained in Mexico where he died accidentally in November. Geronimo did not come until February 1884. Crook instituted several reforms on the reservation, but local newspapers criticized him for being too lenient with the Apache; newspapers of the time demonized Geronimo. On May 17, 1885, Geronimo escaped again to Mexico. Geronimo and his party killed dozens of people during the [[Raid on Bear Valley|Bear Valley Raid]] and similar attacks.

In the spring of 1886, Crook went after Geronimo and caught up with him just over the Mexico border in March. Geronimo and his group fled, and Crook could not catch them. The [[United States Department of War|War Department]] reprimanded Crook for the failure, and he resigned. He was replaced by Brigadier General [[Nelson A. Miles|Nelson Miles]] in April 1886. Miles deployed over two dozen [[heliograph]] points to coordinate 5,000 soldiers, 500 Apache Scouts, 100 [[Navajo Scouts]], and thousands of civilian militia men against Geronimo and his 24 warriors. Lieutenant. [[Charles B. Gatewood]] and his Apache Scouts found Geronimo in [[Skeleton Canyon]] in September 1886 and persuaded them to surrender to Miles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geronimo |url=https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/geronimo |website=History |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref>

An 1887 letter from Charles Winters from Troop D of the [[6th Cavalry Regiment]] describes a soldier's experiences during the Apache Wars in New Mexico:<blockquote>Dear Friend!

I will now take and write to you a few lines, to let you know that I am yet alive, and doing well. I joint [sic] the Army in January, 86 and had a good fight with Geronimo and his Indians. I also had two hard fights, where i came very near getting killed, but i got true [sic] alright. I was made Corporal when i first enlisted, but have now got high enough to be in Charge of Troop D. 6th U.S. Cavalry and it requires a good man for to get that office, and that is more than i expected. Charley White from Cranbury came out with me and got in the same Troop with me, and I sent him with twenty more men out on a Scout after Indians and Charley was lucky enough to be shot down by Indians the first day, and only three of my men returned. I was very sorry but it could not be helped.

The Territory of New Mexico is a very nice place never no Winter and lots of Gold and Silver Mines all around but for all that it is a disagreeable place on account of so many Indians. I like it first rate and I think as soon as my five years are up I will go bak [sic] to Old New Jersey but not today. My name isn't Charley Winters no more since i shot that man at Jefferson Barracks when he tried to get away from me. My Captain at time told me to take the name of his son who died and so my name since then is Charles H. Wood. I will now close and hope that you will soon write and let me know how you are getting along. Give my best regards to all and to yourself and oblige.</blockquote>The Army imprisoned Geronimo and many other Apache men, including some of the local Apache scouts, then they transported them to the East as prisoners of war. They held them at [[Fort Pickens]] and [[Castillo de San Marcos|Fort Marion]] in Florida. Northerners vacationing in [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], where Fort Marion was located, included teachers and missionaries, who became interested in the Apache prisoners. Volunteers participated in teaching the Apache to speak and write English, about Christian religion and elements of American culture. Many citizens raised funds to send nearly 20 of the younger male prisoners to college after they were released from detainment. Most attended [[Hampton University|Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School]], a historically black college. Many Apache died in the prisons. Later, Apache children were taken to the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in Pennsylvania, where fifty of them died. Eventually, after 26 years, the Apache in Florida were released to return to the Southwest, but Geronimo was sent to [[Fort Sill]], Oklahoma, where he died.

===Post-1887 period===
{{Main|Post-1887 Apache Wars period}}

Despite the surrender of Geronimo and his followers in 1886, Apache warriors continued warfare against Americans and Mexicans. U.S. forces went on [[search and destroy]] missions against the small war parties, using tactics including [[Heliograph|solar signaling]], wire [[Telegraphy|telegraph]], joint American and Mexican intelligence sharing, allied [[United States Army Indian Scouts|Indian Scouts]], and local quick reaction posse groups.

The U.S. Cavalry had several expeditions against the Apache after 1886. During one of them, [[10th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|10th Cavalry]] and [[4th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|4th Cavalry]] forces under First Lieutenant [[James W. Watson]] pursued mounted Apache warriors north of [[Globe, Arizona]], along the [[Salt River (Arizona)|Salt River]]. During the [[Cherry Creek campaign]], Sergeant James T. Daniels of the 4th Cavalry,  and Sergeant [[William McBryar]] of the 10th Cavalry, and Sergeant [[Y. B. Rowdy]] of the Apache Scouts are the last recipients of the [[Medal of Honor]] for actions during the Apache Wars.<ref>Melzer, p. 285</ref>

== Aftermath ==
The last Apache raid into the United States occurred as late as 1924 when a war party of natives, who were later caught and arrested, stole some horses from Arizonan settlers. This is considered to be the end of the American Indian Wars.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Arizona War]]
* [[Indian Campaign Medal]]
* [[Navajo Wars]]
* [[Buffalo Soldier]]s
* [[Emmet Crawford]]
* [[King Woolsey]]
* [[Battle at Pozo Hediondo]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*{{cite book|last1=Gott|first1=Kendall D.|title=In Search of an Elusive Enemy: The Victorio Campaign|publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press|location=Leavenworth, KS}}
*{{cite book|last=Melzer|first=Richard|title=Buried Treasures: Famous and Unusual Gravesites in New Mexico History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UxiTZmoAAKgC&pg=PA285|year=2007|publisher=Sunstone Press|isbn=978-0-86534-531-7}}
*Pettis, George H. "Kit Carson's Fight with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians". ''Historical Society of New Mexico. Personal Narrative No. 12, Battles of the War of the Rebellion'', Santa Fe, 1908.
*Rajtar, Steve, ''Indian War Sites: A Guidebook to Battlefield, Monuments and Memorials, State by State with Canada and Mexico'', McFarland & Company, Jefferson North Carolina, 1999.
*{{cite book |author=Sweeney, Edwin R.|title=From Chochise to Geronimo: The Chiricahua Apaches 1874–1886 |location=Norman, OK|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8061-4272-2 }}
*{{cite book | author=Thrapp, Dan L. | title=The Conquest of Apacheria | location=Norman, OK | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press | year=1979 | isbn=0-8061-1286-7 }}
*Tiller, Veronica E. Velarde, ''The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History, 1846–1970'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1983.
*{{cite book|last=Wellman|first=Paul Iselin|title=Death in the Desert: The Fifty Years' War for the Great Southwest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5MM7isgtoUC&pg=PA195|date=1987|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-9722-X}}
*{{cite book | author=Hutton, Paul Andrew | title=The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History | location=New York, NY | publisher=Crown Publishers | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-7704-3582-0 }}

== Further reading ==
*Bigelow, John Lt ''On the Bloody Trail of Geronimo'' NY: Tower Books 1958
*{{cite book | author=Bourke, John G.| title=On the Border with Crook | publisher=Time-Life Books | year=1980 | isbn=0-8094-3585-3 }}
*Clarke, Dwight L., ''Stephen Watts Kearny: Soldier of the West''
*Cochise, Ciyé ''The First Hundred Years of Nino Cochise''  NY: Pyramid Books 1972
*Curtis, Charles A. ''Army Life in the West (1862–1865)''. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1545458785}}.
*Davis, Britton ''The Truth about Geronimo''. New Haven: Yale Press 1929
*Geronimo (edited by Barrett) ''Geronimo, His Own Story'' NY: Ballantine Books 1971
* Kaywaykla, James (edited Eve Ball) ''In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1970
*Lavender, David. ''The Rockies''. Revised Edition. NY: Harper & Row, 1975.
*Limerick, Patricia Nelson. ''The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West''. NY: W.W. Norton, 1987.
*{{cite book |last=Michno |first=F. Gregory |title=Encyclopedia of Indian wars: Western battles and skirmishes 1850–1890 |year=2009 |publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company |location=Missoula, Montana |isbn=978-0-87842-468-9}}
*Smith, Duane A. ''Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, & Montana, 1859–1915''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992.
*Terrell, John Upton, <nowiki>''</nowiki>Apache Chronicle"
*Williams, Albert N. ''Rocky Mountain Country''. NY: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1950.
*{{cite book |last=Hutton |first=Paul |date=2017 |title=The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History | location=New York |publisher=Crown Publishers |page=100 |isbn=978-0-7704-3582-0}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/lakota_sioux_and_comanche_indians/11299050934/in/photostream Map of Battles and Skirmishes Between the Apaches and U.S. Army]

{{Buffalo Soldiers}}

[[Category:Apache Wars| ]]
[[Category:Indian wars of the American Old West]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:Wars between the United States and Native Americans]]
[[Category:Guerrilla wars]]
[[Category:Arizona Territory]]
[[Category:New Mexico Territory]]
[[Category:Wars fought in Arizona]]
[[Category:Military history of New Mexico]]
[[Category:Wars fought in Texas]]
[[Category:Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War|Apache Wars]]
[[Category:1850s conflicts]]
[[Category:1860s conflicts]]
[[Category:1870s conflicts]]
[[Category:1880s conflicts]]
[[Category:1890s conflicts]]
[[Category:1900s conflicts]]
[[Category:1910s conflicts]]