Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-07-03
By c. E. PETTINGALL

In the midst Of a sun dried mes
quite flat, watching the last rays of
the setting sun as they changed into
myriad of scintillating colors over
the lofty pinnacIes of the Dragon
mountains, stood tall lean Apache
chief. He was taller than most Of
his tribe, thinner of face and more
timely featured; his raven locks fell
almost to his waist. He was leading
the remnants of his tribe toward
their old home and hunting grounds
the Chiricahua mountains
He suddenly turned, faced the east,
uttered a low command and instantly
number of his warriors gathered
together a mound of mesquite boughS
and dry leaves. From the folds of an
Indians blanket flint and steel we're
produced; a spark ignited the CRY
leaves. AS the fire gathered force
the chief took from his buckskin
pouch a pinch of powdered roSin,
sprinkled it on the flames and in
Stantly a dense column of black
smoke scared heavenward; now a
few green leaves were added and the
smoke turned to white. GraSping a
torn saddle blanket by the four COR
ners, several Indian bucks broke this
column of smoke into long and short
intervalS-dOtS and daSheS. In a few
moments answering columns of smoke
appeared; from the crest of the Dos
Cabezos, from the heights of the Chi
ricahuaS themselves, and others from
the far northward, where the Gra-
hams thrust their lofty peaks into
the higher air. In this way did Co
chise, most famous of the Apache
chieftains, advise his uncle, Mangus
Colorado, and the other Apache
tribes, that he and his band had
quilted for good the government res
ervation and were coming home to
the Chiricahuas.
This range of mountains had been
the home of the Apache tribe almost
from times unknoWn-ln TACT, ever
since the Indians first left the Atha-
basca on their pilgrimage south. The
forefathers of these Indians had been
raised in the fastnesses of these
mountains. This tribe, therefore,
knew every foot of the country to
which they we're travelling. Long be-
fore the tell-tale cloud of dust her
aided their approach, other Apache
warriors from all over the mountains
had assembled in war council to
await Cochise and, his tribe and their
report as to how they had been
treated by the whites and why they
had Quilted the reservation and were
returning home.
This return of Cochise and his tribe
to. the mountains, with his appren-
ticeship under the capable old chief,
Mangus Colorado, precipitated as
bloody an Indian war as ever was
fought on American soil. In these
mountains they defied the govern
ment troops. planned and executed
their raiding expeditions. Ranches
were sacked and burned, men, women
and children tortured. cattle ana
horses driven off. This continued
for years, until the government, after
the Civil war, was enabled to put
enough troops in this territory to
finally drive the Apaches from the
ChiricahuaS.
Even this, however, did not end
the reign of terror, for the Apaches
believed that the spirits of their de-
parted lived just across the Sulphur
tains and communed with them from
the crage and cliffs, and to this
home of the departed the tribe took
their way, there to resist and DEFY
the government until the year 1911.
The Chiricahua mountain range to-
day is truly forest primeval. Very
little, if anything, has been done to
change the character OF the noun
tainS since the time of Cochise. No
history of southeastern Arizona Is
complete without reference to such
places as Apache Pass, Galeyville.
nestled in the eastern foothills, TeX
and Rucker Canyons, Barfoot Park,
Horseshoe, Turkey Creek, Soldiers
Flat, Bonita, Pinery, etc. Each has
its own story of pioneer days, Indian
raids, cattle ruStling, hOldup men and
gun fights.
For a long time after the departure
OF the Apache the higher levels of the
Chiricahuas were deserted except for
the occasional traveller going from
Tombstone on the west to Galeyville
and Stems Pass on the east. San
Simon and Tombstone we're the out
posts of civilization. GaleyVille in its
early days was subServient to no one,
had its own laws, meted out justice
as it saw fit, and just as often ut
terly ignored crime. To it, therefore
flocked the bad men of the entire
southwest-me for whom the sheriff
was looking in other parts of the
country. Almost its entire population
was made up of holdup men, mail
robbers, bandits, cattle rustlers, etc.
Cow ranches in the San Simon
valley were again subjected to raids.
this time by white men as well as
renegade Indians. Cattle and horses
were driven off and held for days
in corrals built of pine logs in Rus
tiers, Longs and Fly's Parks. Later
to be driven down the western and
southern slopes of the mountains
where they found ready sale, with
no questions asked, in the Sulphur