The Apache sentinel., 1943-07-16
APACHES REASON
FOR H. HUACHUCA

Fort Huachuca, worlds lar -
encampment of Negro soldiers,
might never have come to exist if
it had not been for the seemingly
indomitable and fierce Apache
warriors and renegade Mexican and
American bandits, who in rovirl,
murderouS bands terrorized in
habitantS of the state of Sonoro,
Mexico and the United States Ari1x
zona Territory.
The fort, situated in the south
4 eastern part of Arizona in the Hua-
chucas Mountains -with-Water")
became the oft-challenger lord-pro-
tector of the United States south
western border. A real fighting
/ fort, it came to dominate the ]
heart of historic, old ApacheriaM
whose aborigines, the Dragoonl
Chiricahua Apaches, had sworn
/ four hundred years before to keey !
all foreigners forever out of thefrr
domain.
Hard Fighting
! The stalwart sentinelS who pa
troled the heights of the Noun
tains- with Water" soon realized
that the Apache tribes meant to
keep their vow. There was pls
! of hard fighting before the Il
that pillaged the Santa Cruz, So"
noita and San Pedro valleys were
finally subdued.
/ The development of Negro troops
in the United States Army has been
woven for many years into the'l
history of Fort Huachuca, to such
an extent that one always thinkse
of these excellent, finely trained
troops in connection with Fort
Huachuca, both Cavalry and Infan-
try. Whatever character Fort Hua-
ichuca has today is based in large
part upon the stamp given to it
by the Negro troops who have
trained here.
Fiercest of all the Apaches was
Geronimo Natchez, whose fighting
hordes gave Fort Huachuca some
of its most eventful days and nightss<.
A courier-Sentinel riding to the
Post brought the first word of
surrender plans of the ferocious,
old warrior who died at Fort Sill,
Okla, in military exile from his
native mountains about II years
ago. Capt. w. H. Lawton of the
4th Cavalry and his troops made
life so hot for Geronimo that lSt
surrendered to General Miles late
in September, 1886.
Fort Huachuca'S history is mex
tricably bound up with that of |
the relentless tribes of Apacheria
(other warning chiefs followed. Ge-
ronimo, though some were not so
war-like); and sentinels patrolling
the mountain tops against Apache
raids made the fort the strong holN
that it remains today.
Proud of Fort
That fighting spirit SO charac-
teristic of the men who founded
the fort in the Hauchuca noun
tains (and kept it going) is also
the heritage of today's fighting
men in the modern Fort Huachu-
ca. The Apaches have been subduec,
and their descendants live uslietkt
on reservations or keep watch over
the Post from their lookout points
do 111NAdAA AoCOuCO.. OiIlly EOIJ 11ud-
chuca stands as monument to
the brave, and really indomitable,
cavalrymen who brought peace tosl
the valleys of the Santa Cruz, So
noita and San Pedro. To their deS-
cendants-in-arms they bequeathed
a spirit of fighting for right. To6ayE,
the officers and men of Fort Hua-
chuca carry on their heritage proud
ly. Like the sentinels of yesterday,
they bear their legacy-the fighting
or-the-right spirit that has made
Fort Huachuca the distinguished
place that it is today. -
The spirit referred to above Is 4
one of the several good reasons for
naming our new Post publication
"The Apache Sentinel We are at
war, and in one way we are all
Sentinels. How we do our part de-
pends on how well we guard that
Old Fort Huachuca Spirit, which
our Post Commander continuously
brings to our attention, in both
words and song.
tinels in anticipating Apache raksS