Saturday, July 3, 2004

NANA's RAID — APACHES IN SOCORRO COUNTY

Paul Harden For El Defensor Chieftain

NA5N na5n@zianet.com

Ask anybody to describe the "old west" and they will tell you about the "Cowboys and Indians." Unfortunately, this broad generalization is more due to John Wayne movies than true historical fact. First, the Native Americans of New Mexico consist of numerous tribes of vastly different cultures. The Zuni Indians, Pueblo Indians, Navajo and Apache are as different as the French are from the Germans, or Mexicans from the Spaniards. It is incorrect to lump all the Native Americans into one group of people called "Indians." Second, most of the fighting between the "Cowboys and Indians" was actually between the Apaches and the U.S. Army, or marauding raids against Mexican ranchers and miners, including the Socorro area in the 1800s. The Pueblo Indians and Navajo were seldom engaged in such depredations.

A band of Mimbreno Apache considered their home to be what is today Socorro, Catron and Sierra Counties. They lived and hunted in the San Mateo Mountains, the Black Range and parts of the Gila. They called themselves Tcihene, the Red Paint People. The Mexicans and Anglos began calling them the Warm Springs Apache after their fondness for the warm springs at Ojo Caliente, west of Monticello. They lived in the thousands of square miles of this country in virtual obscurity until the early 1800s. It was then that the growing numbers of Mexican settlers and Anglo miners were seen as encroachment onto their land. This triggered many raids, killing the settlers and miners, in an attempt to purge the country of the foreign invaders. In 1848, when New Mexico became a territory of the United States, controlling the attacking Indians (that is, mostly the Apache) was the first priority placed in the lap of the U.S. Army. The first efforts mobilized by the Army were short-lived due to the more pressing matters of the Civil War.

By 1870, the Army was again giving their full attention to the Indian matter. Compromises were attempted to place the Navajo and Apache on reservations, blocks of land for the exclusive use of the respective tribes. The Warm Springs Apache, under Chief Victorio, agreed in 1874 to live in the Ojo Caliente area near the Socorro and Sierra county lines. However, after several years Victorio felt the land was too restrictive in size, preventing them from hunting and gathering enough food to sustain their population. The Army agreed to subsidize the reservations with food and supplies and built an encampment at Ojo Caliente for the Tcihene. However, money and supply trains trickled into Fort Craig slowly, giving the appearance that the Army was not fulfilling their promises.

In 1876, the Army moved Victorio and his people to the San Carlos reservation in Arizona. In September 1877, the Warm Springs Apache escaped the horrible conditions and returned to their beloved grounds in the Black Range and San Mateos. However, it was late in the year and Victorio's people were starving by mid-winter, forcing him to surrender to the U.S. Army. They were moved to the Mescalero Apache Reservation near Tularosa. They despised this area as well, and did not like living with the Mescaleros. In 1879, the Warm Springs Apache again broke out and were not heard from for nearly a year.

On May 23, 1880, several companies of the Army found their camp in the foothills of the Black Range. Attacking early in the morning, 30 of Victorio's men were killed and many were injured, including women and children. Fearing further attacks would eventually decimate his people, Victorio moved his band of about 600 Apache into northern Mexico, camping in the rocky fortress at Tres Castillos in the Sierra Madres.

SLAUGHTER AT

TRES CASTILLOS

Several months later, a huge force of Mexican Army and volunteers, commanded by Col. Joaquin Terrazas, surrounded Tres Castillos. On Oct. 15, 1880, Terrazas opened fire, slaughtering many of the Warm Springs Apache people, including Victorio. About 100 of them were captured as slaves by the Mexicans, most of the rest were killed, leaving only a handful of survivors.

The oldest was Nana, Victorio's segundo (second in charge), who gathered the 17 survivors and led them out of Mexico, who were joined by a few more along the way. Nana ushered his nearly extinct band of Apache into the Mogollon Mountains near Horse Springs, where he knew a handful of Victorio's warriors had stayed behind. Nana witnessed his race instantly reduced from 600 men, women and children, to a band of about 50. Squeezed between two countries that wanted to see their total elimination, he knew that only merciless leadership would ensure the survival of the Tcihene people. However, his first priority was for his people to survive the winter. Arriving in the Mogollons late in the year, with heavy snows plaguing the area, hunting was poor and starvation seemed imminent.

In January 1881, Nana and a handful of warriors struck at Chloride, killing two miners and stealing horses and cattle before disappearing into the Black Range as fast as they appeared. Knowing the Army would quickly be on his tail, Nana led his people back into Mexico.

On Jan. 20, they were spotted by the Army near Fort Cummings. The ensuing skirmish killed four soldiers and perhaps a couple of Nana's men before they slipped south through Deming and back into the Sierra Madres of northern Mexico. At this point in time, the Army did not know who was now leading the Warm Springs Apache. They had not yet heard of Nana. That would soon change.

NANA --

TCIHENE CHIEF

Nana was 70 years old when he led his people from Tres Castillos and became Chief of the surviving remnant of the Warm Springs Apache. His Tcihene name was Kas-tziden, although he became widely known as Chief Nana (pronounced naw-NAY). In the 1860s, he fought alongside Mangas Coloradas, until his death in 1863, and with Victorio thereafter. Despite his age, he remained a strong warrior and excellent strategist. These skills along with his small band of warriors would deeply embarrass the U.S. Army over the next several years.

According to Apache legend, Nana summoned the spirits of the "old ones" to seek their wisdom. Mangas Coloradas, Cochise and Victorio appeared before him with the sacred commission to preserve the Tcihene people at all cost. It is said Nana decided to submit to U.S. Army control before they were hunted down to extinction. In July 1881, Nana and his band left Mexico for Tularosa to surrender.

This is where history gets a little hazy. On July 17, 1881, a pack train was attacked in Alamo Canyon (near present day Alamogordo) by Indians. No one was killed, but a couple of men were shot and supplies stolen. When the news reached the Army two days later, Nana and his people were approaching the Mescalero Reservation to surrender. Second Lt. John Guilfoyle and a company of Buffalo Soldiers took to the trail. Spotting Nana and his band in the Tularosa Basin, and thinking they were the attacking Indians, the pursuit was on. Until Nana's dying day, he insisted he had nothing to do with the attack on the wagon train and was approaching Tularosa to surrender. Contemporary historians agree, citing the Warm Springs Apache, who had a dislike for the Mescaleros, were never known to frequent the Tularosa Basin or San Andres Mountains. Years later, the wagonmaster admitted they were actually attacked by a band of drunk Mexicans. Nonetheless, this rush to judgement by Lt. Guilfoyle brought a lot of grief to the territory over the following year.

NANA'S RETREAT

Upon spotting the storming soldiers, Nana knew this was not a cordial visit. He turned his band around and rode hard to the west, skirting the dunes of White Sands, then into the San Andres Mountains by dark. Turning north the next day, they rode hard through the canyons and over ridges, trying to shake the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry. It was an arduous chase for both men and horses, riding hard through the 100-degree placid air of the July desert. On July 23, the Army finally lost the trail due an afternoon thunderstorm. Nana hunkered down in a canyon to rest his horses and people.

With fresh mounts, the Buffalo Soldiers spotted Nana's band two days later and overtook them in a canyon north of Salinas Peak. Taking refuge behind rocks and sand hills, the two groups of men skirmished for several hours. Late that night, Nana walked his people out of the mountains and into the desert of the Jornada del Muerto. He needed to put as much distance as he could between them and the Army by sunrise.

When the sun rose that morning, they were about halfway across the desert, 20 miles from the waters of the Rio Grande. Nana ordered his people to continue walking to conserve the horses and eliminate the cloud of dust that would surely be spotted by the Army's Indian Scouts.

The Buffalo Soldiers rode north, assuming Nana was heading for the springs at Mockingbird Gap. It was not until later in the day that the scouts picked up Nana's trail. Riding hard, they now tried to close the 30 miles between them. After two hours of riding, the horses began to give out and the soldiers collapsed in the mid-afternoon heat. Nana had succeeded in out maneuvering the U.S. Army. By sundown, his people were camped on the Rio Grande River.

Years later, Lt. Guilfoyle asked Nana how he was able to march his women and children across the scorching desert on foot when the Army couldn't do it with water and horses. Nana explained how he had his people put smooth stones in their mouths, forcing them to breathe through their nose, to prevent thirst and dehydration. Of course, Nana's people were also not wearing dark blue wool uniforms in 100-degree weather!

The next day, Nana crossed the Rio Grande at the small village of San Jose, near the northern tip of the Fra Cristobal Mountains, stole some horses from the Montoya Ranch at Cuchillo Creek, and killing two men. With fresh horses, they headed west, killing four Mexicans and two miners at a small settlement, and stealing some more horses and cattle. By the end of July, the Tcihene people were again in their home in the San Mateo Mountains, living in their mountain hideaway in East Red Canyon — at the southern end of Socorro County.

Nana's escape frustrated the U.S. Army. Highly exaggerated reports of the dozens of people killed and hundreds of horses stolen left no New Mexican feeling safe. The Territorial Commander, Col. Edward Hatch, responded by mobilizing a huge campaign to capture Nana's band once and for all. Dispatching Buffalo Soldiers from Ft. Craig, Ft. Cummings (near Deming) and Ft. Wingate (Grants), and moving in troops on the just completed railroads, hundreds of soldiers started boxing in the mountains of the San Mateos and the Black Range.

However, some people felt the Army wasn't acting fast enough. Twenty-six miners from Chloride and Winston formed a posse to find Nana. On Aug. 1, 1881, they rode to the southern end of the San Mateos in search of the Warm Springs Apache. Early the next morning, some of Nana's warriors quickly attacked their camp in Red Canyon, killing one, wounding seven, and stealing all of their horses. It took two days for these men to walk back to Chloride! The highly exaggerated story of their hand-to-hand combat with the Apaches appears in the Black Range News, an 1881 newspaper printed in Hillsboro.

NANA'S RAID

The incident with the miners told Nana they were no longer safe in their mountain home. They would be constantly hunted until captured or annihilated, if they didn't starve first. He had a short time to gather animals and food before the winter set in. Chief Nana and Kaytennae, his segundo, decided their best prospects for survival were to keep on the move, steal a sizeable herd of horses and cattle, then slip into Mexico for the winter. In short, survival by lightning attacks and pilfering the ranches in Socorro County. Nana's small band of about 50 men, women and children, of which about 30 were warriors, headed north along the San Mateos for the Plains of San Agustin.

Lt. Guilfoyle and Company L of the Buffalo Soldiers left Ft. Craig, riding into the San Mateos in search of Nana. On Aug. 3, they rode into Monica Canyon, after a scout reported that he had spotted one of Nana's warriors. Dismounting, they walked into the narrow rocky outcrop at Monica Springs. Nana's warriors suddenly appeared above the rocks and opened fire on the soldiers. Nana's band escaped while a handful of warriors kept shooting into the canyon, keeping the soldiers pinned behind rocks and trees. Little damage was done and the elusive Chief Nana vanished into the pines. This would not be the last time Nana surprised the Army in a narrow canyon.

Guilfoyle left the canyon and spent the night at a more defensible spring near Monica Cabin. Lt. Wright and Company K, Buffalo Soldiers from Ft. Wingate, arrived at Monica Springs on Aug. 9 to fortify Guilfoyle. In the meantime, additional soldiers were patrolling the southern ends of the San Mateos and the Black Range, waiting for Nana to make his dash into Mexico. While Wright and Guilfoyle were reorganizing their pursuit, Nana struck the village of Garcia, northwest of Belen, killing six men and stealing 117 horses. Two days later, they swooped into Seboyeta, north of Laguna Pueblo, killing two more. This northward trek totally baffled the Army, who were convinced that Nana would be heading south into Mexico by now. Once the word got out on Nana's raid on Garcia and Seyboyeta, many of the companies were sent north, abandoning the southern mountains — just as Nana had planned!

On April 12, a 20-man detachment under Capt. Parker spotted Nana's men in Carrizo Canyon, east of present day Alamo. Parker counted 40 Apaches. Nana could count, too. Being outnumbered 2-to-1 and caught in a narrow canyon (again), Parker retreated after losing two men and with three wounded. Soldiers arriving from the south were scattered around the area, fearing the well-stocked ranches from San Acacia to Socorro would be Nana's next target.

Instead, two days later, Nana shows up 70 miles to the south, riding into Canada Alamosa (now Monticello), killing a rancher and his family and making off with his horses and cattle. A company of soldiers spotted the fleeing Apaches and took chase, shooting at each other in the Cuchillo Negro Mountains with little effect. Passing through their old home of Ojo Caliente, they were met by Lt. Taylor and Company B of the 9th Cavalry. Abandoning the cattle captured in Alamosa, Nana's band bolted and vanished into the Black Range. It appeared Nana was finally heading south with much of the Army searching the San Mateos and along the Rio Grande around Socorro.

On Aug. 18, Nana attacked the mining towns of Gold Dust, then Lake Valley later in the day. The next day, a detachment of soldiers and a hastily organized posse of miners followed Nana's trail into Gavilan Canyon. Mid-morning, Nana ambushed the men from all sides, pinning the men and supply wagons between the narrow walls of the canyon. While hugging the ground, fighting for their lives, several of Nana's warriors came up from the rear and stole the horses, mules and ammunition from the supply wagons from right under their opponents' noses. Company H arrived from Lake City in the late afternoon to fortify the men trapped in the canyon. Nana decided he had stolen about all he could carry for the day, so he and his men retreated with their booty into the mountains for another decisive victory. You would think by now, the Army would have learned following Nana into narrow canyons wasn't working out very well. None of the soldiers were killed, however, and the wounded were taken by wagon to Fort Bayard.

It should be mentioned that by now, Nana's Raid had been reported by newspapers and word-of-mouth, leaving New Mexicans in a state of terror. Forty men were managing to humiliate several hundred soldiers of the U.S. Army.

On Aug. 21, Nana's band slithered out of the Black Range headed south with a herd of about 150-200 horses and cattle. They passed within a few miles of Ft. Cummings then into Mexico, without hardly a notice.

The Army chased Nana throughout southern New Mexico for over 2,000 miles during 1881, much of it through Socorro and Sierra Counties. Despite being outnumbered 10-to-1, Nana's band went largely unscathed, accomplishing their raid and outsmarting the Army. The U.S. Army, particularly the black soldiers of the 9th Cavalry, were well-trained and capable soldiers. They were simply caught off guard by Nana's guerilla tactics, shrewd strategies and an overwhelming drive to preserve his race.

EPITAPH

Gen. George Crook led a small column into Mexico's Sierra Madres in May 1883, securing Nana's and Kaytennae's surrender. The Warm Springs Apache were sent to the San Carlos reservation in Arizona. However, Nana, Kaytennae and Geronimo escaped two weeks later. Kaytennae was captured and served 18 months in Alcatraz Prison. Seeing the "white man's world" of San Francisco, he knew further resistance was futile. Upon his release in 1886, he met with Gen. Crook, Nana and Geronimo, convincing them to surrender. A few days later, Geronimo escaped, but Nana agreed his small band of Apaches would submit to living under military control. Fearing another escape, Nana and the entire Warm Springs band was sent to Ft. Marion, Fla., and later to Alabama, before finally being relocated to Ft. Sill, Okla. in 1889. Despite years of pleading, the U.S. government never allowed the Tcihene to return to their beloved home at Ojo Caliente.

Kas-tziden, or Chief Nana, died in 1896 at Ft. Sill, believed to be 90-95 years old. He had the longest fighting career of any Apache warrior. Many of his former adversaries, the officers of the U.S. Army, considered him a brilliant strategist and a "perfect fighter." Nana fulfilled his promise to Mangas Coloradas, Cochise and Victorio — he did save the small remnants of the Tcihene people from extinction.

References used in this article:"Nana's Raid," Stephen Lekson; "Black Range Tales," James McKenna; "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches," Dan Thrapp; Web sites for the Ft. Sill Museum, Buffalo Soldier National Museum, Apache History Foundation and field work by the author.

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