The Apache Kid: Outlaw Legend of the Southwest, Part 1

The natives called it Arizonac. It was later shortened to Arizona. Throughout the early 19th century, most white visitors crossed this land on their way to California. Most did not want to settle in the dry deserts of Arizona. The Apaches did not like the visitors trespassing on their hunting grounds. There were a few incidents reported concerning the earliest pioneers. This situation changed in 1849 when gold was discovered in California. Thousands of people began crossing "Apacheria" (This word is what the Spanish called Arizona.) on their way to the gold fields. The Apaches revolted. Both whites and Apaches tried to drive the other out. The Apache chief Cochise went on the warpath. The Apaches used every means possible to defend their land. Soon they were considered the fiercest tribe in the entire Southwest.


By 1870, the U.S. government realized that a military solution would not work. They decided the only way to control the Apaches was to round up all the Indians and move them all into one place - a reservation.


In December 1872, President Ulysses Grant established the San Carlos Indian Reservation northeast of Globe, Arizona. What the government officials did not take into account was that the Apaches were enemies with many of the tribes. Even Apache bands did not always get along. Many of them broke loose of the reservation. One of these young Apaches was Has-kay-bay-nay-natyl.


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