The Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war: Fort Sill, 1894-1914

474 Pages·1997·2.87 MB·English

by  John Anthony Turcheneske

The Chiricahua Apache Prisoners of War :
title:
Fort Sill, 1894-1914
author: Turcheneske, John Anthony.
publisher: University Press of Colorado
isbn10 | asin: 0870814656
print isbn13: 9780870814655
ebook isbn13: 9780585030548
language: English
Chiricahua Indians--Relocation--Oklahoma-
-Fort Sill, Chiricahua Indians--Cultural
assimilation, Chiricahua Indians--
subject Government policy, Indian prisoners--
Oklahoma--Fort Sill, Indians, Treatment of-
-Oklahoma--Fort Sill, United States--
Politics and governmen
publication date: 1997
lcc: E99.C68T87 1997eb
ddc: 976.6/004972
Chiricahua Indians--Relocation--Oklahoma-
-Fort Sill, Chiricahua Indians--Cultural
assimilation, Chiricahua Indians--
subject: Government policy, Indian prisoners--
Oklahoma--Fort Sill, Indians, Treatment of-
-Oklahoma--Fort Sill, United States--
Politics and governmen
Page iii
The Chiricahua Apache Prisoners Of War
Fort Sill 1894-1914
John Anthony Turcheneske, Jr.
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF COLORADO
Page iv
©1997 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by the University Press of Colorado
P. 0. Box 849
Niwot, Colorado 80544
Tel. [phone]
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing
enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State
University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan
State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of
Northern Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, and Western
State College of Colorado.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Turcheneske, John Anthony, 1943-
The Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war: Fort Sill, 1894-1914 / John
Anthony Turcheneske, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87081-465-6 (casebound: alk. paper).
1. Chiricahua IndiansRelocationOklahomaFort Sill.
2. Chiricahua IndiansCultural assimilation. 3. Chiricahua
IndiansGovernment policy. 4. Indian prisonersOklahomaFort
Sill. 5. Indians, Treatment ofOklahomaFort Sill. 6. United
States politics and government. 1. Title.
E99.C68T87 1997
976.6'004972dc20 97-16012
CIP
This book was set in ITC Slimbach and Broadband ICG by Stephen
Adams.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information
SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI
Z39.48-1948
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Page v
Dedicated to my mother and father,
Mary Elizabeth Driscoll-Turcheneske and
John Anthony Turcheneske, Sr.
Page vii
Contents
Figures ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Prologue xv
1. Uprooted: An Innocent People Are Taken Captive 1
2. An Exile of Despair in Florida and Alabama 15
3. Vigorous Protests Are Raised Against Locating the
Chiricahuas in Oklahoma 31
4. The Chiricahuas Settle in at Fort Sill 41
5. Enlargement of Fort Sill for the Chiricahuas' Eventual
Allotment 53
6. Daily Routine, a False Alarm, and Missionaries 67
7. A Subtle Policy Shift 73
8. Initial War Department Maneuvers to Retain Fort Sill as
a Military Reserve 81
9. Undercurrents of Chiricahua Disaffection 91
10. Opening the Way to Removal From Fort Sill:
Geronimo's Demise and Agitation for Relocation to New
Mexico 105

Page viii
11. Foreclosure of Chiricahua Rights to Fort Sill:
Establishment of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School of
Fire 113
12. A Promise "Broken to the Hope" 121
13. Military Functionaries Find a Friend in the House 131
14. Senatorial Subterfuge Nearly Scuttles the Chiricahua
Resettlement Scheme 143
15. Resettlement at Mescalero and Release From Military
Custody 155
16. Liberated Into Penury: A Most Parsimonious
Chiricahua Allotment in Oklahoma 167
EpilogueQuest for Freedom: A Case of Justice Denied 177
Notes 189
Bibliography 225
Additional Sources 235
Index 239
Page ix
Figures
1. Eugene Chihuahua. 18
2. Captain Allyn Capron. 32
3. Chiricahua wickiups, Fort Sill. 45
4. Chiricahuas milling pickets at their sawmill. 46
5. Type of picket house at Fort Sill. 46
6. Naiche's village. 47
7. Winter range at Fort Sill. 49
8. Blossom Wrattan Haozous. 51
9. Chiricahuas baling hay. 57
10. Map showing location of Chiricahua Apache
prisoner-of-war villages. 59
11. Kayatennae's village. 59
12. Map showing additions made to Fort Sill in 1897. 64-65
13. Chiricahuas' cattle herd. 68
14. Captain Farrand Sayre and Chiricahua scouts. 74
15. Chiricahuas branding a calf during a roundup. 75
16. Chiricahuas laboring near their sawmill. 77
17. Chiricahuas in front of the Apache Prisoner of War
Office. 79
18. Jason Betzinez and four unidentified Chiricahuas