From Fort Marion to Fort Sill: A Documentary History of the Chiricahua Apache Prisoners of War, 1886-1913

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244 T Taayzslath c. 1869–1904 nd Early Morning, Marianetta; Marlanetta; Ziyeh. She was an older sister of Effie Zaienah, a niece of Gonahsin, and related to Guyan. Taayzslath married Geronimo and they had two children . Taayzslath stated in an interview conducted by Captain Emmet Crawford on April 1, 1884, that in the spring of 1883 she and twenty-two women and children and “one large boy” were taken prisoner after being captured in the eastern Sierra Madre, northwest of Chihuahua City. The women were sent to a “large jail,” where twelve prisoners previously captured were detained; five men and seven women and children . She and the other prisoners survived on corn tortillas and “soup made by boiling beef heads.” The children were “scattered throughout the city or sent away.” She knew of “thirty-five captives in all” who had been sent to Chihuahua City. Every eight days children were brought to the jail to visit their mothers. “They could not tell us where they were kept because they were too small to know anything about the city.” Taayzslath’s ten-yearold daughter “Ist-san-ee” was living in a city official’s home. When Taayzslath was permitted to see her she said the girl was “so low-spirited that she would not eat or drink and did nothing but cry.” On the third night Taayzslath, who had been taken to the official’s home for the visit, escaped and followed the dry washes west to the Sierra Madre. Bare-footed, her feet and legs became swollen, making the forty-fourday trek to find Geronimo’s camp nearly impossible. “I lived on what I could find, herbs, roots, [and] berries.” Her escape established proof that there were indeed Chiricahua captives in Mexico. She beseeched Tahdecloeyeh | 245 the U.S. military to repatriate her daughter, her sister and nephew, and other family members. Taayzslath and her children Fenton and Lulu left Fort Apache with Geronimo in the May 1885 breakout. On June 23 Chatto and his scouts surprised the Chiricahuas’ camp in the Sierra Madre, capturing a group of fifteen women and children, including Taayzslath, Fenton, and Lulu. When the Fort Marion prisoners were transferred to Alabama, she joined Geronimo at Fort Pickens until the group’s transfer to Mount Vernon. Taayzslath died on March 1, 1904 [sw5078].1 Tahdaste c. 1860–? ch Dahdesih; Dahdesti; Dahdeste; Dadezhti; Tdahdaste. Tahdaste’s mother was Tzegojuni; her full sister was Ilthgozey, and she was a half-sister of Sallie Sundayman and Dahn. Tahdaste was a selected delegate to the 1898 Trans Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha and was photographed with Frank Mangas and Chatto’s sister, Bahnahtsi (photo online; see note 2). Tahdaste , in the group photograph and in her two solo portraits, was identified as “Frank’s wife.” Tahdaste, whose union with Mangas is questionable, married Ahnandia (Ralph). They married in Mexico after they left the reservation in the last breakout in May 1885. She was one of the women sent from the Apaches’ camp in the Teras Mountains to Fronteras, Sonora, for supplies and mescal. She and Ahnandia were among Naiche’s small band, surrendering in September 1886 at the Skeleton Canyon location. After Ahnandia died, she married the scout Coonie, a widower with three children; she and Coonie had no children. They raised his children and her two nephews, the orphaned Richard and Samuel Jolsanny. Tahdaste settled at Mescalero.2 Tahdecloeyeh ?–1899 ws Tahdecloey. The Apache name Tahdecloeyeh means “hang up.” Her first husband was Kanesewah. Her second husband was Kanseah (Jasper). She was remembered as being around twenty years older than Kanseah when 246 | Tahdendichly they married; they had one child, Flora Kanseah. Tahdecloeyeh died on February 9, 1899 [se5230].3 See also Kanesewah; Kanseah. Tahdendichly ?–c. 1889 ms + ws/ch A daughter of Cumpah and a full or half sister of Charlie Smith Jr., she appears as “Thadendichly (Coompah’s daughter)” on the Mount Vernon census. Tahdendichly died in Alabama around 1889, before her parents departed for Mescalero.4 Tahdiskess 1857–1902 ch She was Ugohun and Beshe’s daughter; her full sister was Haozinne. Tahdiskess married Tooisgah (Albert); they had five children. Albert, Ernest, and Sallie Tooisgah died at Fort Sill. John and Philippa Tooisgah settled in Oklahoma. Tahdiskess died on April 17, 1902, of whooping cough [se5219].5 See offspring under Tooisgah. Tahnitoe (John) 1855–? ch Tahnitee; Tonetu; Tunitu. According to Daniel Nicholas, Tahnitoe...