Chiricahua Apache Enduring Power: Naiche's Puberty Ceremony Paintings

Chapter 1. Ethnographic and Historic Background of the Chiricahua Apaches

1 Ethnographic and Historic Background of the Chiricahua Apaches I want to live in these mountains . . . I have drunk of these waters and they have cooled me, I do not want to leave here. —Cochise TUCSON, ARIZONA, AUGUST 2004 The sun is just coming up over the Rincon Mountains when I head east from Tucson for the Cochise Stronghold (Figures 2 and 3). The desert is alive with light: prickly pear pads re®ect the light like oval mirrors while creosote, mesquite , and paloverde begin to glow with the sun’s growing intensity. Long tentacles of ocotillo crown the crest of hills, their bright green leaves illuminated . As the country opens up, I pass more horse trailers, pickup trucks, and trailers stacked high with hay. Yuccas and century plants stand silhouetted against the sky. Apache Peak, in the Whetstone Mountains, rises off to the south as I enter Cochise County. Soon the highway is dipping down into the steep sided San Pedro Valley, cut by the river of the same name. Leaving the town of Benson behind, I reach Texas Canyon with its huge smooth boulders so similar to those in the Cochise Stronghold. The morning light spreads across their surface, creating deep pockets of shadow and brilliant rock faces ®ooded with light. And then I take the exit for the Cochise Stronghold, past the immense dry lake known as Willcox Playa to the scattered houses in the community of Sunsites. Pavement gives way to a dirt road. The Jeep bumps over the washboard road, and dust billows up behind me. Looking up at the high pinnacles and steep-sided peaks of the Dragoon Mountains, I can see what made it an impenetrable fortress that could be defended without much effort. Anyone approaching for some distance on the surrounding plain would be clearly visible. I thread my way through a grove of oak trees as the road winds over dry streambeds. The camping ground is empty, and I am glad to have Cochise’s favorite spot to myself. A little sun ¤lters down through the thick canopy, but high above, the sun is hot and bright on the high pinnacles. Two ravens soar above me, chortling to each other as they sweep by on the wind currents. Figure 2: The Cochise Stronghold, southeastern Arizona. This place provided a secure home for Cochise and his people. Lookouts could easily spot strangers approaching at a great distance. Photo by author. Figure 3: The Cochise Stronghold, southeastern Arizona. Cochise is buried here in an unmarked place among the rocks and chasms, along with his favorite horse and dog. Photo by author. When I rejoin the interstate highway after leaving the Cochise Stronghold, I again head east, this time for Fort Bowie, the focal point of military operation by the U.S. Army against the Chiricahuas. Apache Pass, which separates the Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua mountains, was a favorite place for Chiricahua families because of the dependable source of water at Apache Spring and the abundance of plant life (Figures 4 and 5). Near Apache Spring a wickiup has been constructed to provide the feeling of a Chiricahua camp (Figure 6). Desert grasslands cover the lower slopes, and the chaparral has evergreens, manzanita, mountain mahogany, and silk tassel. Along the sandy drainages, willow, walnut, and cottonwood ®ourish, while the higher slopes have oak, juniper, and pinyon pine. I had not realized the proximity of so many key places to each other. Parking my Jeep on the dirt road, I hike down a trail and over a wash. After walking through open country for a couple of miles, I come across the remains of the Butter¤eld Overland Mail Stage Station (Figure 7), the Chiricahua Apache Indian Agency, the site of the Bascom Affair in 1861 (see Timeline ), the site of the Battle of Apache Pass in 1862, and Fort Bowie. The stone foundation of the stage station once held a kitchen–dining room, sleeping rooms, and a storage room for feed and weapons. Standing inside its walls, I try to imagine what the drivers and passengers must have felt. The road they took is clearly visible, but it is hard to conceive of a wheeled vehicle traveling over such rough terrain, especially at relatively high speeds. The company had to design something called the Celerity Wagon for the more rugged routes in the Southwest; smaller and lighter in weight than the bulkier...