A Fateful Day in 1698: The Remarkable Sobaipuri-O’odham Victory over the Apaches and Their Allies by Deni J. Seymour (review)

Ask most archaeologists, historians, ethnologists, tribal historians, and others responsible for writing about an event that occurred over three centuries ago what they would need—what are the ideal conditions for that book—and you would get a long list of desirables. For the archaeologist, a definite site with a center that can provide focus; for the historian, extensive and accurate accounts written by a variety of people at the time; for the ethnologist, a good understanding of the cultural background of the people involved; and for the tribal historian, a scholar sensitive to portraying the People with balanced insight. A Fateful Day by Deni Seymour has the advantage of all of this—a perfect mix that draws on old and new research. Her purpose is twofold: to give a revision of an important event in Southwest history and to share “a new methodological standard for locating and evaluating historically referenced places and discerning historically referenced peoples” (9).

On Easter Sunday, March 30, 1698, five hundred Apache, Jo-come, Jano, Manso, and Suma men with some women attacked eighty Sobaipuri-O’odham (Pima) at Santa Cruz de Gaybanipitea in southern Arizona. After hours of fighting and an eventual withdrawal into an adobe structure, the defenders surrendered and awaited their fate. The Apaches and their allies gathered the spoils of battle and prepared a victory meal, unaware that five hundred Sobaipuri warriors from a neighboring village had been preparing for war and were now on their way. The new opposing sides agreed to a contest of champions, each selecting their ten best fighters to determine who would claim victory that day. The Apaches lost, a rout began that pushed them back to the mountains, and the Sobaipuri gained an overwhelming triumph with only five dead, compared to more than half of the enemy force—a stunning victory by any standard.

Repercussions from the battle were immediate. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and other Spaniards, none of whom were present for the conflict, began investigating and recording what had taken place while accepting the Sobaipuri as staunch allies against a common foe. The enemy was decimated, so in the future, many who survived sued for peace. The victors abandoned their village for a new site and better conditions on the fringe of Spanish holdings. By not rebuilding the destroyed community, they established an archaeological treasure that froze for future generations some of the physical remains that tell their story.

It is a story well worth telling. From a historian’s perspective, it is one of the first recorded-at-the-time accounts in the Southwest of Indian warfare, where both sides were Native American. Kino and others were astute observers in identifying cultural practices that are seldom discussed, such as the contest of champions, the use of poison on arrowheads, tactics based on aboriginal weaponry, and ritual preparation for combat. Seymour brings additional information that looks at both sides of the conflict and shows how different cultures approached the same event. She also discusses limitations and how they were overcome: What happened when a warrior ran short of arrows or points were broken? How was an adobe structure defended, and how was it assaulted? And what was the fragile nature of alliances? Fortunately, there were half a dozen excellent sources of information, written at the time, that have been retranslated for accuracy that help answer these questions.

For the archaeologist, the author walks through her fieldwork, disproving what earlier archaeologists and historians had identified as the actual site by locating the real one. A substantial part of the book looks at the discipline’s methodology and how the author arrived at conclusions different from those of others. Excavation of the defensive site shows how remnants of the battle—from burned wood and foodstuffs to patterns of points, both...