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Massacre at Camp Grant: Forgetting and Remembering Apache History
Winner of a National Council on Public History Book Award
On April 30, 1871, an unlikely group of Anglo-Americans, Mexican Americans, and Tohono O’odham Indians massacred more than a hundred Apache men, women, and children who had surrendered to the U.S. Army at Camp Grant, near Tucson, Arizona. Thirty or more Apache children were stolen and either kept in Tucson homes or sold into slavery in Mexico. Planned and perpetrated by some of the most prominent men in Arizona’s territorial era, this organized slaughter has become a kind of “phantom history” lurking beneath the Southwest’s official history, strangely present and absent at the same time.
Seeking to uncover the mislaid past, this powerful book begins by listening to those voices in the historical record that have long been silenced and disregarded. Massacre at Camp Grant fashions a multivocal narrative, interweaving the documentary record, Apache narratives, historical texts, and ethnographic research to provide new insights into the atrocity. Thus drawing from a range of sources, it demonstrates the ways in which painful histories continue to live on in the collective memories of the communities in which they occurred.
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh begins with the premise that every account of the past is suffused with cultural, historical, and political characteristics. By paying attention to all of these aspects of a contested event, he provides a nuanced interpretation of the cultural forces behind the massacre, illuminates how history becomes an instrument of politics, and contemplates why we must study events we might prefer to forget.
On April 30, 1871, an unlikely group of Anglo-Americans, Mexican Americans, and Tohono O’odham Indians massacred more than a hundred Apache men, women, and children who had surrendered to the U.S. Army at Camp Grant, near Tucson, Arizona. Thirty or more Apache children were stolen and either kept in Tucson homes or sold into slavery in Mexico. Planned and perpetrated by some of the most prominent men in Arizona’s territorial era, this organized slaughter has become a kind of “phantom history” lurking beneath the Southwest’s official history, strangely present and absent at the same time.
Seeking to uncover the mislaid past, this powerful book begins by listening to those voices in the historical record that have long been silenced and disregarded. Massacre at Camp Grant fashions a multivocal narrative, interweaving the documentary record, Apache narratives, historical texts, and ethnographic research to provide new insights into the atrocity. Thus drawing from a range of sources, it demonstrates the ways in which painful histories continue to live on in the collective memories of the communities in which they occurred.
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh begins with the premise that every account of the past is suffused with cultural, historical, and political characteristics. By paying attention to all of these aspects of a contested event, he provides a nuanced interpretation of the cultural forces behind the massacre, illuminates how history becomes an instrument of politics, and contemplates why we must study events we might prefer to forget.
- GenresNonfictionHistorySchool
176 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 29, 2011
This is a good book on a key event in Apache history and discusses approaches on how to remember this event. The author goes into detail on the massacre at Camp Grant on April 30, 1871; he goes through the events that led up to the incident and the key players involved. I think what we should take away from this volume is that history is not black and white and that there was blame on both sides with regards to the general conflict. However, this event was unique in that the collection of Anglo-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Tohono O'odham tribesmen went on a reprisal raid on a group of people that had nothing to do with the then-recent raids on settlers near Tucson. In actuality, the raids were conducted by Cochise's Chiracahua Apaches who came from the east and the Apaches that were killed were Aravaipas. Moreover, this event was horrifying in that most of those killed were women and children and that the balance of the children were kidnapped and most of them were sold into slavery south of the border. In addition to this, the perpetrators of the massacre were let off the hook by a sympathetic jury, thus no justice was done.
The author tries to sort out what could be done today with regards to this incident that occurred more than a century ago. Discussions about restorative justice and reconciliation are brought up. Included in this is monetary compensation, but the author seems to discourage that as the victims and the assailants are long dead. He states that the object of this book is to state that history should shape contemporary identities and that revealing truth can advance justice. I concur as one should never forget the past.
This short book has 116 pages of text, endnotes, a bibliography, a glossary of terms and a short index. I recommend this book for one to understand obscure southwest history.
The author tries to sort out what could be done today with regards to this incident that occurred more than a century ago. Discussions about restorative justice and reconciliation are brought up. Included in this is monetary compensation, but the author seems to discourage that as the victims and the assailants are long dead. He states that the object of this book is to state that history should shape contemporary identities and that revealing truth can advance justice. I concur as one should never forget the past.
This short book has 116 pages of text, endnotes, a bibliography, a glossary of terms and a short index. I recommend this book for one to understand obscure southwest history.
September 25, 2018
I applaud Colwell-Chanthaphonh for providing a balanced narrative of this overlooked event in American history. I don't have a lengthy review in mind, so I will simply list the pros and cons.
Pros: - Balances the views of both American and Apache accounts nicely.
- Good explanations of Apache place names.
- Comparatively little white-bashing compared to similar tomes.
- Very well researched.
Cons:
- Could have used more of the viewpoint of the Tohono O'odham Indians, who played a significant role in the massacre; the avoidance of this seemed almost agenda-driven, as if the blame was to be placed squarely on the shoulders of Americans and Mexican-Americans involved.
Overall it is a well-written and researched scholarly work. I definitely learned something new.
Pros: - Balances the views of both American and Apache accounts nicely.
- Good explanations of Apache place names.
- Comparatively little white-bashing compared to similar tomes.
- Very well researched.
Cons:
- Could have used more of the viewpoint of the Tohono O'odham Indians, who played a significant role in the massacre; the avoidance of this seemed almost agenda-driven, as if the blame was to be placed squarely on the shoulders of Americans and Mexican-Americans involved.
Overall it is a well-written and researched scholarly work. I definitely learned something new.
December 21, 2017
A good historical review of this massacre perpetrated by Tucsonans against Apaches who were being sheltered by the US Army. Senseless slaughter but Colwell selves deeply to find stories from all sides and discusses South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission as an example of restorative justice.
November 21, 2024
read for a class, but it does a really good job of recognizing the importance of multivocal history and honoring Native oral history traditions and rewriting how Natives were treated in America
August 22, 2009
Very interesting book but a bit too much philosophy on the meaning of history around the slimmer content of the events of the Camp Grant Massacre.
April 19, 2017
This book is not simply a retelling of the incident. Rather the author looks at the way politics, cultural beliefs, and cultural blindness to those deemed "other" shape a narrative. The author looks at the various accounts of the incident over time, what gets left in and what is left out. What becomes accepted as a "known" over time is not on as firm a ground as believed. Colwell-Chanthaphonh give the Apache account good coverage, something that has been missing, and when it is acknowledged is often done so with the idea that it is of less importance or accuracy than those of the dominating culture.
If you are looking for a straightforward account of the massacre, this may not be your choice. I would argue that the book will prompt the reader to be more questioning about how what we accept as the factual account is shaped by who is telling it and how time shapes it.
An academic book, but also highly readable.
If you are looking for a straightforward account of the massacre, this may not be your choice. I would argue that the book will prompt the reader to be more questioning about how what we accept as the factual account is shaped by who is telling it and how time shapes it.
An academic book, but also highly readable.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews