The Apaches: Eagles of the Southwest (Volume 149)

by Donald E. Worcester

Until now Apache history has been fragmented, offered in books dealing with specific bands or groups-the Mescaleros, Mimbreños, Chiricahuas, and the more distant Kiowa Apaches, Lipans, and Jicarillas. In this book, Volume 149 of The Civilization of the American Indian Series, Donald E. Worcester provides a synthesis of the total historical experience of the Apaches, from the post-Conquest era of the Spaniards to the present day. In clear, fluent prose he provides a panoramic coverage, with the main focus on the nineteenth century, the era of the Apaches' sometimes splintered but always determined resistance to the white intruders. They were never a numerous tribe, but, in their daring and skill as commando like raiders, they well deserved the name "Eagles of the Southwest."

The book highlights the many defensive stands and the brilliant assaults the Apaches made on their enemies. The only effective strategy against them was divide and conquer, and the Spaniards (and after them the Anglo-Americans) employed it extensively, using renegade Indians as scouts, feeding traveling bands and trading with them at their presidios and missions. When the Mexican Revolution disrupted this pattern in 1810, the Apaches again turned to raiding, and the Apache wars that erupted with the arrival of the Anglo-Americans constitute some of the most sensational chapters in America's military annals. Not until the United States' policy of extermination had succeeded in decimating them was the Southwest secure for white settlement.

The author describes the Apaches' life today on the Arizona and New Mexico reservations, where they manage to preserve some of the traditional ceremonies, while trying to provide livelihoods for all their people. Tragically far removed from the soaring eagles of yesterday, the Apaches still have a proud history in their struggles against overwhelming odds of numbers and weaponry. Worcester here recreates that history in all its color and drama.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American

407 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1979

Reviews

[Kamil Bryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tytuł trochę zwodniczy, gdyż książka jest tak naprawdę o wojnach toczonych między apackimi plemionami, a kolejno Hiszpanami, Meksykanami i Amerykanami. Spodziewałem się czegoś bardziej skupionego na kulturze Apaczy. Niemniej książka jest dobrym źródłem wiedzy na temat okrucieństwa, hipokryzji i ignoracji jakimi biali ludzie wykazali się wobec rdzennych mieszkańców amerykańsko-meksykańskiego pogranicza.

[Neil White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really compelling narration of the story of the various peoples we have named Apaches from their first encounter with Spanish/Mexican people, through the encounter and eventual conflict with the Anglo-American, through the various wars fought both with soldiers and with civilians (those entrusted with care for the native people as well as settlers, ranchers, and various contractors). Donald Worcester does an excellent job communicating who these tribes and families were as a culture and as a people. He does a phenomenal job both sharing and helping to interpret the historical record and those who contributed to it from presidents, generals, chiefs, and medicine men to the scouts, lieutenants and sergeants, and local officials: some honorable, some not. The bulk of the book ends in the 1890s with the final chapter dealing with the struggles the Apache people dealt with in the 20th century. Highly recommended! There is a reason this is an award winning book. For a non-fiction book it is a compelling and enjoyable read.

[Phillip · Rating 2 out of 5]

done reading histories of indigenous people by white historians. they all end up little more than glorified body counts ...

when natives write about native history, accomplishments are underlines more than bloodshed, the writing always feels more engaging, inspiring, you name it.

[Lihsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource. It was a bit of a slog through the battles but the final four chapters were great.

[Robert Temple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good one volume history and culture overview