Bronco Apache

by Paul I. Wellman

This is a story of Massai (or Masse) who is a heroic legend amont the Apache of Arizona & New Mexico. It tells the story of how Massai escaped from Geronimo's prison train somewhere east of St. Louis, in September, 1886, and beat his way back to the desert in a manner almost incredible, through hundreds of miles of civilized, thickly populated country, without once being seen. Detachments from 2 to 3 US cavalry regiments, with many Indian scouts, hunted for Massai ceaselessly, yet in many years of pursuit, never caught him, never prevented him from going where he wanted or doing what he wanted, although some lost their lives and the government expended many thousands of dollars in the attempt.

255 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1936

About the author

Paul Iselin Wellman, newspaperman, writer of popular history, novelist and screenwriter, is best known for his books set in the Great Plains of the United States and Kansas. In addition to his books several Hollywood movies , Cheyenne, The Walls of Jericho, Jubal, Apache, The Comancheros, and The Iron Mistress are based on his novels.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wel...
http://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks...

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read about Massai, one of the last free Apache warriors, and his incredible journey. The book was originally published in 1936 and is based on true events in 1886. The story itself is good. Massai’s escape from imprisonment and his thousand-mile journey (on foot!) across America is hard to believe…but it really happened. That alone is a great story (comprising the first third of the book), but then Massai decides to embark on a one-man war against the Mexican and U.S. armies to avenge the loss of the Apache way of life. Can’t go wrong with that story. 

Paul Wellman did his homework on this one. He sprinkles in Apache words and concepts throughout the book and takes the time to discuss certain rituals (the sunrise ceremony) and customs (courtship rules), which I liked. 

I read Paul Andrew Hutton’s book ‘The Apache Wars’ before reading this one, and it contributed to my appreciation of this book. ‘Broncho Apache’ is based on true events and includes stories of real historical people, but it doesn’t go into any character backgrounds. So by reading ‘The Apache Wars’ first, I was already well acquainted with each of the secondary characters in this story (ex. Al Sieber, Mickey Free). It really helped put everything in perspective. It also helped that ‘The Apache Wars’ narrative ends right as the story in ‘Broncho Apache’ begins (the books were published 82 years apart). 

Overall a solid three stars. 

Slight tangent… if you enjoy this book, you can also check out ‘Apache’, the 1954 film adaptation starring Burt Lancaster in brown face… which was surprisingly good.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this is an old book! My paperback edition is from 1951 and the story was originally published in 1936. It's an exciting Western tale, that of Massai, the last of the "wild" Apaches. He was one of the Apaches captured with Geronimo and shipped off by army prison train to Florida, where the Apaches were to be held as POWs. Massai was able to escape--after getting across the Mississippi River from St. Louis into Illinois. Then he had to find a way to get home to the deserts of Arizona, which, of course, included getting across that unbelievably huge river, the Mississippi...
Massai became a phantom killer. He fought an incredible one-man war on the United States and Mexico--and also on the "tame" reservation Indians whom he learned he couldn't trust. I have to add that I felt no sympathy for this character. When I first read a biography of Geronimo as a kid, I felt a lot of sympathy for Geronimo and the Apaches. However, Massai is such a cold-blooded killer, I was rooting for someone-human or animal- to kill him. Massai, after all, is the ultimate survivor--capable of anything to keep himself alive one more day...

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

✒️ A story about the last Apache warrior, Massai, around the year 1886. Watching the 1954 film with Burt Lancaster, Charles Bronson, Jean Peters, Monte Blue, et al, encourages me to read up on Massai’s biography.

📕Published —1936. In the public domain.
જ⁀🫐 Read on Internet Archive.
🎥 1954 movie version.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻