The Mescalero Apaches (Volume 51)

by C.L. Sonnichsen

Frederick Webb Hodge remarked that the Eastern Apache tribe called the Mescaleros were “never regarded as so warlike” as the Apaches of Arizona. But the Mescaleros’ history is one of hardship and oppression alternating with wars of revenge. They were friendly to the Spaniards until victimized, and friendly to Americans until they were betrayed again. For three hundred years Mescaleros fought the Spaniards and Mexicans. They fought Americans for forty more, before subsiding into lethargy and discouragement. Only since 1930 have the Mescaleros been able to make tribal progress.

C. L. Sonnichsen tells the story of the Mescalero Apaches from the earliest records to the modern day, from the Indian's point of view. In early days the Mescaleros moved about freely. Their principal range was between the Río Grande and the Pecos in New Mexico, but they hunted into the Staked Plains and southward into Mexico. They owned nothing and everything. 

Today the Mescaleros are American citizens and own their reservation in the Tularosa country of New Mexico. While the Mescalero Apaches still struggle to retain their traditions and bridge the gap between their old life and the new, their people have made amazing progress.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1979

About the author

CHARLES LELAND SONNICHSEN
Ph.D. (in English Literature, 1931) at Harvard University

Taught at University at Texas in El Paso for 41 years.

You may read more about this author at
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/on...

Reviews

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not always chronological, this book paints an extensive picture of the history of the Mescalero Apaches (and cousins) from the 1600's to the 1950's, when the original text was published.

[Florence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just chuck-full of good information, I just found it to be rather dry.