Did It Happen: Tom Jeffords and Cochise
According to Arizona lore and the plot of the James Stewart movie Broken Arrow, a stage coach driver and post rider by the name of Tom Jeffords gets fed up with the Apache raids disrupting traffic on his mail lines in Arizona Territory. So he heads into the Chiricahua Mountains to look up Cochise, walks into Cochise's camp and asks him to knock it off. Impressed by Jeffords bravery, the two become friends and Jeffords talks Cochise into making peace with the White Man.
Did it happen? A qualified yes.
Thomas Jefferson Jeffords, 1832-1914, was born in Chautauqua County, New York, in what had once been Iroquois country. As a boy, his family moved to Ashtabula, Ohio. Tom worked as a sailor on the Great Lakes and even captained ships himself before deciding to follow a series of smaller gold rushes further and further out west. He eventually ended up in New Mexico, working as a civilian courier at Fort Craig. During the Civil War, Jeffords accepted a daring assignment, to ride across Arizona Territory to Fort Yuma, where the California Column awaited word to join with Union forces in New Mexico. The Bascom Affair had ignited the Apaches into war in 1861, and Arizona was Confederate territory, making life hazardous for a lone rider and Yankee. Jeffords guided the Column through Arizona and New Mexico, and eventually returned to Arizona Territory as a civilian courier and guide.
In 1867-1869, as war with the Apaches lingered on, Jeffords was superintended of a mail line from Tucson to Socorro, New Mexico. This is where the legend has him confront Cochise and ask for peace for his riders. In fact, Jeffords riders and stages were ambushed as much as anyone else who ventured into Apache territory. In 1871, General Oliver Howard arrived in Arizona Territory. He decided to try to open talks with the Apache. By this time, the legend that Jeffords had some kind of friendship with Cochise was already current. Howard approached Jeffords, who knew that Howard had headed the Freedman's Bureau during the Reconstruction and seemed to have a decent motive. Fed up with the war and constant attacks and willing to take risky assignments, Jeffords agreed to ride alone to Cochise's Stronghold, probably China Meadow in the Dragoon Mountains. He approached Cochise and asked him to meet Howard at Canada Alamosa. The Apaches were amazed at the crazy White Man who'd dared to ride into the camp alone and approach their feared chief man-to-man.
Cochise declined the invitation, but several months later did arrive at Canada Alamosa for initial meetings with Howard. Those talks fell through. Cochise wasn't willing to accept the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico as his people's new reservation. In 1872, Howard decided to meet Cochise on his turf and had Jeffords lead him to the Dragoon Mountains. Cochise demanded the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains as part of the reservation and Tom Jeffords as Agent. Howard agreed. Peace reigned in Arizona from 1872-76. Cochise and Jeffords remained on good terms until Cochise died in 1874. But White and Hispanic citizens, particularly in Tucson, became suspicious of Jeffords, believing he was an Indian lover, putting Apache interests ahead of local ranchers and farmers. Influential people in high places demanded Jeffords removal as Agent, and got their way. Jeffords was accused of irregularities with Agency finances, a common method of disposing of Agents who seemed too friendly toward the Natives. The new Agent soon angered the Apache and they left the reservation and returned to fighting.
Jeffords moved to Tombstone and invested in a number of mines. He wasn't active again in the Apache Wars, or the Earp-Clanton drama. He had a homestead near Owlhead Buttes and died in 1914. He lies buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
Did it happen? A qualified yes.
Thomas Jefferson Jeffords, 1832-1914, was born in Chautauqua County, New York, in what had once been Iroquois country. As a boy, his family moved to Ashtabula, Ohio. Tom worked as a sailor on the Great Lakes and even captained ships himself before deciding to follow a series of smaller gold rushes further and further out west. He eventually ended up in New Mexico, working as a civilian courier at Fort Craig. During the Civil War, Jeffords accepted a daring assignment, to ride across Arizona Territory to Fort Yuma, where the California Column awaited word to join with Union forces in New Mexico. The Bascom Affair had ignited the Apaches into war in 1861, and Arizona was Confederate territory, making life hazardous for a lone rider and Yankee. Jeffords guided the Column through Arizona and New Mexico, and eventually returned to Arizona Territory as a civilian courier and guide. In 1867-1869, as war with the Apaches lingered on, Jeffords was superintended of a mail line from Tucson to Socorro, New Mexico. This is where the legend has him confront Cochise and ask for peace for his riders. In fact, Jeffords riders and stages were ambushed as much as anyone else who ventured into Apache territory. In 1871, General Oliver Howard arrived in Arizona Territory. He decided to try to open talks with the Apache. By this time, the legend that Jeffords had some kind of friendship with Cochise was already current. Howard approached Jeffords, who knew that Howard had headed the Freedman's Bureau during the Reconstruction and seemed to have a decent motive. Fed up with the war and constant attacks and willing to take risky assignments, Jeffords agreed to ride alone to Cochise's Stronghold, probably China Meadow in the Dragoon Mountains. He approached Cochise and asked him to meet Howard at Canada Alamosa. The Apaches were amazed at the crazy White Man who'd dared to ride into the camp alone and approach their feared chief man-to-man.
Cochise declined the invitation, but several months later did arrive at Canada Alamosa for initial meetings with Howard. Those talks fell through. Cochise wasn't willing to accept the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico as his people's new reservation. In 1872, Howard decided to meet Cochise on his turf and had Jeffords lead him to the Dragoon Mountains. Cochise demanded the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains as part of the reservation and Tom Jeffords as Agent. Howard agreed. Peace reigned in Arizona from 1872-76. Cochise and Jeffords remained on good terms until Cochise died in 1874. But White and Hispanic citizens, particularly in Tucson, became suspicious of Jeffords, believing he was an Indian lover, putting Apache interests ahead of local ranchers and farmers. Influential people in high places demanded Jeffords removal as Agent, and got their way. Jeffords was accused of irregularities with Agency finances, a common method of disposing of Agents who seemed too friendly toward the Natives. The new Agent soon angered the Apache and they left the reservation and returned to fighting.
Jeffords moved to Tombstone and invested in a number of mines. He wasn't active again in the Apache Wars, or the Earp-Clanton drama. He had a homestead near Owlhead Buttes and died in 1914. He lies buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
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