Great Leader: William Alchesay of the White Mountain Apache, 1853-1928

On 29 Natives have been awarded America's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.  One of those was an Apache warrior, White Mountain Apache Chief and Army Scout named Alchesay.  It was very rare that a Native leader could function in both White and Native society and retain the respect of both, but Alchesay managed this, remaining friends with Geronimo even after he'd helped to track him down and tried to talk him into surrender.

Alchesay was born in 1853 in Limestone Canyon.  When he was just 19, he enlisted as a military scout at Camp Verde.  How or when he attained leadership among the White Mountain Apache isn't clear, but Alchesay's bravery and courage was.  George Crook came to rely on Alchesay's advice when dealing with Apache affairs.  Crook's aide, John G. Bourke, described the White Mountain leader as handsome in appearance, with courage, wisdom and loyalty.  He would be useful during the pursuit of the Chiricahua in the Sierra Madre in 1883, and again in tracking Geronimo in 1885.  Alchesay tried to persuade Geronimo to surrender but was unable to sway his friend's mind.  It was only after Lozen and another female warrior worked out surrender terms with General Crook that Geronimo was convinced that the war had to end.

Alchesay retired from the Army in 1886 and devoted himself to furthering his people's welfare.  He became a successful cattleman and rancher, with two wives and at least one son.  In 1887, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to present his people's needs directly to President Grover Cleveland.  He would also meet President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 and Warren G. Harding in 1921.  In 1923, Navajo Children were transported to an Indian school located on the White Mountain Reservation.  The Navajos and Apaches were traditional enemies.  Not only were these children uprooted from their homes and culture, but they were in enemy territory.  Alchesay would visit the school to assure the children that they wouldn't be harmed.  He also sought and received compensation for Apache families who were removed to clear the land for building the school.

Alchesay remained friends with Geronimo until the latter's death in 1909.  He filed for a military pension, using the name William Alchesay.  In 1925, he resigned the chiefship and lived out his life until 1928, being buried on the Fort Apache Reservation.  He was issued a Medal of Honor in 1875, for bravery during the Apache Wars.  The citation read, "gallant conduct during campaigns and engagement with Apaches."  Alchesay High School in Whiteriver bears his name, as does Alchesay Barracks at Fort Huachucha.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did It Happen: Custer's Cheyenne Family

Image
Despite popular legends to the contrary, when Col. George Armstrong Custer's body was found after the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass in June 1876, he wasn't scalped or mutilated.  However, the corpses of many of the men nearby, including George's brother Thomas, were mutilated.  Although some White commentators at the time believed the lack of mutilation might have been the Natives way of showing respect to a brave enemy anyone who had rode and fought with Custer knew this idea held no water whatsoever.  No Native respected George Custer.  He had the blood of the Washita Massacre of 1868 on his hands.  There would have been plenty of Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors on the battlefield who would have taken the chance to show their disdain for him.  Other specular insists that it was because Custer wasn't in military dress, or that he'd cut his famous long, curly yellow hair prior to battle.  Still, someone could've recognized him and pointed him...
Read more

Trapper and Guide: Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, 1805-1866

Image
The only son of Sacajawea of the Shoshone and Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trapper who may have been mixed-race himself, became a man of many talents.  Throughout his life, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, 1805-1866 was a trapper, trader, scout, guide and interpreter as well as a mayor, prospector and hotel operator.  He was also educated, well-traveled in Europe and America, and spoke English, French, Spanish, German and several Native languages including his mother's Shoshone. The life of this remarkable man began in 1805 at Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.  Toussaint Charbonneau had signed on with the Lewis and Clark expedition as a hunter, interpreter and guide, but the real draw was his pregnant teenaged wife, Sacajawea, a Shoshone by birth.  Lewis and Clark knew they would need to trade horses from the Shoshone to make it over the Rocky Mountains and they would need an in with the tribe when the time came.  Sacajawea went i...
Read more

Cameahwait and Sacajawea

Image
The story of Sacajawea's reunion with her family and tribe during the Lewis and Clark Expedition is a familiar one, told from her vantage point.  However, her brother, Cameahwait, by this time chief of the Salmon Eater band of the Lemhi Shoshone would have also had feelings in the matter. Little is known of Cameahwait's life or how he rose to a position of authority among his people.  Apparently, he was several years older than Sacajawea.  In their society, siblings and cousins are often considered the same relationship and spoken of in the same words.  Some sources suggest that they may have been cousins, or even half-siblings.  No matter what the exact familial rank, their actions when they met up again suggested a close family bond.  When Sacajawea was 12 and her brother much older and already an established warrior, the Hidatsa raided their hunting camp.  Four men, four boys and some elderly and children were killed.  Sacajawea and some othe...
Read more