Great Warriors II

Most military officers in the American west knew relatively little about dealing with Natives.  It wasn't only a language barrier and a cultural divide, but an atmosphere of mistrust and unwillingness to understand.  For one young officer, this insensitivity would lead to a war that would last over two decades in Arizona Territory. Lt. George N. Bascom was born in 1837 in Owingsville, Bath County, Kentucky.  His ancestors were of French Huguenot and Basque extraction, hence the origin of his name.  He graduated 26 in a class of 27 at West Point in 1858, barely missing being that year's class goat by one unfortunately classmate below him.  No matter where he stood in his class rankings, though, West Point didn't teach a class about dealing with Natives.  Bascom was stationed at Camp Floyd in what is now Utah as a member of the 7th Infantry before being posted to Fort Buchannan in Arizona.  His first major assignment was a ticklish and dangerous one....

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 ...

When people mention Code Talkers, the mind automatically remembers the Navajo unit within the Marine Corps that fought in the Pacific Theatre, while those are the most famous Code Talkers, they weren't the only ones.  Nor were they the first.  During the final year of World War I, Colonel A.W. Bloor overheard two of his men conversing in the Choctaw language.  Unlike many European languages, which often have words that are mutually intelligible, there was no way he or any other White person could understand what the Choctaws were saying.  This gave Bloor an idea.  German intelligence officers had been able to crack any code based on a European language, including English.  He doubted that anyone would be able to understand a code based on a Native language. He approached the two men, who enlisted fourteen of their fellow Choctaw.  A simple code was worked out among the men, who were embedded among the rest of the American 2nd Battalion on a withdrawa...

A striking feature of any Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruin, such as Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon or elsewhere are large subterranean pit-like structures that appeared to have some ritualistic use.  Usually round, though sometimes square, most often submerged, or partially submerged below ground level, these spaces contain a fire-pit, a small ritual opening in the floor known as a sipapu, and an air-flow system to bring air to the fire and lift smoke out.  When Ancestral Puebloans left their cliff homes and took to dwelling on mesas, they took this feature of their architecture with them.  The room is known as a kiva and was used as a sacred space for tribal ceremonies and meetings.  The small opening in the floor, known as a sipapu after a Hopi loan word, represents the connection between the human world and the spirit realm.  Hopi tradition states that the first humans entered the world through an opening in the earth similar to a sipapu.  Some kivas w...

Most tribes identified certain landmarks, usually mountains, rivers or lakes, as being the traditional boundaries of their home and hunting ranges.  Not only were these reference points, they were often considered sacred.  These areas could be the homes of gods or spirits, the birthplace of ancestors, or represent the well-being of the people who lived on that land.  A series of beautiful mountain peaks towering over the town of Flagstaff in Arizona are sacred to no less than 13 Native tribes who call Arizona home. The San Francisco Peaks are the core of an ancient stratovolcano, the kind known to produce the most explosive eruptions.  The resulting peaks are the leftovers after the volcano blew itself apart and collapsed.  Humphrey's Peak is the highest elevation.  The other peaks are, in no particular order, Agassiz, Fremont, Aubineau, Rees and Doyle.  In 1629, Franciscan friars missionizing among the Hopi named the mountains in honor of St. F...

People throughout history have honored their bravest fighting men by including them in elite warrior societies.  The Persian Immortals, the Knights of the Roundtable, and Charlemagne's Paladins to name a few.  Plains tribes also had elite societies of warriors, and among the Kiowa there was no more elite than the ten warriors who made up the Koitsenko. Warrior training started early for Plains boys.  Among the Kiowa, a boy or youth would join the Rabbit Warrior society and begin their training.  As they grew into manhood and proved themselves in battle or on the hunt, they were eligible for membership in 5 adult warrior societies, some of which still exist among the Kiowa.  Members of these five societies took the lead in battle, on the hunt, and in guarding their people on the camp or trail.  These men were also called Dog Soldiers, though they aren't to be confused with the elite Cheyenne society and later tribal band, the Dog Soldiers.  Ten select...

Rivers of ink have been spilled over the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass and what Custer failed to do to save himself and his men.  Twelve years before, an experienced Indian Fighter showed how an outnumbered force of cavalry could protect themselves against a numerically superior force of skilled Plains warriors and live to tell the tale. The Santa Fe Trail was the main artery linking trade and settlement between St. Louis, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Part of the trail led through Comanche and Kiowa country and they were not happy.  They were aware that the settlers were not only occupying their hunting and home ranges, but also slaughtering buffalo and other game animals that were their basic food supply.  Commanche, Kiowa and Plains Apache warriors felt justified in raiding wagon trains and either killing settlers or taking them captive.  American authorities viewed the Natives as hostile enemies to be eradicated or contained.  In 186...