Apache - A fierce and warlike tribe of Indians of the Southwest.  The Apache were among the first Indians to ride horses.  They were living in New mexico when the early Spaniards arrived, and already had gained a reputation as raiders and killers, swooping down on the Pueblo villages and settlements of agricultural tribes in Arizona.  The Zuñi gave them the name Apachu, or "Enemy."  After the Apache obtained horses and firearms, they were more dangerous than ever, and were the white man's greatest enemies in the desert country.  New Mexico and Arizona were known as the dreaded "Apache Country" or "Apache Territory."

The Apache were assigned to a reservation in 1870 but a band under Cochise refused to live there and gave much trouble.  Three years later the United States troops had rounded up some 3,000 of these Indians and placed them on reservations.  But bands broke out and continued their old life of killing and plundering.  Victorio led one troublesome band until he was killed in 1880.  Geronimo became the new leader of the hostile bands.  After three years of warfare Geronimo was defeated, and the Indians returned to the reservation.  But they left again and continued their warfare until Geronimo surrendered in 1886.

There were eight or more tribes under the general name Apache, chief among them the Kiowa Apache, Mescalero, Jicarilla, and Chiricahua.  Several tribes, including the Chiricahua, were grouped under the name of the White Mountain Apache.  One troublesome tribe in Texas was called the Lipan Apache.  The Apache gained such a bad reputation that the French gave the name to their Parisian gangsters.

Except for some Apache in Mexico and a few Lipan with the Tonkawa and Kiowa in Oklahoma, most of them are now concentrated on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico.  The name Apache has  been given to villages in Arizona and Oklahoma and to a place, Apache Creek, in New Mexico, as well as the Apache Mountains in Texas and Apache Peak in Arizona.

Related Information within this Site
[ Cochise ][ Coyote ][ Dog ][ Geronimo ]
[ Jicarilla ][ Mescal ][ Pima ][ Prayer Sticks ]