Download PDFContents
Context
Mangas Coloradas was killed in January of 1863 at the height of the U.S. Civil War, when Union troops were being pulled south to fight the Confederacy, leaving little to no military presence in Arizona and New Mexico (Hunt viii). In order to combat what the U.S. government viewed as the growing “Indian problem,” volunteer infantries were formed from the settlers in California (Hunt viv). These colonists were generally miners who travelled west to strike it rich in the gold rush, and they resented the local Native populations who were blamed for the miners’ failures.
An important ontological view held by Apaches was that gold was sacred and not to be touched (Ball, In the Days of Victorio 46). Mining, therefore, was an abhorrent practice to them, and Apaches had been trying their best for many years to sabotage mining efforts in the Arizona/New Mexico area (Hutton 4). One such incident came to a head in 1837, when Mexican miners at the Santa Rita mines noticed missing supplies and blamed the local Apaches. The miners hired a man named John Johnson to stop the theft, and Johnson called for a feast with the Apaches in the area. When they had gathered around the table, Johnson shot at them with a concealed cannon while miners pulled out guns and joined in attacking the unarmed Apaches. Many Apaches were massacred, and in retaliation the Apaches cut off all supplies to the mine by ambushing wagons (McClintock 174-76).
This massacre is thought to have fueled Coloradas’ intense hatred for Mexicans, and he went on to lead several raids against them in revenge for the Apache deaths (Sweeny, Mangas Coloradas 72). These revenge raids earned him the name “Mangas Coloradas” which is a Spanish translation for “red sleeves,” supposedly from the blood on his arms after killing so many Mexicans (73). While Native American bands typically acted independently from one another, they would occasionally unite under a strong leader, like Coloradas, to increase military strength. These attacks earned Coloradas great respect among Apaches, and this was when he was first able to bring multiple bands of Apaches together.
After enacting revenge for the Johnson massacre, Coloradas kept his political influence by marrying his daughters to different Apache chiefs to form alliances (McClintock 173). The actual number of bands he united is disputed, but he was still generally considered to be the “undisputed Apache leader throughout eastern Apacheria” (McClintock 173). This made Coloradas a prime target for the U.S. military who believed that killing him might subdue all Apaches in the area, as it had for Indians in other parts of the U.S. who were less aggressive toward colonial Americans (Hutton), freeing up the area to mine for gold that was desperately needed to fund the Civil War. Ironically, Coloradas was a huge proponent of peace with colonial Americans, as he believed an alliance with them could aid him in driving out the Mexicans, whom he hated much more than the U.S. settlers (Sweeny, Mangas Coloradas xv).
Towards the end of his life Coloradas advocated even more strongly for peace, sending messages to Brigadier General Henry Carleton asking to meet. Carleton, however, was not convinced, saying “Mangus Colorado [sic] sends me word he wants peace, but I have no faith in him” (Carleton to West, The War of the Rebellion 147-48). He claimed disbelief in Coloradas’s true intentions, insisting that Coloradas was likely to go back on any arrangement they made. This is supposedly why he ignored Coloradas’s requests for peace talks and what spurred him to start an expedition against Coloradas, as outlined below in General Order #1:
Brigadier General West … will immediately organize a suitable expedition to chastise what is known as Mangus Colorado’s [sic] band of Gila Apaches. The campaign must be a vigorous one, and the punishment of that band of murderers and others must be thorough and sharp. (Hunt 64)
While his mistrust could have been genuine, it is important to note that Carleton had a vested interest in Coloradas’s removal from the area as an officer in the U.S. military, which was in desperate need of the gold in the area to fund the war. In a letter written to the Adjutant General, Lorenzo Thomas, just a few days before the issuance of General Order 1, Carleton discussed the future possibilities for the area, saying:
I shall organize and send into the country around the headwaters of the Gila an expedition to punish, for their frequent and recent murders and depredations, the band of Apaches which infest that region. The Pino [sic] Alto gold mines can then be worked with security. From all I can learn that is one of the richest auriferous countries in the world; one whose development will tend greatly to the prosperity of this Territory. Should I be so successful as to whip those Indians, I propose at once to establish a military post near the Pino [sic] Alto mines. (Carleton to Thomas, The War of the Rebellion 275)
Carleton’s end goal in this region was clearly to obtain access to the Pinos Altos gold mines for the U.S. military. At best, this campaign intended to aggressively confront Coloradas, weakening his band of Apaches enough that they could not stop the military from mining. At worst, Carleton intended for West to kill Coloradas and may have even pushed West towards this outcome so that the military could utilize the mines and establish a military post in the area.
Carleton’s statements that he will “punish” and “whip those Indians” are vague as to his specific plan but are likely said with the intention of killing Gila Apaches to enforce this punishment and could easily have been interpreted that way by his readers. As Mangas Coloradas was currently being given the “primary attentions of the troops” (Myers 2) as the leader of the Apache, and as the primary factor inhibiting mining in Pinos Altos (in their minds), Carleton’s claim that after this expedition, “The Pino [sic] Altos mines can then be worked with security” implies that his plan includes either Coloradas’ capture or his murder. Either way, meeting to talk peacefully with Coloradas never appeared to be a serious option for Carleton. This calls into question the credibility of certain narratives discussed later, which mention peace talks or claim that Coloradas had expressed no desire for peace talks.