Introduction
Apache refers to the Athapaskan speaking peoples of the American southwest, in the present-day states of Arizona and New Mexico.
This series will explore the critical battles, wars and movements of Apacheria.
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/apacheria
Who?
The Walapais, Yavapais, Hualapais are not Apache.
The Walapais were an adjacent tribe in the northwest of present day Arizona.
The Walapais, or Hualapais, have three important chiefs at this time; Wauba-Yuba, Sherum and Charley.
[1] The merchant William H. Hardy made a formal peace with the Hualapais for his business interests (freighting). Hardy gave Wauba-Yauba a paper ‘treaty’ to show other whites.
[2] Wauba-Yuba shows the Hardy treaty to Sam Miller, a member of the Walker Party (a rugged group of miners that found Prescott, AZ). Hardy responds by shooting Wauba-Yuba dead.
[3] Miller is arrested at Fort Whipple, near Prescott, and discharged by a grand jury with ‘a unanimous vote of thanks.’
[4] This sets off a wave of attacks - many miners are killed.
“The road from Hardyville to Prescott is lined with graves… the early miners of Mojave County waylaid while prospecting, killed at their cabins, shafts and tunnels. For a long time the miners were practically abandoned”. Thrapp. pg. 40
[5] More attacks near Fort Beals Springs by large numbers of warriors.
[6] Mail rider Charles Spencer survives an unbelievable fight in the willows.
[7] The U.S. military takes action. Three columns under Major Clendenin, Lt. Traverse and Lt. Wells move out from Fort Mohave, combing the area looking for warriors.
[1] Captain Young leads a detachment from Fort Mojave through the Cerbat range, where they camp.
[2] Young splits his forces in two. Lt. Stevenson is to head southeast to the Peacock Mountains while Young leads the other force through the Cerbat range. They are looking for Sherum peak, and Sherum’s rancheria - a village of the Walapais.
[3] Young finds Sherum rancheria, camps in a ravine, and attacks at dawn.
[4] Stevenson sees the smoke from burning dead and arrives to attack the Walapais again.
After this the Walapais flee, burning what they cannot carry.
The Walapais War ends in August 1886 after peace negotiations with Walapais Chiefs Sherum and Charley.
Related
What was happening outside Apacheria in the 1860s?
The war between the states from 1860-1865 pulled the best officers and soldiers away from the frontiers of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and other interior states east.
References
Gwynne, S. C. (2010). Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history.
Cornelius C. Smith, Jr. Fort HuaChuca The story of a frontier post.
Thrapp, D. L. (1975). The conquest of Apacheria. University of Oklahoma Press.
Worcester, D. E. (1979). The Apaches Eagles of the Southwest. University of Oklahoma Press.
Melody, M. E. (1989). The Apaches. Chelsea House Publishers.