| The Great Chiricahua Apache Chief had always gotten along well with the white man, up until 1861 when am Arizona rancehr's son was kidnapped, and an army lieutenant named George Bascom wrongfully accused Cochise of the crime. Cochise and his family were taken prisoner and held as hostages in return for the kidnapped boy. Cochise escaped custody and took several white hostages, holding them as bartar for the release of his own family members. The army rejected Cochise's offer and so Cochise murdered his prisoners. In return, the army hanged the Chief's brother and two of his nephews. A furious Cochise turned his warriors loose against the settlers of the Southwest, bringing an uproar of hit and run war that lasted eleven years. During this time frame the army was forced to withdraw many of it's men due to the Civil War, which left Cochise free to continue burning down ranch homes and killing over 150 people. Finally a man named Thomas Jeffords entered the picture. He was the superintendent of mail which ran between Tuscon Arizona and Fort Bowie. He was enraged that fourteen of his mail drivers had been killed by Apaches within a sixteen month time period, but he wanted to meet with the angry Chief to come to some type of agreement. The brave Jeffords rode one day alone into Apache Country, the warriors were so surprised, that they allowed him to pass unharmed. Jeffords dismounted, dropped his six shooter and rifle, and calmly asked to speak with the great Chief. The two men spoke honestly and frankly, and soon they became great friends. Jeffords spent two days with Cochise, and the great Apache never killed another of Jefford's mail drivers. At the end of the Civil War, strong forces were sent out against Cochise, but he fought fiercely and bravely. In 1871, the massacre of more than 100 unarmed Apaches by a mob of white men brought new demands. A man named General Oliver O Howard decided to try and win the confidence of Thomas Jeffords, and Jeffords arranged a meting between the great Chief Cochise and General Howard. The men met, and Cochise agreed to end the fighting and live out his days on the reservation, with the terms that Tom Jeffords be made the indian agent. The agreement was met, and Cochise kept his promise. Jeffords was with the great Chief when he died in 1874 at the Chiricahua Apache reservation in New Mexico. |
