In 1871 a band of Apache Indians surrendered to the lieutenant in temporary command of Camp Grant in the Territory of Arizona. The officer's name was Royal Emerson Whitman. The name of the leader of the Apaches was rendered by white men as Eskiminzin. Eskiminzin was chief of the Aravaipas Apaches. Camp Grant was a days ride from the small Arizona town of Tuscon. Disarmed, the Aravaipas settled for a time in a new village near Camp Grant. What followed was a brief interlude of peace between a small number of Apaches and Mexicans and Americans in Arizona.
The peace ended in disaster when Mexicans and Pima Indians, plus a handful of white man, attacked the Aravaipas village killing many Apache women and children and a few men. The period between surrendered and massacre was less than one year. The whole episode had an element of inevitability in it, which is exposed in this fine novel by Elliot Arnold. There were problems from the very beginning, since the idea accepting the surrender of an Apache band without sending them to one of the Southwest Apache reservations was unheard of. The decisions to accept the surrendered was lieutenant Whitman's alone, and in the novel he is shown to be a man very much alone. Besides resistance from his subordinates, Whitman and Eskiminzin had to deal with opposition from Eskiminzin's own subordinate leaders, and open hostility from the majority of Mexicans and Americans in Arizona, and especially the important leaders of the community of Tuscon.
This is a novelization of a real events, so all the important characters in the book are drawn from the history of 1870s Arizona and the American army in the western United States. Characters such as Jesus Maria Elias and William Oury who are major figures in the history of Tuscon. These two men even appear in other, less well done novels to give them some historical credentials. Both are presented in Arnold's novels as implacable haters of Apaches. This is made understandable since they are have suffered personal losses during the Apache wars. It is also understandable because while the Aravaipas are disarmed and at peace, other Apaches are still killing people in Arizona, even within a few mile of Tucson. Neither Mexicans or Americans is willing to distinguish between “good” Apaches and “bad” Apaches.
Also important to the story is the distant figure of General Stoneman, commander of the the American army in Arizona, who established his headquarters in California. Stoneman was a famous Civil War general, but was in the process of becoming a politician and future governor of California. He had no intention of becoming involved in the Aravaipas Apache affair and refused either to affirm or revoke lieutenant Whitman's decisions.
The central story of the novel is the growing mutual trust between Whitman and Eskiminzin. At the same time there is a gradual familiarization between soldiers and Apaches living so close to one another at Camp Grant. Mutual acceptance and in some cases friendships develop. Several interesting characters are presented among soldiers and Apaches who I assume are based on real people, including two scouts at Camp Grant, the Camp Grant doctor, Whitman's orderly, and two sub-chiefs of the Aravaipas and members of Eskiminzin's own family. At least I assume that these are real people since the Camp Grant massacre is a famous episode of American frontier history that was well documented and influenced national politics to the point of involving President Grant at one time.
Lesser know figures in the history of Tucson of 1870 also are developed in the novel. Each, through personal loss or though acceptance of the general hatred of the Apache have reason in turn to hate Whitman and the Apaches under his protection. This hate persists even though the Apaches handed over their rifles to Whitman when they first surrendered. In fact the act of disarming the Aravaipas is one of the most exciting and tense events in the novel and in the early development of a trusting relationship between Whitman and Eskiminzin and the Aravaipas.
An important secondary theme of the novel is the antagonism between Mexicans and Americans in the American Southwest, taken from Mexico less than only a generation before the events recounted in The Camp Grant Massacre. This antagonism is redirected towards the Apaches, since there is no way that Arizona is going to be anything other than American in the future. Some of the greatest hatred for the Apaches is displayed by the Mexicans of Tucson who have a history of violent warfare long predating the American conquest of the Southwest and the gradual movement of Americans into Arizona. And of course, as the story moves towards its violent conclusion, the Pima Indians, who themselves have been at war with the Apache for many years, are eager recruits to the small army made up mostly of Mexicans gathered to attack the peaceful Aravaipas village.
The events leading up the massacre are contingent on a few unlucky events, including the movement of the Aravaipas village several miles away from Camp Grant to gather water from a small stream which goes dry near the Camp during late summer. In the aftermath of the massacre there is an investigation, but a court in Tucson is unwilling to take any legal action against those who they believed did them a service by killing Apaches, peaceful or not.
An excellent novel with a worthwhile story, interesting characters both good and bad, and fine evocation of the Arizona frontier during the Apache wars.
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