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SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES
TRIBAL PASSAGES Regina McLemore FEATURES WRITER
The Cochise of Cochise County The Legacy of the Man Who Gave Cochise County its Name.
T
ombstone, once the capital of Cochise County, was called the “condensation of wickedness,” by physician, surgeon, and gunshot expert, Dr. Edwin Goodfellow. He had the evidence to back up his statement, having stitched-up and operated on many gunshot victims during his lengthy tenure in Tombstone. The county’s namesake, a chief of the Chiricahua Apache, Cochise, would have probably agreed with Goodfellow. Cochise, born in 1805 on land claimed by Spain, yearned for the simple life of his childhood. He once said, “When I was young, I walked all over this country, east and west, and saw no other people than the Apache.” Historians, such as Angie Debo, relate that Cochise tried diplomacy in the beginning of his relationship with the United States government. He kept his pledge to permit the Butterfield Overland Mail to cross through his territory, unchallenged. He even sold wood to the stage station at the gateway to Apache Pass. Matters changed abruptly in 1861 when Felix Martinez Ward— a.k.a. Mickey Free—a half-Irish/ half-Mexican twelve-year-old, was kidnapped by an Apache band. Cochise was asked to come to where a young, inexperienced
cavalry officer, Lieutenant George Bascom, was camped. He had been charged with investigating the kidnapping, and his chief suspect was Cochise. When Cochise denied any knowledge of the kidnapping, he and his companions were arrested. Bascom told Cochise they would be held as hostages until the boy was returned. Cutting their prison tent, Cochise
and three of his men escaped and returned to their village. Cochise ordered Geronimo to attack a wagon train coming up the pass and take hostages. During the attack, Geronimo’s warriors killed six Hispanic drivers and captured three “White Eyes” (Europeans) along with two other Hispanics. The Apache tied the two Hispanics to the wheels of wagons and set the wagons on fire. Cochise sent a message to Bascom, warning him that his hostages would receive the same treatment the imprisoned Apache were given. He demanded a prisoner exchange. This was denied, and the conflict ended badly, with Cochise torturing and killing his captives and the military hanging theirs, among them, close relatives of Cochise.
While there are no photos of Cochise known to exist, Naiche, who later rode with Geronimo, is said to have closely resembled his father.
