Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Apache Wars:
Everything is inevitable if you are stubborn enough.
Quick synopsis:
A chronicle of the Apache Wars which was really a bunch of smaller wars over about 30 years.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Nickname fail: One of the main characters was half white, half Apache named…the Apache Kid.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
Nickname win: The chief of the Mimbreno Apache was named Black Knife. Badass.
My Take on The Apache Wars:
There are many philosophical questions to be asked whenever you talk about U.S./American Indian relations. Were both sides inevitably going to need to go to war? Was there a way to both coexist in a reasonable and respectful way?
Those questions will remain philosophical because of course it did not happen that way. The beginning of Apache Wars is a perfect microcosm. The Americans thought Cochise kidnapped the Apache Kid. He did not. The Americans tried to hold Cochise to get the kid back. Cochise escaped. Cochise’s people got into a standoff and took their own hostages. All hell breaks loose and people on both sides are killed. Things like this happened for decades.
Hutton does a great job taking what often seems like separate incidents and putting them in perspective of the Apache Wars. I learned a lot.
Verdict:
This is a very good book, but it is very sprawling. Buy it here!
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