Apache Kid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Apache Kid
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| Born |
Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl
c. 1860 San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico Territory, United States
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| Died | Unknown, possibly September 1894/January 1930 |
| Other names | Apache Kid |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ |
United States Army |
| Years of service | 1881–1887 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | United States Army Indian Scouts |
| Battles/wars | Apache Wars Battle of Cibecue Creek Crawford affair Geronimo Campaign Kelvin Grade massacre |
Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl (born around 1860 – disappeared after 1894), known as the Apache Kid, was an important figure in the American Southwest. He was born in Aravaipa Canyon, which is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the San Carlos Agency. His family belonged to the Aravaipa Apache, a group within the San Carlos Apache.
The Apache Kid was a skilled scout for the U.S. Army. Later, he became a well-known "renegade," meaning he lived outside the law. He was active in the border areas of Arizona and New Mexico in the late 1800s and possibly into the early 1900s.
His exact birth date is not known, but it is thought to be in the 1860s. Many believe he died in 1894. However, some ranchers in New Mexico claimed he was alive until the 1930s. The Apache Kid Wilderness in New Mexico is named after him. A character in Marvel Comics also uses his name, but they are not connected to the real Apache Kid.
Contents
Early Life and Army Service
When Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl was a boy, he was captured by Yuma Indians. After the U.S. Army freed him, he grew up around army camps. In the mid-1870s, as a teenager, he met Al Sieber, who was the Chief of the Army Scouts. Sieber took him in and became like a father figure.
In 1881, the Apache Kid joined the U.S. Cavalry as an Indian scout. This program was started by General George Crook. Its goal was to help stop raids by other Apache groups. By July 1882, the Apache Kid was promoted to sergeant because he was very good at his job. He then went with General Crook on a trip into the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains.
For the next few years, he worked as a scout in Arizona and northern Mexico. In 1885, he was involved in a fight. To keep him safe from Mexican authorities, Sieber sent him back north.
The Apache Kid was the son of Togodechuz, a chief of an Aravaipa Apache group. He also married into another important family. His wife was possibly Nahthledeztelth, the daughter of Chief Eskiminzin. This gave him a high social standing early in his life.
Trouble and Escapes
In May 1887, Al Sieber and other army officers left the San Carlos post. The Apache Kid was left in charge of the scouts. The scouts decided to have a party. During the party, a fight broke out between a scout named Gon-Zizzie and the Kid's father, Togo-de-Chuz. The Kid's father was killed in the fight. In response, the Kid's friends killed Gon-Zizzie. The Kid also killed Gon-Zizzie's brother, Rip.
On June 1, 1887, Sieber and Lt. John Pierce returned. They told the scouts involved to give up their weapons and be arrested. The Kid and the others agreed. But then, a shot was fired from the crowd watching. More shots followed, and Sieber was hit in the ankle. In the confusion, the Apache Kid and several others ran away.
The army quickly sent soldiers to chase them. The Kid and his followers avoided the soldiers. They also received help from other Apaches who supported them. The Kid then contacted the army. He said he would surrender if the soldiers were called back. The army agreed, and he surrendered on June 25, 1887.
The Apache Kid and four others faced a military trial. They were found guilty of disobeying orders and leaving without permission. They were first sentenced to death, but this was changed to life in prison. General Nelson A. Miles then reduced the sentence even more, to ten years in prison.
The prisoners were sent to Alcatraz. They stayed there until their convictions were overturned in October 1888. They were set free. However, in October 1889, new arrest warrants were issued. The Apache Kid was on the run again. He and the others were arrested once more. This time, they were sentenced to seven years in prison.
The Kelvin Grade Incident
The prisoners were being moved from Globe, Arizona, to another prison. On November 2, 1889, nine prisoners, including the Apache Kid, escaped. They overpowered two guards, Sheriffs Glenn Reynolds and William A. Holmes, and a stagecoach driver, Eugene Middleton.
During the escape, there was a struggle where the guards were injured. Glenn Reynolds was shot, and William A. Holmes died. The stagecoach driver, Eugene Middleton, was also shot but survived. Middleton later said that the Apache Kid had saved his life by stopping others from killing him. Middleton believed the Kid spared him because he had offered the Kid a cigarette earlier. The prisoners escaped into the desert.
Soldiers, lawmen, and bounty hunters searched for the escapees for months. All of them were eventually caught, except for the Apache Kid.
Disappearance and Legends
For many years after his escape, people reported seeing the Apache Kid. However, none of these sightings were ever confirmed. The Kid was blamed for various crimes, including murder, but there was never any strong proof that he was involved. He seemed to have simply vanished.
In 1890, during a shootout between Apache renegades and Mexican soldiers, a warrior was killed. This warrior had a watch and pistol that belonged to Glenn Reynolds, one of the guards from the Kelvin Grade incident. However, this warrior was said to be too old to be the Apache Kid.
The last reported crimes linked to the Kid were in 1894. In the San Mateo Mountains of New Mexico, a rancher named Charles Anderson and his cowboys killed an Apache who was stealing cattle. They identified him as the Apache Kid, but this identification is also questioned.
After this, the Apache Kid became a legend. In 1896, John Horton Slaughter claimed he had killed the Apache Kid in Mexico. In 1899, a Mexican officer, Colonel Emilio Kosterlitzky, reported that the Kid was alive and living among Apaches in the mountains. This was never confirmed.
A book called Cow Dust and Saddle Leather (1968) by Ben Camp describes how a posse claimed to have killed the Apache Kid in 1907. The book mentions that a wounded Apache woman, who was captured, confirmed her husband, the Apache Kid, had been killed. She was returned to the Mescalero Apache tribe, and her two children were taken in by the tribe.
Legacy
Even into the 1920s, cattle ranchers sometimes reported cattle theft. They often claimed the Apache Kid was leading these thefts. But these claims were never confirmed. Authorities eventually stopped believing the Kid was involved, as he was widely thought to be dead from a gunshot or sickness.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, who later created the Tarzan stories, was a member of the 7th U.S. Cavalry. He was with them when they were searching for the Apache Kid in Arizona in 1896.
Today, there is a marker near Apache Kid Peak in the San Mateo Mountains. It marks a spot where the Anderson posse claimed to have killed the Kid in 1894.
Kenneth Alton played the Apache Kid in a 1955 TV episode of Stories of the Century.
See also
In Spanish: Apache Kid para niños
- List of fugitives from justice who disappeared
Images for kids
