Lozen facts for kids

Portrait of Lozen

Lozen (born around 1840, died June 17, 1889) was an amazing warrior and a spiritual leader of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache people. She was the sister of Victorio, a very important chief. Legends say Lozen had special powers. She could use these powers in battles to figure out where the enemy was moving. James Kaywaykla, who knew her, remembered Victorio introducing her to Nana. Victorio said, "Lozen is my right hand... strong as a man, braver than most, and smart in planning. Lozen protects her people."

Lozen: A Brave Apache Warrior

In the 1870s, Victorio and his Apache group were forced to live on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Conditions there were very difficult. Around 1877, Victorio and his followers left the reservation. They began fighting and raiding, always trying to avoid being caught by the military. Lozen fought bravely alongside Victorio. They stood up against Americans who had taken their homeland near Black Mountain in western New Mexico.

Crossing the Rio Grande River

As Victorio's group ran from American forces during Victorio's War (1879-1881), Lozen showed incredible courage. She inspired women and children, who were scared, to cross the fast-moving Rio Grande river. James Kaywaykla, who was a child at the time, remembered seeing her. "I saw a wonderful woman on a beautiful horse—Lozen, Victorio's sister! Lozen the woman warrior!" he said. "She held her rifle high. Her right foot hit her horse's shoulder. The horse stood up, then jumped into the strong river. She turned its head upstream, and it started swimming."

Right away, the other women and children followed her into the powerful river. When they reached the other side, cold but safe, Lozen went to Kaywaykla's mother, Gouyen. "You take charge now," she told her. "I must go back to the warriors." The warriors were protecting their families from the approaching cavalry. Lozen rode her horse back across the wild river to rejoin her comrades.

Kaywaykla also said, "She could ride, shoot, and fight like a man. I think she was better at planning military moves than Victorio." Victorio himself said, "I depend on Lozen as much as I depend on Nana" (who was the oldest leader of the group).

Lozen's Journey to Help Others

Later in Victorio's campaign, Lozen left the group for a special mission. She went to help a new mother and her newborn baby. She needed to escort them across the Chihuahuan Desert from Mexico to the Mescalero Apache Reservation. This was to keep them safe from the hard life on the trail.

Lozen had only a rifle, a belt with bullets, a knife, and enough food for three days. She started this dangerous journey with the mother and child. They traveled through areas where Mexican and U.S. Cavalry forces were present. At one point, she was afraid a gunshot would give away their location. So, she used her knife to kill a longhorn cow for meat.

She bravely stole a Mexican cavalry horse for the new mother, escaping while bullets flew around her. Then, she stole a vaquero's horse for herself, disappearing before he could chase her. She also got a soldier's saddle, rifle, ammunition, blanket, canteen, and even his shirt. Finally, she delivered the mother and child safely to the reservation.

While there, she learned terrible news. Mexican and Tarahumara Indian forces, led by Mexican commander Joaquin Terrazas, had killed Victorio and most of his warriors. This happened in the Battle of Tres Castillos, fought on three rocky hills in northeastern Chihuahua.

Lozen in the Final Apache Wars

Knowing the survivors would need her, Lozen immediately left the Mescalero Reservation. She rode alone southwest across the desert. She skillfully avoided U.S. and Mexican military patrols. She rejoined the group, which had lost many warriors, in the Sierra Madre mountains (in northwestern Chihuahua). The group was now led by the 74-year-old Nana.

Lozen also fought alongside Geronimo after he escaped from the San Carlos reservation in 1885. This was during the last part of the Apache wars. As the group was constantly chased, Lozen used her special power to find their enemies—the U.S. and Mexican cavalries. According to Alexander B. Adams, in his book Geronimo, "she would stand with her arms outstretched, say a prayer to Ussen, the Apaches' main god, and slowly turn around." Lozen's prayer is written in Eve Ball's book In the Days of Victorio:

Upon this earth
On which we live
Ussen has Power
This Power is mine
For locating the enemy.
I search for that Enemy
Which only Ussen the Great
Can show to me.

The End of the Apache Wars

Laura Jane Moore's book Sifters, Native American Women's Lives explains what happened next. In 1885, Geronimo and Naiche left their reservation with 140 followers, including Lozen. This happened after rumors spread that their leaders would be sent to Alcatraz Island. Lozen and another woman warrior, Dahteste, started talking about peace agreements. One agreement was that the Apache leaders would be held for two years and then set free. However, the American leaders did not accept this. Lozen and Dahteste kept trying to negotiate. The Apache rebels thought they were strong, but then they found out that all the Chiricahuas had been gathered up and sent to Florida. To be with their families, the Apache warriors had to go east. They agreed to surrender and put down their weapons. Five days later, they were on a train going to Florida.

Lozen was taken by the U.S. military after Geronimo's final surrender. She traveled as a prisoner of war to Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama. Like many other Apache warriors held captive, she died there due to illness on June 17, 1889.

Lozen in Books and Stories

• Lozen is an important character in the book The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden, written by Robert J. Avrech.

Novels Featuring Lozen

• Lucia St. Clair Robson wrote Ghost Warrior in 2016, which includes Lozen.

See also

In Spanish: Lozen para niños