Pas-Lau-Tau facts for kids

Pas-Lau-Tau, who also went by "Pash-ten-tah" and "Bach-e-on-nal," was an Apache army scout in the 1800s. He passed away in March 1890. He is mostly known for being a friend and partner of the famous Apache Kid.

Pas-Lau-Tau's Early Life

When and where Pas-Lau-Tau was born is not known. He probably came from the San Carlos Reservation. He had a brother who later became known as Paul Patton. We don't know exactly when Pas-Lau-Tau joined the United States Army as a scout.

Adventures with the Apache Kid

Pas-Lau-Tau was a close friend of Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl, an Apache scout for the U.S. Army. Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl was better known as the "Apache Kid."

The San Carlos Firefight

In 1887, the Apache Kid was in charge at Fort Apache. His father was killed by another scout named Gon-zizzie. The Kid and some friends, including Pas-Lau-Tau, left their posts for five days. They wanted to find and kill Gon-zizzie and his brother, Rip.

On June 1, 1887, Pas-Lau-Tau joined the Kid and a few others at the San Carlos Reservation. They planned to turn themselves in for the killings. Captain Francis C. Pierce told them to go to the San Carlos guardhouse. Another scout, Antonio Diaz, made the captain's orders sound worse. He threatened that the whole group would be sent to Florida as prisoners.

Instead of giving up, one of the Kid's friends fired a shot. This started a short gunfight. The group then ran away from the reservation. Two cavalry companies chased them until nightfall. During the fight, a white scout named Al Sieber was shot in the ankle. Some people said the Kid shot Sieber, but Sieber himself said this was not true because both of them were unarmed.

Pas-Lau-Tau and the Kid's group followed the San Pedro River. They went almost to the U.S.-Mexico border. But then they turned back. On June 22, five of them gave up to the U.S. forces. They were put on trial by a military court. All of them were found guilty of leaving their posts and refusing orders. They were sentenced to death. However, General Nelson A. Miles changed their sentence to ten years in prison.

They were sent to Fort Alcatraz prison. They stayed there for sixteen months. Then, on October 29, 1888, Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott let them go. He did this because the jury might have been unfair, the sentences were very harsh, and it seemed that Diaz had caused the trouble. Four of the five prisoners, including Pas-Lau-Tau, went back to San Carlos. The 10th Cavalry Regiment band welcomed them back.

The Kelvin Grade Incident

Friends of Al Sieber were very angry that Pas-Lau-Tau and the others were set free. They wanted them to be tried again in a regular court. A ruling in 1888 by the Supreme Court of the United States said that courts in Arizona could try Apache people for serious crimes.

Even though it was unclear if this ruling applied to them, people pushed for the men to be retried. Pas-Lau-Tau and Say-es were arrested on October 14, 1889, by Captain John Bullis and Sieber. The Kid was arrested a few days later. During the trial, Pas-Lau-Tau called himself "Bach-e-on-al," but he was tried as "Pash-ten-tah." They were retried for the attack on Sieber. On October 23, they were sentenced to seven years in the Yuma Territorial Prison. Around this time, the only known photos of Pas-Lau-Tau and his friends were taken.

After their convictions, the four men were to be taken to Yuma. They traveled in a stagecoach driven by Eugene Middleton and guarded by Sheriff Glenn Reynolds. Reynolds asked William A. "Hunkydory" Holmes to help him. Sieber wanted to send his scouts along, but Reynolds refused. He reportedly said, "I don't need your scouts, I can take those Indians alone with a corn-cob and a lightning bug." Another prisoner, Jesus Avott, was also going to Yuma for horse theft.

The Escape

On November 1, 1889, they left Globe for Casa Grande. They stopped overnight at Riverside Station in Kelvin. The next day, they would catch a train to the prison. On the way, Holmes read some of his poems to the prisoners.

Around dawn on November 2, they reached a sandy hill in the Tortilla Mountains called the "Kelvin Grade". Seven people, including Pas-Lau-Tau, Avott, three other prisoners, and the two guards, had to get out. This helped the wagon get up the hill. Two prisoners, including the Kid, stayed inside. The prisoners were handcuffed in pairs and walked behind the wagon. They soon lost sight of it.

In what became known as the "Kelvin Grade massacre", Pas-Lau-Tau and another prisoner overpowered Holmes. The other two prisoners did the same to Reynolds. Pas-Lau-Tau took the keys from Reynolds's pocket and freed the others. Avott, who was not part of the group, ran ahead to warn Middleton that the guards were dead. Middleton pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the Kid. Pas-Lau-Tau quickly reached the wagon from the other side. When Middleton looked at the rifle, he was shot through the mouth and neck. He fell to the ground, alive but unable to move. The group took his overcoat, let the horses go, and ran away to the east. They had the rifles and revolvers they took from the guards.

Avott went to Florence to get help for Middleton. Because of this, he was later pardoned for his crime. However, Middleton started walking down the road before Avott returned. He met Shorty Saylor, another coach driver, who rode to Globe using Reynolds's horse. Saylor sent a message to Sieber about the escape. Sieber put together a team of twenty people led by Lieutenant James Waterman Watson to search for the escaped prisoners. Soldiers from every army post in Arizona joined the search. But a snowstorm at Kelvin Grade soon after the escape covered the tracks, making it impossible to follow them.

Pas-Lau-Tau was seen with the Kid on the San Carlos River on November 5, but they could not be caught. The same day, it was found that both men's wives were missing. A reward of $500 was offered for anyone who could capture one or more of the escapees.

Becoming a Bronco Apache

The group of escapees started raiding settlements to survive. A $6,000 reward was offered for their leader, "dead or alive." Many army officers were ordered to patrol the area to kill or capture the outlaws, but they failed.

At that time, the area was home to the bronco Apache. These were Chiricahua people who had moved south of the U.S.-Mexico border to avoid being caught by the United States. In 1886, a group of Chiricahua warriors left the army led by Geronimo. They refused to make peace with the U.S. Army and joined the bronco Apache. The bronco Apache stayed in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains for many years. They raided on both sides of the border and never gave up. Pas-Lau-Tau and the other escapees joined the bronco Apache.

Pas-Lau-Tau's Death

As the group of outlaws continued to raid the countryside, an army group led by Lieutenant James Waterman Watson and some Apache scouts tracked Pas-Lau-Tau and the others to a camp on the Salt River. The group ran to the Gila River and fought with the soldiers on March 7 or 11, 1890. Hale and two others were killed in the battle.

Pas-Lau-Tau survived the fighting but was badly wounded. He was shot by a bullet fired by Sergeant of Scouts Rowdy. Rowdy later received the Medal of Honor for his bravery in this battle. Pas-Lau-Tau died from his injuries sometime after the fight ended. The Apache Kid was there during the gunfight but escaped. People continued to report seeing him until 1899, but he was never captured.

Some stories from that time say that Captain Carter Johnson also claimed to have killed Pas-Lau-Tau. He said he did it in a July 1890 battle against five Apache soldiers, including Say-es, near Gila Peak and Ash Creek. Later versions of this story suggest it was another Kelvin Grade escapee, El-cahn, who was killed. The historian Jess G. Hayes later suggested the Gila River battle actually happened in May 1890.