The 500 Chiricahua Apaches from Arizona who became America’s longest-held POWs

The Chiricahua Apache’s 27-Year Prison Ordeal

The U. S. broke its word to the Chiricahua Apache in 1886. After Geronimo gave up, the Army shipped all 500 tribe members to Florida prisons, not just his fighters.

Even loyal Apache scouts who helped catch Geronimo got locked up. Families were split apart, with men sent to Fort Pickens and women and children to Fort Marion.

The hot, wet climate killed many. Others died at the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania.

For 27 long years, they moved from Florida to Alabama to Oklahoma. When finally freed in 1913, only 261 remained.

The Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona now tells their story through powerful museum exhibits that bring this dark chapter to life.

Geronimo Gave Up After Years on the Run

Geronimo and 39 followers put down their guns at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona on September 4, 1886. This ended the Apache Wars and was the last major Native American fight in the Southwest.

General Nelson Miles sent over 5,000 soldiers, 500 Apache scouts, and thousands of local fighters after Geronimo’s small group. Lt. Charles Gatewood got Geronimo to surrender by promising all Chiricahuas would go to Florida as prisoners, where they could see their families again.

Loyal Apache Scouts Got Stabbed in the Back

Chatto and about a dozen other Apache scouts who helped the Army went to Washington in summer 1886. They met President Grover Cleveland, who gave Chatto a silver medal for tracking Geronimo.

On their way home, soldiers grabbed the whole group at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These scouts changed from honored friends to prisoners in just days.

The government locked them up with the same “enemies” they had risked their lives to catch.

Trains Carried 500 Apaches to Florida Prison

The U. S. government sent all 500 remaining Chiricahua Apaches to Florida prisons in September 1886. This group included not just Geronimo’s fighters but also peaceful Chiricahuas who stayed on reservations.

By November 7, 1886, 498 Chiricahuas reached Florida: 99 men and 399 women and children.

Their train trip was awful, with windows nailed shut, buckets for toilets, and stops where crowds came to stare at them.

The Army Split Families Apart as Punishment

Seventeen warriors including Geronimo went to Fort Pickens near Pensacola. The other 481 Chiricahuas (mostly women, children, and older men) ended up at Fort Marion in St. Augustine. The government kept families apart on purpose to punish them.

Fathers couldn’t see their wives and children for months. In April 1887, after much suffering, families of Fort Pickens prisoners finally got permission to join them.

Kids Died at Boarding School Far From Home

Army officials sent 112 Apache boys and girls to Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania by December 1889. The shock of being taken away and the unfamiliar weather made these children sick.

Thirty Apache children died from tuberculosis at Carlisle by 1889, including chief Chatto’s sons. Parents in Alabama started hiding their children to keep them from going to the deadly school.

Florida’s Humidity Killed Desert-Adapted People

The wet Florida climate proved deadly for Apaches used to dry desert air. They caught malaria and tuberculosis at high rates.

Fort Marion stuffed 502 Apaches into a space meant for 150 prisoners. Soldiers made Apaches eat fish despite their beliefs against it.

Two brave warriors named Gray Lizard and Massai escaped and somehow walked 1,200 miles back to their homeland.

Alabama Brought No Relief From Suffering

All Chiricahua prisoners moved to Mount Vernon Barracks near Mobile, Alabama in 1887-1888. The tall forests felt as strange to the desert Apaches as Florida had.

Geronimo and the Fort Pickens prisoners finally saw their families again in Alabama in May 1888. Sickness kept spreading among the people in the damp Southern climate, killing more each month.

The Tribe Shrank as Years of Captivity Dragged On

Apache numbers dropped from 500 at war’s end to only 261 survivors by 1913. Government officials said no to many plans to move the Apaches to better Western lands.

President Theodore Roosevelt met with Geronimo in 1905 but told him Arizona settlers still felt too much anger to let them return.

Geronimo became a tourist attraction, shown at fairs while still a prisoner until his death.

Oklahoma Brought Better Climate But Still Prison

Congress let the surviving Chiricahuas move to Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1894. The Oklahoma weather suited the desert people better than the humid South.

General Nelson Miles promised them this would be their permanent home, though they stayed prisoners of war.

Many second-generation Apaches had been born in captivity by this time and knew nothing of freedom or their ancestral lands.

People Started Fighting for Apache Freedom

Lawmakers brought bills to Congress to free the Chiricahuas and move them to New Mexico in 1912. New Mexico politicians fought the plan to protect non-Indian grazing rights on the Mescalero Reservation.

Activists pointed out how ridiculous it was to keep imprisoning children and grandchildren of the original “hostiles. ” Some Apaches had been born, grown up, and reached adulthood knowing only life as prisoners of war.

Freedom Came After 27 Years Behind Bars

Congress finally freed the Chiricahuas on April 2, 1913, after 27 years as prisoners. Of the 261 survivors, 187 chose to move to the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico.

The other 74 stayed in Oklahoma, where they got individual land allotments.

The once-mighty tribe had shrunk from 1,200 during Chief Cochise’s time to just 261 people at their release, victims of the longest imprisonment of any Native American tribe in U. S. history.

Visiting Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona

Chiricahua National Monument is free to visit at 12856 E Rhyolite Creek Road in Willcox.

The visitor center opens 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM daily with exhibits about the forced removal of 500 Chiricahua Apache people who were imprisoned for 27 years. Free shuttles run to trailheads Thursday-Sunday at 9 AM.

Drive the 8-mile Bonita Canyon Scenic Drive to Massai Point for views. Camping costs $25 per night with reservations.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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