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Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches As an interested reader and student of Apache history, I couldn't pass up reading the reviews on books by Dan L. Thrapp. One that caught my attention was that written by Kosto Barry Granlund of New York. Where is this guy coming from? Dan Thrapp's works are a MUST for anyone interested in a solid understanding of the Apaches and their wars. Mr. Granlund's diatribe is without basis and so off the mark that it is not worth discussing. For an accurate assessment, one must read Ed Sweeney's balanced response. Dan Thrapp broke new ground and set the standard in researching the Indian wars. In doing so, he spawned a new generation of researcher/writers who will readily acknowledge the man's greatness. Dan Thrapp not only wrote about Apaches, but also compiled and authored the highly touted and indispensable four-volume, Encyclopedia Of Frontier Biography. I highly recommend all of Mr. Thrapp's books. Classic biography of a great Apache chief Dan Thrapp, who passed away in 1994, remains the preeminent Apache historian of the twentieth century. The former religious editor of the Los Angeles Times, Dan became interested in the American West, particularly the Apaches, in the early 1950s. He faced a daunting challenge. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Apache story had not been told. What was known looked like a puzzle with its frame formed but without the interlocking pieces. Thrapp quickly realized there was a treasure chest of unpublished material from Western historical societies and the National Archives that no one had mined. The fruits of this research led to books that advanced our knowledge by light years over what had been written: Al Sieber: Chief of Scouts (1964), Conquest of Apacheria, (1967), and Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches, (1974). These peerless works provided interested readers with new information about the Apaches' struggle to survive against overwhelming odds. And, although in print for over forty years, each has stood the test of time. Dan Thrapp was honest and objective about the frontier characters whom he wrote about-whether Indian, American, or Mexican. Ethnicity did not matter. He sympathized with Apaches who fought to preserve their cultural identity and ancestral homelands. And he was partial to men of integrity and honor. He was not an Apache "wanna-be," though he obviously admired many of the Chiricahua Apache leaders during the period he wrote about. He clearly respected Cochise, Victorio, and Juh; he had little respect, however, for Geronimo, who has become the symbolic leader of the small band that surrendered in 1886. He made no apologies for his opinion. One critic sites Dan's treatment of Geronimo to disparage his entire body of works. He claims that comments made by Asa Daklugie, a relative of Geronimo, who was the main source of Eve Ball in her book Indeh, as proof that the Chiricahuas take issue with Thrapp's view of Geronimo. Yet Asa Daklugie does not speak for all Chiricahuas in his remarks that glorify and exaggerate Geronimo's skills, and influence. In fact, the majority of those Apaches who knew and rode with Geronimo did not share Daklugie's sentiments. Many blamed him for their twenty-eight years as Prisoners-of-War. It might be appropriate to point out that Morris Opler, the foremost Apache anthropologist of the twentieth century, agreed wholeheartedly with Thrapp. Opler had interviewed two hundred Chiricahuas on the Mescalero Reservation in the early 1930s. Of these, many had served as scouts against Geronimo during the final outbreak, and thus had little sympathy for him. Opler concluded that "no Chiricahua of his general age group who had been in engagements with him, represented him to me as a particularly able or effective fighter." In an article that Opler published in 1948, he expanded on his feelings: "Geronimo was not a tribal chief or leader. Moreover, he was not a particularly outstanding warrior." Two of Opler's principal informants were Perico (Geronimo's second cousin who was with him at the final surrender) and Chatto. Perico is quoted as saying that "he and the other warriors did all the fighting while Geronimo stayed behind." And Chatto, who led the Chiricahua scouts against Geronimo in the 1885-86 campaign, said: "I have known Geronimo my whole life and I can't say anything good about him." Even Chihuahua and Ulzana, two fearless Chiricahua warriors, had vowed to kill Geronimo because he "had told (us) so many lies" to persuade them to leave the reservation in the final outbreak. Geronimo avoided their wrath by fleeing before they got to his camp. Lt. Britton Davis, the Chiricahuas' agent in 1884-85, saw Geronimo often during this time. He characterized him as a "thoroughly vicious, intractable, and treacherous man. His only redeeming traits were courage and determination. His word, no matter how earnestly pledged, was worthless." Here we have the opinions of the foremost Apache anthropologist, the American military officer who knew Geronimo the best, and the statements of four prominent Chiricahuas of the 1880s (associates of Geronimo) who agreed completely with Dan Thrapp. Their views certainly deserve the same consideration as Daklugie, who was a teenager at the time of the last outbreak. He was with Geronimo for less than three of the eighteen months of hostilities. Daklugie was too young to have fought during the Apache Wars. During the reservation years, he was not a chief in the traditional manner and never had much of a following. Like all of Dan Thrapp's books, Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches is a well researched study of one of America's greatest Native American leader--Victorio. In 1877 Apache Indian Agent John Clum removed Victorio and his people from their ancestral homelands in New Mexico to the barren San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Victorio vowed to return to his country as soon as possible. He made good on that vow, then waged a guerrilla war against Americans and Mexicans while the government debated setting aside a reservation in Victorio's homeland. Unfortunately for all concerned, the bureaucracy in Washington had no idea what was best for the Apaches. Thrapp recites the forces and events that drove Victorio to fight for a reservation in his country. Though he tells the story from both sides, he clearly sympathizes with Victorio as he faced the challenges, obstacles, and forces that eventually drove him to his fate. This is one of the finest biographies of an Indian leader. Ed Sweeney, author of Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief, and Mangas Coloradas: Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches. Classic Works I have all of Dan Thrapp's books in hardcover, purchasing them as they were published, yes I'm that old. I'm not going to go into any depth on this at all, but I refuse to accept the opinion of one reviewer after reading a few books setting himself up as the know-it-all where the field of study in the Apache is concerned. The books from Mr. Thrapp were mainly published by the University of Oklahoma, a very distinguished university and one of the oldest publishing institutions on the western plains. By stating that Mr. Thrapp writes "trash" that also states that the U of Ok publishes trash. That is not the case and never has been the case. For a self opinionated review such as the one below, it would appear the more he reads, the less he truly understands. When discussing Geronimo one needs to recall: he was a destroyer, a warrior, he never built anything for his people; and eventually General Crook refused to deal with him, having had enough of Geronimo's bad faith lies. Even the great chief Cochise chased Geronimo away all due to Geronimo's intransigence. Another legacy from Geronimo to his people was causing them to be shipped in mass to Florida, never to return to their home country of Arizona. And the closest Geronimo ever got was back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Some leader, some legacy. No matter how bad the situation, Geronimo could always make it worse. For my reading, Dan Thrapp had Geronimo pegged correctly: there were many better leaders among the Apaches. And he also, in the book written about Victorio, has Victorio well described as well. Anyone not hysterical, can trust Dan Thrapp the man, and the writer. I would advise any prospective reader to read Dan's books before accepting a self appointed "expert" to direct just what they may or may not find acceptable to read. Dan Thrapp's reputation is safe due to both the lasting acclaim and merit of his many books. A single discrediting review aside, Mr. Thrapp's respected and well deserved reputation is as secure as ever. I don't know about all of the "political correctness" bandied about, but during my college days in anthropology the word never existed. A word not in use in the 1960's can have no logical meaning or bearing on what Mr. Thrapp wrote or thought. It just doesn't apply. Words such as "political correctness" or "wanna be", for example, were not a part of our vocabulary 40 years ago. As such, it is far from being chronologic, and simply cannot be applicable. And while there may be "trash" on these pages, it doesn't originate from Dan Thrapp or his writings. Semper Fi. Classic The late Dan Thrapp wrote many books on Southwestern U.S. and Apache history (and a wonderful novel about Fletcher Christian, the chief mutineer of the H.M.S. Bounty), all of which have the rare distinction of being modern classics. Thrapp was a meticulous researcher and a fine prose stylist -- another rare combination. VICTORIO is among his best books. Trash - deserves LESS than one star ! The works of Dan L. Thrapp which in any way deal with the Apache Indians are both absurd and annoying in the extreme. Of course, the non-critical and casual reader of books on the Apache may go through Thrapp's garbage-dump collection of titles and actually think they've gotten a superbly accurate amount of information about these Indians from a very capable author on the subject. Unfortunately for them, this is far from the truth. You see, unless the reader is already aware of a significant amount of details concerning the Apache in general AND individual Indians within that tribe, they simply won't pick up on what I would call Thrapp's infantile adoration, his seemingly "I-secretly-wanna-be-an-Indian" love affair with these Indians and several of their leaders (which he relentlessly attempts to glorify through Politically Correct maneuvers of "writing in" or exagerating their personality traits and qualities of leadership, warfare skills, etc). To the reader who has a good deal of knowledge about the Apache of frontier times, Thrapp's enthralled, school girl-like fixation with their various leaders almost oozes from the pages of his books. EVERY APACHE LEADER OF THE FRONTIER PERIOD (with the exception of one)was (if Thrapp's writings are to be believed) something of a superhuman individual with superior mental capacities as well as utra-high toned morals and ethics, - Tragic Heroes of the Southwest who were victimized by members of Thrapp's own race. Well, after reading "Conquest of Apacheria", "Juh, An Incredible Indian", and "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches", I became so sick of this childish, Politically Correct type of distortion, that I decided to come on here and write a few reviews. In these, I'll use just ONE example out of many I could draw upon to show the potential purchaser of Thrapp's books just how "out to lunch" this "author" actually is. You'll recall that I just mentioned that I consider Thrapp to be in love with the Apache Indians of frontier times to such a bizarre extent that he has been glorifying various Apache leaders through blatant and highly biased distortion of facts connected to the personalities and capabilities of these individual Indians. You'll also recall that I just mentioned that there is ONE EXCEPTION to this adoring crush-like fixation Thrapp exhibits, and I'm going to use this one exception to prove how biased and how distorted Thrapp's information really is. Now then; in his books dealing with the Apache, Thrapp can't say enough ( in the most positive and the most emotionally sympathetic way )about Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Juh, Victorio, etc. However, Thrapp rarely loses an opportunity to denegrate Geronimo. To Thrapp, Geronimo seems barely worthy of mention in terms of the Apache leadership. Also, Thrapp seems to desire to leave his readers with the view that Geronimo was grossly inferior to all other Apache leaders in every way. I now quote from Thrapp's Forward to "Indeh - An Apache Odyssey, by Eve Ball: "A goodly share of this important book concerns Juh, the ablest of the militant Apaches after Victorio, although his fame was mainly among his own people, while for his enemies it lay submerged beneath the flood of reports, and ballyhoo, surrounding his subordinate, Geronimo, in every way a lesser man." Here is another quote taken from Thrapp's own work, "Juh, An Incredible Indian": "With (Juh's death), power of the Apaches to make massive war virtually died, for his successor, Geronimo, never became more than a minor guerrilla chieftain." Well, concerning my second quote from Thrapp's "Juh, An Incredible Indian", the Apaches NEVER had the capability to "make massive war" against Europeans in their entire tribal history. I could be generous here and say that Thrapp's idea of what "massive war" might mean could be different from mine and he is entitled to his opinion, but as an author dealing with historic fact in detail, Thrapp SHOULD be able to comprehend the obvious. But by wording his comment about the leadership passing from Juh to Geronimo, Thrapp reveals his desire to distort fact in order to paint individuals in a favorable light (or unfavorable light, in the case of Geronimo)according to his (Thrapp's)own taste! To describe Geronimo as becoming "nothing more than a guerrilla chieftain", indicates Thrapp's bizarre bias and his seeming love affair with all Apache leaders EXCEPT Geronimo. Now, I am no fan of the Apache Indians. I do not venerate Geronimo or any other Apache leader, for that matter. And I detest Politically Correct slanting of frontier history, so when I read something on frontier history, I want FACTS not someone's personal tastes slathered over facts in an attempt to color my conclusions concerning what or whom I am reading about. I desire correct information and to prove that Thrapp is incapable of providing correct information concerning Apache leaders, I offer the following quotes from "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" by Eve Ball ( which has a Forward written by Thrapp!) This book contains accounts provided by Apaches who knew all the leaders and who spoke directly to Eve Ball and dictated their renditions of life during frontier times to her person-to-person. Here are some quotes about Geronimo from ASA DAKLUGIE, the YOUNGEST SON OF JUH and Kanseah, who was a young warrior with Geronimo: "It took a man to lead the Chiricahua. Geronimo was of middle age, a well-known fighter and a superb leader, and he was also a Medicine Man. No White Eyes seem to understand the importance of that in controlling Apaches." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 101 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "Even in his (Geronimo's) delerium, he (Geronimo) talked of those seventeen men who had eluded five thousand men of the army of the United States for many years; and eluded not only them, but also twenty-five hundred Mexican soldiers - seventy-five hundred men, well armed, well trained, and well equipped against seventeen whom they regarded as naked savages. The odds were only five hundred to one against Geronimo, but they still could not whip him nor could they capture him." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 101 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "We talked it over. Geronimo was shrewed and cautious. Also he had great Power, much greater Power than I. As you know, Geronimo could foresee what would happen. I relied upon that and upon his habitual caution to keep us out of trouble." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 173 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "Death is not new to me. I had seen hundreds of people die. But Geronimo's death hurt me as had those of my mother, father (Juh), and brothers. As I sat beside my uncle (Geronimo) I thought that he would never speak to me again and that the Apaches were losing the best they had. ****Even though he was old he had more influence than any since Cochise. " Daklugie (son of Juh) page 181 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "Although Geronimo had never brought attention to it, all Apaches, including the scouts, believed that his (Geronimo's) medicine gave him great Power, and they were awed by it." Kaseahs (warrior with Geronimo) "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "...but of all living men I respected Geronimo. He was the embodiment of the Apache spirit, of the fighting Chiricahua." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 134 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "He (Geronimo) had never been one, but he had weilded more authority than did any chief." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 181 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" "We stood guard over his (Geronimo's) grave every night for months. Not one of his warriors, including Eyelash, failed to volunteer to take his turn guarding that grave. Many who had never been with him on the warpath joined in the lonely vigil. There were so many that we usually had at least two every night." Daklugie (son of Juh) page 182 "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" So, there are quotes directly from Apache Indians, INCLUDING THE YOUNGEST SON OF JUH, about Geronimo - the "lesser man" who was nothing more in the Apache scheme of things than a "minor guerrilla chieftain" according to Thrapp! I ask the reader of this post who is considering the purchase of Thrapp's "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches", if he or she thinks that Thrapp's ability to distort and "color" information on Indian personalities could extend to all other areas of his writtings? If Thrapp could distort the reader's final view of a single highly significant individual like Geronimo into something totally unrealistic in relation to actual FACTS, what else could Thrapp mislead the reader with in his biased information? There are several good books about the Apache available. One is "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" by Eve Ball. Another is "Life Among the Apaches" by John Cremony. Still another is "Nine Years Among The Indians" by Herman Lehmann. In my view, each of these contains far more authentic and accurate information than anything Thrapp has churned out. There is no gushing, crush-like fixations camouflaged by actual facts that serve to distort the reader's view of what actually happened and what any particular individual (at least among the Apache) was really like. Forget about the Apache wanna-be, Dan L. Thrapp and his slanted slop concerning Apaches and their leaders and wars. Go elsewhere for much better information on these subjects. See also:
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