What Ever Happened to the Apache Kid?

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In the 1850's when the California Gold Rush was winding down, prospectors set their sites on Arizona and silver. Mining camps and army posts started sprouting up everywhere.

This is the land that the Apache tribes had settled on since somewhere between 1300-1500. Most Apaches did not like these new people trespassing on their hunting grounds and began to take every means possible to defend their lands. It was not long before they had a reputation of the most fierce tribe in the southwest.

The U.S. government decided the only way that they would be able to control the Apaches was to move them all in one place where rules could be enforced. In 1872 the San Carlos Indian Reservation was established just northeast of Globe, Arizona Territory.

The army began the task of gathering up the Apache tribes and relocating them to San Carlos. One sergeant, Clay Beauford, had the task of bringing in the band of Capitan Chiquito which included Has-kay-bay-nat-ntayl.

After living a free existence Has-kay-bay-nay-ntayl found himself stuck on a desolate reservation. By 1875 he started hanging around Globe doing all sorts of odd jobs for the miners and soldiers. People took a great liking to him but had a terrible time pronouncing his name so he became known as the "Kid".

Kid took a great liking to Clay Beauford who was known to be kind and patient. Beauford even began teaching Kid english as he thought he could be a great asset to the Army.

It is not known exactly when Kid became a scout but he must have still been a teenager. The chief of scouts, Sieber, recognized Kid's natural leadership abilities and hired him as a scout. Somehow Kid found a way to fit into the white society and still maintain his position among his own people. The Kid was so good he was promoted to sergeant in 1882 and accompanied General Cook on the expedition of the Sierra Madre.

It seems ironic that this highly thought of young man would come to be known as one of the most notorious outlaws in this country's history.

In 1886 Captain Pierce and Sieber left Apache Kid in charge of the Indian Scouts while they were away on business. Although the brewing of tiswain, a fermented beverage was illegal on the reservation, a party ensued on the reservation with the alcohol flowing freely. Before Apache kid could get to the party to break it up his father was murdered by Gon-zizzie.

Although his friends had immediately caught and killed Gon-zizzie, there was still the problem of Rip, Gon-zizzie's brother. Rip and Toga-de-Chuz had been rivals for the same Indian girl, Kid's mother, and when Toga-de-Chuz had won her heart and hand, Rip had carried a hatred ever after. Kid suspected that Rip had put Gon-zizzie up to killing his father. According to tribal law, a son was to take blood vengeance for his father's death. Kid asked permission to leave the reservation to pursue the killer but was denied.

When Sieber again left Kid in charge of the guardhouse in late May of 1887, Kid seized the opportunity to exact justice on Rip with one shot through the heart.

Upon returning to San Carlos Sieber found Kid and four scouts missing.

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When the Apache Kid and the other scouts returned, Captain Pierce and Sieber were waiting for them. They ordered the scouts to disarm themselves and the Kid was the first to comply. As they were ordered to the guardhouse a shot came from the crowd and hit Sieber in the ankle crippling him for life. During the chaos that followed, Kid and several Apaches fled.

It is not known where that shot came from but it is sure that it was not the Kid or the other four scouts as they had been disarmed.

A few weeks later the Kid and his band peacefully surrendered. A court martial followed where the scouts were found guilty of desertion and mutiny and were sentenced to death. General Miles got the sentenced reduced to 10 years in prison on the premise that the Kid and the others did not fully understand the seriousness of their deed, as they were acting according to Apache custom.

After a year in prison Kid and the four scouts were back in San Carlos as their verdicts had been overturned.

By the middle of October 1889, Sheriff Glenn Reynolds of Gila County had arrest warrants for the freed Apaches. Another trial ensued and the scouts were sentenced 7 years in a territorial prison at Yuma, which was notorious for it's brutal living conditions. On the journey to the prison Apache Kid and several others escaped by overpowering the 3 guards. They fled on foot with their tracks being obliterated by a snowstorm. This would be the last "official" sighting of Apache Kid.

Over the next few years the Apache Kid was accused of various crimes and thought to have led a small band of renegade Apache followers. It is said that they raided ranches and freight lines throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern Mexico, hiding out in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Others believed him to be a lone wolf who was terribly feared. Every murder, ambush, and rape in Arizona Territory was blamed on him, and rewards totaling $5,000 were offered on Apache Kid, dead or alive.It is impossible to determine how many crimes he is blamed for that he actually committed.

After 1894, reports of his crimes came to an end. Some sources claimed he died at this time while others argue that he crossed into Mexico and retired to his mountain hideout.

Although there are many questions regarding his death, a gravesite memorial can be found in the San Mateo Mountains in New Mexico. This is yet another place that Apache Kid was said to have been killed after being hunted down by local ranchers. Supposedly to mark the site of the Kid's undoing the posse blazed a tree of which the remains can still be seen today.

Seemingly, his namesake "the tall man destined to come to a mysterious end" was a prophecy.