Lost Family Search

[besh]

My Great-Grandfather was an Apache Scout during the Apache Wars, named Will Rice. He was not an Apache but a disowned Mohawk who was a mercenary for the Confederacy during the so-called "Civil" War. He came west after the war w/ a bunch of outlaws & married an Apache woman, had 3 children, served briefly as an Indian Scout w/ Al Seiber under General Crook & also scouted for King Woolsey. His wife was killed during the wars & their children raised by her sisters. I'm the grandson of his youngest daughter by a later wife. Grandma married another Mohawk (last name of Leonard) & they raised their children, my Mother & Uncle like Whites to avoid having their children taken away & sent to Indian schools. Great-Grandpas name was Will Rice (sometimes confused w/ Willard Rice who was actually his uncle). I've found traces of him, including newspaper clippings in the archives @ Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, AZ. & he's mentioned in a couple of books: Argonaut Tales by Judge Wells & in Catch The Stage To Phoenix. I've met some Yavapai's w/ the name of Rice but haven't made any family connections (I know Yavapais were sometimes confused w/ Apaches). I have a lot of other bits of history from his diary (raids, gun smuggling, etc.) from his diary & word-of mouth from older family members if anyones interested but am really interested in meeting any distant relatives if any still exist. My wife, son & I are retired in SE AZ on part of what used to be the Chiricahua Reservation. Thanks

[dT]

very interesting post.
includes info I have never seen before.

as you probably know, the Confederate States Army were the primary soldiers of Arizona during the years 1861 and 1862. They were - of course - defending the white settlers, homesteaders, and miners. The Confederate soldiers fought bravely, but they were very few in number (maybe 200-300 men) and they really got hammered by the Apaches - esp. by Cochise and his band. At one stage the Apaches had pretty much gained control of all of rural Arizona - right up to the outer edges of towns like Tucson. People were literally afraid to go beyond the limits of Tucson at some times. The Confederates were recalled back to the main Civil War when things turned against the Confederacy. This caused the Apaches at the time to decide that the "white men had given up". Cochise thought he had won the battle for his homelands. The Apaches did not understand the larger politics in the USA. Eventually the US Cavalry would return after the Civil War.

Your great grandfather Will Rice must have travelled to Arizona right after the Civil War ended. As you know, that was not uncommon. Many men from that war journeyed west when they were displaced ... especially former Confederate fighters.

Anyway, I had no idea there were Indians from other tribes serving under Al Sieber - and especially not from the eastern USA. I will send you a PM.

thanks,
dT

[besh]

dT Thanks for your reply. We live close to Dragoon Springs stage station & the location of some Confederate soldiers graves killed by Cochise's men. Other Indians were sometimes used as scouts as mentioned in Lt. Charles Gatewood & his Apache Wars Memoir when situations arose such as conflicts from too close relationships of families such as the defection of scouts in the Cibecue affair & the arrest/murder of the medicine man Nockadaclinne (sometimes referred to as Nakai Toklany). Great-Grandpa was married to & lived w/ apaches so it's very likely like Mickey Free he was considered Apache when in reality he wasn't. If there's any intrest I have a file drawer full of other bits of history, a unverified copy of a letter from Tom Horn written to G-Grandpa many years later, stories of caches, etc.

[dT]

thanks for your comments Besh. you've made some very interesting contributions here.

this period of time, which is called the Apache Wars, was a period of great change on the frontier of America. Coming as it did when the Civil War was in full swing, and also many pioneers flocked to remote towns in Arizona, the whole region was a "wild and wooly" place. I was thinking about young Tom Horn, who left his home in Missouri - some say he was 16, and others 14. But really, no matter the exact age he was hardly older than a boy. And yet he wound up on the Arizona frontier, riding beside Al Sieber and chasing Apache renegades. What on Earth was young Tom doing out there??? I can't imagine what his parents in Missouri must have thought. Maybe it was more common for teenagers to take off from home in the old days. But by todays standards - it seems unimaginable. I have a teenager who is 17 years old. I sometimes have doubts whether she can boil an egg, or fix a flat tire. How on earth would a person like that be operating in the Wild West? The whole situation back then was just so amazingly different than today.

dT

[besh]

dt Re: Tom Horn's parents: He wrote letters to his mother until his death & obviously loved her. He even wrote another just before his death & sent it to his sister to be delivered later so his mother wouldn't know about his end on a gallows. As far as his father, he was a brutal man who liked beating his son way too much. 'What on Earth was he doing out there?' escaping an abusive idiot father. His book tells about it. Horn was very good to children, especially abused or orphans likely remembering his sorry excuse for a father. Horn often visited a 'road ranch' owned by my wife's Great Grandfather Nelsen & was very polite & well-mannered. I often worry about our 21-year-old son too who seems able to get in more messes than 6 kids ought to. On the other hand he seems to invent very interesting ways to get out of the binds he gets into also. He crossed the country twice w/out a vehicle, was in the Army, worked @ a carnival, machine shop, farm & a few other things I'm probably happier not knowing about. He's currently out in the truck he put together out of 3 job-hunting. Your daughter will do fine when she see's a good reason to.