Post by esa on Nov 7, 2015 0:44:56 GMT -5
I am a Chiricahua apache, from my father’s side of the family and also my mother’s side.
My family’s story is the only source of Information I have to prove of my heritage.
I am sure of many clams of Chiricahua Indian heritage can be validated. But my story is not the typical Indian story and not easy to prove with only family lore to go by. I had to do some of my own research to even begin validating my family’s story.
My story begins like this, I am the great, great, great, Grandson of Cochise, I’m sure of many Clams of the descendants of Cochise can be validated by documents, but mine can be proven by written history books that I have researched. It involved "the cut the tent Incident” in 1861.
I’m also the great great great grandson of Victorio from my mothers side.
I will list the books I used to research my family’s story, as I explain my story.
My grandmothers name is Elisa V Espinosa she is the daughter of Christina S Vitela who is the daughter of Mecaela Cochero Schussold who is the daughter of Cochise, this is my grandmothers story and the research information I gathered to show proof of her past.
The first book I researched was the book by Donald E Worcester, called: The Apaches, eagles of the southwest. On page 79 according to Bascoms own reports what actually happened. Bascom then ordered six Chiricahua hostages seized. three men, a woman ,and two boys , The two boys described by the soldiers was Naiches, he was four to five years old (and the other was not a boy , it was a girl and her name was Mecaela , she was nine years old at that time.) (: a total of seven Apaches were involved that is including Cochise.)
The next book is. : The Apache Indians, by Frank C, Lockwood, on page 101, Cochise came down to the station with his wife and a boy, a brother and two nephews.( A total of six were involved in this book, that is including Cochise. ) on page 107 , on February 19 the six Indians were marched to the mound and were hanged , The two remaining prisoners were placed in a wagon and taken to Fort Buchanan and released. That’s referring to a woman and one child.
The next book is: Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, in this book it has only five Indians involved. (: His brother, two nephews, a woman and a child)
(What I am trying to show is inconsistencies with the amount of children involved in this incident. )
This last book is the only book that has the most complete information I found. Called Cochise Chiricahua Apache Chief by Edwin Sweeney. In this book it has eight Indians involved (: Cochise, his brother, Two nephews, his wife and two children and an Indian worrier.)
On page 144 we have Lieutenant George Nicholas Bascom’s official reports of February 14 and February 25 Neither is entirely satisfactory because he attempts to justify his actions. Each contained errors in chronology, and both were ambiguous and perhaps dualistic in some respects, obviously to cover up his egregious mishandling of the incident. Also the military history online website: stated that on The same day, Cochise, accompanied by a party of seven in number, a half brother, two nephews, (two squaws and a boy), entered Bascom's camp, which was the Apache custom, to greet visitors.
Mecaela : remembers that day and tells her story like this. She remembers herself and Naiches playing around some tents, they were playing with their puppy that they had brought with them their mother wanted to go look for some cactus fruit, as they were leaving the camp site, they heard gunfire, their mother grabbed them both and ran to some rocks that were nearby and hid there, Mecaela was holding the puppy in her arms so tight that the puppy died in her arms. Their mother left them there and went to go check on Cochise, but she never returned for them. I wanted to check out the location where it happened so I went to fort Bowie historical site and walk the area and found that my grandmother’s story checks out to be true. According to the map of the area where Bascoms camp site was the rocks that my grandmother hid in was located just southwest of the camp site, the rocks on the map are called “(: Tevis Rocks)”. When she was found she said that the person that found them knew whose kids they belonged to and kept them safe. The person that found them earlier that day had meet Cochise and his family when they arrived in the area. His name was Romualdo Torres he was driving a freight stage coach owned by Ortiz stage coach. In the book by Edwin Sweeney on page 149, (: Cochise received the message for a meeting with Bascom but did not come immediately (: he may have been waiting information on the ward boy.) this is where Cochise was meeting with Romualdo Torres. Cochise did not know anything about the Ward boy until the meeting with Bascom. On page 150, early afternoon Cochise was still with Romualdo Torres and Bascom was growing impatient then Bascom walked to the stage station and told Wallace to go to the Cochise camp to reiterate a desire for a meeting during his absence from camp the Ortiz train passed by unnoticed and camped two miles east of the stage station and one mile east of Bascoms camp. This is how Romualdo Torres met Cochise’s family.
When Romualdo heard the gun fire later on that day he went to investigate, while he passed Bascoms vacant camp and walking passed the rocks he found both of the kids hiding there. He immediately knew the kids because he met them earlier. And not knowing what happened to their parents he kept them safe fearing the soldiers would kill them both. My grandmother said a few days later the army put out a mandate to search for the kids, she said they went from town to town searching for the kids. She also said that the people from the towns tried to keep them hidden from the soldiers. After the search my grandmother never saw her little brother again. In Edwin Sweeney’s book on page 163, (: on February 16 and 17, Moore and Bascom led a command of 110 men and scouted the mountains in search for apaches.) this was when Naiches was found and returned to his mother, Mecaela was never found.
As my family does not recall if my grandmother had a last name during her youth, it is very difficult to track down any information on who actually raised her. The only thing we know for sure is that when she got married they gave her the middle name of Cochero , so that she would always remember where she came from and who was her father and mother, and that’s how we know the family lore. also when she passed away our family found in her belongings was a passport with her name as Mecaela Cochero Terrazas. Her married name is Mecaela Cochero Schussold. We can only guess that she was raised by a family that owned the stagecoaches. In the book from Edwin Sweeney on page 142 according to apache accounts ,his first and principal wife Dos-teh-seh bore him two sons, Taza and Naiches ,and two daughters. By his second wife whose name was not recalled , he had two other daughters Dash-den-zhoos and Naithlotonz. Mecaela was one of the two daughters from Dos-teh-seh, Mecaela was born in 1852. I want to include another book by Gil Procter called the trails of Pete Kitchen. His profession was a stagecoach driver this book is about his travels. I believe Pete Kitchen wrote about my grandmother Mecaela in his book. Mecaela nursed Naiches back to health when Naiches almost died on Pete Kitchens ranch in 1873, she was his housekeeper. He described her age and her name and that she was an apache woman and was able to communicate with Naiches, They both had long conversations during his recovery on his ranch. The remainder of Pete Kitchen’s life there on his ranch was undisturbed by Cochise after Naiches returned to the tribe. Naiche was 17 at this time, and Mecaela was 21 years old.
In Edwin Sweeney’s book on page 150 ( according to apache history one of the children was naiche) The other child was my grandmother Mecaela Cochero Schussold.
I also visited the Chiricahua Regional Museum and research center in Wilcox Arizona in August of 2012, and I spoke with Kathy Klump she was very excited to hear my story and she also informed me that there was a gentleman that visited her research center and museum a few years back and insisted that he was a descendent of Cochise. Kathy Klump told me she did not believe him because he had a very light skin complexion and had red hair and was a Scandinavian Jew from the Scandinavian region in Europe , I my self have a dark skin complexion and always get asked if I am a Apache Indian . I was very surprised to here what she was telling me, because what I was about to tell her about Michaela’s husband my great great grandfather, she was very surprised to learn that he was a Scandinavian Jew from Germany his real name was Ernst Schultz he changed his name to Ernesto Schussold when he came to Mexico to search for gold the name change was necessary because Mexico was prosecuting Jews at that time. They both had four children two boys and two girls their names were Catalina , Christina , Hermon , Ernesto . what I know about Ernesto is that he traveled with is father to and from Europe. Taking gold back to Germany. for many years my family's story has been told but never had the resources to do research on our history. to my family this information that I researched validated my Grandmothers story.
Esa,
My family’s story is the only source of Information I have to prove of my heritage.
I am sure of many clams of Chiricahua Indian heritage can be validated. But my story is not the typical Indian story and not easy to prove with only family lore to go by. I had to do some of my own research to even begin validating my family’s story.
My story begins like this, I am the great, great, great, Grandson of Cochise, I’m sure of many Clams of the descendants of Cochise can be validated by documents, but mine can be proven by written history books that I have researched. It involved "the cut the tent Incident” in 1861.
I’m also the great great great grandson of Victorio from my mothers side.
I will list the books I used to research my family’s story, as I explain my story.
My grandmothers name is Elisa V Espinosa she is the daughter of Christina S Vitela who is the daughter of Mecaela Cochero Schussold who is the daughter of Cochise, this is my grandmothers story and the research information I gathered to show proof of her past.
The first book I researched was the book by Donald E Worcester, called: The Apaches, eagles of the southwest. On page 79 according to Bascoms own reports what actually happened. Bascom then ordered six Chiricahua hostages seized. three men, a woman ,and two boys , The two boys described by the soldiers was Naiches, he was four to five years old (and the other was not a boy , it was a girl and her name was Mecaela , she was nine years old at that time.) (: a total of seven Apaches were involved that is including Cochise.)
The next book is. : The Apache Indians, by Frank C, Lockwood, on page 101, Cochise came down to the station with his wife and a boy, a brother and two nephews.( A total of six were involved in this book, that is including Cochise. ) on page 107 , on February 19 the six Indians were marched to the mound and were hanged , The two remaining prisoners were placed in a wagon and taken to Fort Buchanan and released. That’s referring to a woman and one child.
The next book is: Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, in this book it has only five Indians involved. (: His brother, two nephews, a woman and a child)
(What I am trying to show is inconsistencies with the amount of children involved in this incident. )
This last book is the only book that has the most complete information I found. Called Cochise Chiricahua Apache Chief by Edwin Sweeney. In this book it has eight Indians involved (: Cochise, his brother, Two nephews, his wife and two children and an Indian worrier.)
On page 144 we have Lieutenant George Nicholas Bascom’s official reports of February 14 and February 25 Neither is entirely satisfactory because he attempts to justify his actions. Each contained errors in chronology, and both were ambiguous and perhaps dualistic in some respects, obviously to cover up his egregious mishandling of the incident. Also the military history online website: stated that on The same day, Cochise, accompanied by a party of seven in number, a half brother, two nephews, (two squaws and a boy), entered Bascom's camp, which was the Apache custom, to greet visitors.
Mecaela : remembers that day and tells her story like this. She remembers herself and Naiches playing around some tents, they were playing with their puppy that they had brought with them their mother wanted to go look for some cactus fruit, as they were leaving the camp site, they heard gunfire, their mother grabbed them both and ran to some rocks that were nearby and hid there, Mecaela was holding the puppy in her arms so tight that the puppy died in her arms. Their mother left them there and went to go check on Cochise, but she never returned for them. I wanted to check out the location where it happened so I went to fort Bowie historical site and walk the area and found that my grandmother’s story checks out to be true. According to the map of the area where Bascoms camp site was the rocks that my grandmother hid in was located just southwest of the camp site, the rocks on the map are called “(: Tevis Rocks)”. When she was found she said that the person that found them knew whose kids they belonged to and kept them safe. The person that found them earlier that day had meet Cochise and his family when they arrived in the area. His name was Romualdo Torres he was driving a freight stage coach owned by Ortiz stage coach. In the book by Edwin Sweeney on page 149, (: Cochise received the message for a meeting with Bascom but did not come immediately (: he may have been waiting information on the ward boy.) this is where Cochise was meeting with Romualdo Torres. Cochise did not know anything about the Ward boy until the meeting with Bascom. On page 150, early afternoon Cochise was still with Romualdo Torres and Bascom was growing impatient then Bascom walked to the stage station and told Wallace to go to the Cochise camp to reiterate a desire for a meeting during his absence from camp the Ortiz train passed by unnoticed and camped two miles east of the stage station and one mile east of Bascoms camp. This is how Romualdo Torres met Cochise’s family.
When Romualdo heard the gun fire later on that day he went to investigate, while he passed Bascoms vacant camp and walking passed the rocks he found both of the kids hiding there. He immediately knew the kids because he met them earlier. And not knowing what happened to their parents he kept them safe fearing the soldiers would kill them both. My grandmother said a few days later the army put out a mandate to search for the kids, she said they went from town to town searching for the kids. She also said that the people from the towns tried to keep them hidden from the soldiers. After the search my grandmother never saw her little brother again. In Edwin Sweeney’s book on page 163, (: on February 16 and 17, Moore and Bascom led a command of 110 men and scouted the mountains in search for apaches.) this was when Naiches was found and returned to his mother, Mecaela was never found.
As my family does not recall if my grandmother had a last name during her youth, it is very difficult to track down any information on who actually raised her. The only thing we know for sure is that when she got married they gave her the middle name of Cochero , so that she would always remember where she came from and who was her father and mother, and that’s how we know the family lore. also when she passed away our family found in her belongings was a passport with her name as Mecaela Cochero Terrazas. Her married name is Mecaela Cochero Schussold. We can only guess that she was raised by a family that owned the stagecoaches. In the book from Edwin Sweeney on page 142 according to apache accounts ,his first and principal wife Dos-teh-seh bore him two sons, Taza and Naiches ,and two daughters. By his second wife whose name was not recalled , he had two other daughters Dash-den-zhoos and Naithlotonz. Mecaela was one of the two daughters from Dos-teh-seh, Mecaela was born in 1852. I want to include another book by Gil Procter called the trails of Pete Kitchen. His profession was a stagecoach driver this book is about his travels. I believe Pete Kitchen wrote about my grandmother Mecaela in his book. Mecaela nursed Naiches back to health when Naiches almost died on Pete Kitchens ranch in 1873, she was his housekeeper. He described her age and her name and that she was an apache woman and was able to communicate with Naiches, They both had long conversations during his recovery on his ranch. The remainder of Pete Kitchen’s life there on his ranch was undisturbed by Cochise after Naiches returned to the tribe. Naiche was 17 at this time, and Mecaela was 21 years old.
In Edwin Sweeney’s book on page 150 ( according to apache history one of the children was naiche) The other child was my grandmother Mecaela Cochero Schussold.
I also visited the Chiricahua Regional Museum and research center in Wilcox Arizona in August of 2012, and I spoke with Kathy Klump she was very excited to hear my story and she also informed me that there was a gentleman that visited her research center and museum a few years back and insisted that he was a descendent of Cochise. Kathy Klump told me she did not believe him because he had a very light skin complexion and had red hair and was a Scandinavian Jew from the Scandinavian region in Europe , I my self have a dark skin complexion and always get asked if I am a Apache Indian . I was very surprised to here what she was telling me, because what I was about to tell her about Michaela’s husband my great great grandfather, she was very surprised to learn that he was a Scandinavian Jew from Germany his real name was Ernst Schultz he changed his name to Ernesto Schussold when he came to Mexico to search for gold the name change was necessary because Mexico was prosecuting Jews at that time. They both had four children two boys and two girls their names were Catalina , Christina , Hermon , Ernesto . what I know about Ernesto is that he traveled with is father to and from Europe. Taking gold back to Germany. for many years my family's story has been told but never had the resources to do research on our history. to my family this information that I researched validated my Grandmothers story.
Esa,
