to help this thread along - I will put out two theories about Cochise.
these are both personal theories of mine. They are entirely unproven,
and therefor they could be wrong. But they do bear consideration.
The first is the temper tantrums of Cochise. He is well known as a man
who could burst into a sudden and violent temper. I am not saying he
was a bad person, or unstable. I am saying that he had a real anger problem.
The story goes that the tribal members would make their homes at some distance
from Cochise, and often they would not look in the direction of his camp. There is also
a legend that Cochise speared one of his OWN warriors - when that man was careless
and brought back a (captured) Army horse that had the brand from the US Cavalry.
My theory is that Cochise may have suffered from bipolar syndrome, and hence
the sudden changes in his emotions. I do NOT believe this takes away from his
many GREAT qualities. All men have strengths and weaknesses!
The second theory has to do with his death. It has been speculated that he died
from stomach cancer. I agree. It looks like a stomach cancer, or a cancer of
the intestines. It was a miserable way for a great warrior to die. But the
question is ... why? My theory is that Cochise got this cancer from drinking
polluted water from some of the springs during the Apache wars. The battle
in Arizona often revolved around water sources. Water was used as the "bait
in the trap" because horses had to be watered.
Many Mexican Army soldiers, and some US cavalary, died in ambushes
(from Apaches) near springs of water
It was not uncommon for both sides to also poison the water sources - to try to
deny their enemies water. It was a vicious tactic in the heat of Arizona and
Mexico. It is likely that Cochise was forced to drink some of the impure water
while on the run. Or alternatively, Cochise may have been forced to drink from
pools that had accumulated in the desert over several weeks (after rains).
I used to live in the
desert in California. Water tests on sources in the lake beds often showed
very high levels of arsenic - accumulated there because the arsenic dissolved from the
minerals (in the ground) and was then concentrated by the evaporation of the pools.
Hence the stomach cancer that killed him in the end. But once
again - this is pure speculation.
dT
