Post by ouroboros on Jun 11, 2021 2:08:35 GMT -5
Nicholas makes one of the most fascinating figures of the Davis Mountains Mescaleros. He took the leadership after the disappearance of the notorious Chief Gómez (who likely died ca. 1860). There are some reports of his activities in the 1860s during the American Civil War.
As Frank D. Reeve, The Apache Indians in Texas, "The Southwestern Historical Quarterly," Vol. 50, No. 2 (Oct., 1946), pp. 189-219, at p. 193 wrote:
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Confederate Officer John R. Baylor sought to make peace with the Mescalero in the Guadalupe country. Chief Nicholas was induced to travel to El Paso for peace negotiations, which were successfully concluded and were much to the advantage of the chief in the way of presents; but on the return trip by stage to Fort Davis the Indian leader suddenly deserted the vehicle and, stealing two pistols, promptly led his followers in a raid on the horse herd west of the fort. They were pursued by Lieutenant May with fifteen men who met a tragic fate; the command was wiped out by the Indians near the Rio Grande in August, 1861. The depredations continued. The Sacramento and Guadalupe Mountains were vantage points for raiding the cattlemen's herds driving northward in the 1860's along the Texas line; "most losses in this vicinity were to the Mescalero Apaches, who swept out of the rugged Guadalupe Mountains to fall upon the drivers.
More to come on Nicholas.