Apache tribal Chief Mangas Coloradas was born in the area that is now called New Mexico. While the exact date of his birth is unknown, he is thought to have been born in 1793 or 1795. Mangas Coloradas, or “Red Sleeves“, was a member of the Chiricahua Apache Indian tribe.
The Chiricahua Apache Indians had few problems with white settlers at first. Many of them even worked for the settlers and helped them settle in to their new homeland. The Mexicans were the main enemies of the Chiricahua Apaches until the gold rush began. Peace treaties were being broken by white settlers encroaching onto Apache land in search of gold, which Mangas Coloradas referred to as “yellow iron”. In 1851, Mangas Coloradas himself was severely beaten by a group of white miners. The beating, as well as the continuous violations of the peace treaties by white settlers, began a series of Apache attacks in retaliation.
A decade later, in 1861, the so-called “Bascom Affair” occurred. The Bascom Affair involved several Chiricahua Apache Indians, including Mangas Coloradas’s nephew Cochise, being falsely accused of a raid on a white rancher’s property. During the raid, which was actually carried out by the the Coyotero Apaches, several of the rancher’s cattle were driven off and his 12 year old stepson was kidnapped. Despite his claims of innocence, Cochise and several other chiefs were taken into custody. Cochise escaped, but the others were killed.
Following the Bascom Affair, Mangas Coloradas joined forces with Cochise. Together they led raids on their white enemies across New Mexico and Arizona from their stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona. In 1862, tired of fighting and wishing peace would return to his land, Mangas Coloradas told his people he wanted to meet with the white men to discuss a truce.
On January 17, 1863, in response to a white flag raised by the white forces, Mangas Coloradas took several warriors and went to meet the white forces to discuss a truce. Once they arrived, Mangas Coloradas was taken into custody at gunpoint, and the other warriors were released to spread the news that their leader had been captured.
Mangas Coloradas was taken to Fort McLane, where he was held prisoner until being killed by his guard, most likely in January 1863, and possibly even the day after his capture. It is said that he was killed while trying to escape, but other accounts dispute this, and say that he was also tortured prior to his death.
The fighting did not end with Mangas Coloradas’s death, as his nephew Cochise, then a chief, continued to lead their forces against white troops for another 9 years before surrendering and living with his people on a reservation. No pictures exist of Mangas Coloradas, but his desire for peace and his sense of betrayal show in the words he left: “You came into our country. You were well received. Your lives, your property, your animals were safe. We believed your assurances of friendship, and we trusted them.”
Tags: Apache Chief, Bascom Affair, Mangas Coloradas, Red Sleeves —