In 1886, the United States sent over 500 Chiricahua Apache men, women, and children from Arizona to Florida as prisoners of war.
For twenty-seven years, the War Department held these people in Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
When the War Department freed Chiricahuas in 1913 and 1914, it sent them either to the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico or to small farms in Oklahoma. Most POW descendants now live in those places. U.S. officials never allowed the Chiricahuas to return home.
In 1886, the United States also appropriated the entire Chiricahua Apache homeland. Not even a tiny fraction of our country has been returned to us.
Non-Apaches have often given their versions of Chiricahua Apache history. Descendants of the Chiricahua Apache POWs feel that is important for us to provide a different perspective on historical events.
Why were the Chiricahua Apaches imprisoned?
What did they experience as prisoners of war?
How did they endure as a people?
On this website, descendants of the Chiricahua Apache Prisoners of War will try to answer these questions through a combination of historical and contemporary materials. Of particular importance in this effort will be the many audio and video files we include. Most of these are interviews with Chiricahua people who add detail and interpretation to the historical record.
This website was developed by the Chiricahua Apache Prisoner of War Committee under the authority of the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico. It is owned and managed by tribal members.
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