Dispatches from the Fort Apache Scout: White Mountain and Cibecue Apache History through 1881 – Edited by John Welch

I have been to Fort Apache and was fortunate enough to have participated in a sweat lodge ceremony with White Mountain Apache tribal elders and to play 1870s era baseball right in front of Cavalry Colonel Asa Carr’s former headquarters. It is a legendary place and any book that seeks to recreate it must be true to its native inhabitants, the Ndee, or “The People.” With that in mind, this book is a must-read for historians and readers with an interest in the American West from the Native American perspective, and, in particular, the perspective of the Ndee. I was primarily interested in the book to learn more about the formidable White Mountain Apache Indian scouts, who were legendary trackers and fighters against the venerable Chiricahua Apache Indians (Cochise and Geronimo, but not Victorio who was Tchihendeh). The book did not disappoint as I learned a lot about the Cibecue battle and the White Mountain Apache Indian scouts. Kudos to Editor John Welch and all of the other contributors to this important historical work chronicling these amazing denizens of Central Arizona known as “The People.” They were once great and still are today. And so is this book. Don’t bother with the John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, and Shirley Temple movie “Fort Apache.” Get this instead: it’s the real deal!