Mangas Coloradas was a very inspiring and strong war leader. Even in his early 70s Mangas was putting his life on the line to make the raids successful (Sharp). His diplomacy with other Apaches and his skill in combat helped the Apaches fight off the Americans and Mexicans, but they eventually lost. Cochise, Mangas's son-in-law, had contributed a great deal to his fight against the enemy (Wikipedia).
Cochise had lost loved ones during the war as well. Cochise had gone to the Americans under a white flag for talks of peace; however, when he arrived it became clear that the Americans didn't want peace, but were accusing Cochise of kidnapping a child of a nearby village when in reality it was another tribe who took the child in when he was running away from his drunken father. There was then a small skirmish where three Americans were captured by Cochise, but the Americans had been able to capture five of Cochise's family. When the general would not accept Cochise's offer of help in finding the child Cochise killed his three hostages, in return the general hung Cochise's brother and two of his cousins. When the army found that Cochise did, in fact, not have the child they reluctantly released his son and his wife, Dos-teh-seh, who is also the daughter of Mangas Coloradas (Carter).
Mangas Coloradas had three daughters. One of his daughters, Dos-Teh-Seh married Cochise, the chief of the Chokonen Apaches (Wikipedia). Mangas, Cochise, and some other Chiricahua Apache tribes later worked together in an all out war against the Mexicans. Mangas was a very tall man whos eyes would feel like they penetrated your very soul. He got his name “Red Sleeves” because he would always wear a red shirt. He was chief of the Bedonkohe Apaches and tried to work out peace treaties with the Americans, but went to war against them when he was betrayed (Sharp).
Mangas Coloradas had sought peace many times from the Americans and Mexicans alike, but both had betrayed him too many times for him to trust them when he became older. Mangas' first attempt at peace with the American's was when he offered them safe passage through their territory. There was an uneasy peace between the Indians and Americans after this agreement. The Apaches had also signed a treaty with the U.S. that said the Indians would recognize the U.S. as the new occupants of the conquered Mexican territory believing that the Americans would be friendlier than the Mexicans; however, in 1850 gold was found in Apache territory (Sharp).
The gold rush spiked a series of conflicts that eventually led to war. The miners destroyed the mountains and chased off all the game in the area leaving no food for the Apache's. The miners would also dump all their waste in the river and causing the water to be contaminated, so the Apaches could not drink it. To help mine the gold the U.S. employed Mexicans who were considered very untrustworthy by the Apaches and they despised having them on their territory. The Americans also began to kill the Indians for sport. Some Americans killed the Indians because they believed exterminating them was part of developing the land (Sharp).
The Apaches finally had enough with the Americans when 30 miners attacked an Apache village, killing four, and capturing thirteen others. After the attack the Apaches began to raid mining camps, and take cattle and livestock to supply their tribe with food since the other game had been scared off (Sharp). Mangas then joined forces with his son-in-law, Cochise, and other branches of the Chiricahua Apaches for a combined assault on the Americans. Before a raid Mangas would raise the spirits of his warriors with dances and rituals. Even in his 70s Mangas would perform incredible feats during battle and constantly put his life on the line. Mangas was always leading or inspiring a raid in Southwest New Mexico while Cochise was rampaging across Southeaster Arizona (Wikipedia).
During the American Civil War most of the Americans that resided in the Southwest had evacuated the area to help fight the battle in the East of the United States where they could accomplish their dreams of glory. The Indians had believed they won when the enemy had suddenly vanished. At this time Mangas and Cochise combined their warriors to drive out the rest of the Americans and Mexicans. Mangas and Cochise blockaded a principle route between Tucson, Arizona and Mesilla, New Mexico near Cooke's Canyon killing everyone who passed. Eventually they killed as many as 100 Americans and Mexicans in the canyon making it the most feared route between the cities. Mangas and Cochise later became bolder and attacked a mining camp near Pinos Altos where Mangas was previously forced out of (Sharp).
