Lt. Charles Bare Gatewood - History offers a unique perspective of providing insight through hindsight. Although Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood, using mutual respect and negotiation—not bullets and courage—could have saved the lives of many cavalrymen, settlers, Indians, and Mexicans by ordering Geronimo's surrender in 1886 after years of contentious and bloody Indian warfare. was always overlooked for promotion and denied the proper honorary award, which was given for personal acts of courage and extraordinary energy—literally defined as "strength of spirit in the face of danger." Few would argue that coming face to face on a hot August day in Mexico with Geronimo's righteous anger and Cochise's son took the power of the spirit. Nevertheless, when Gatewood achieved a peaceful resolution to years of intense fighting, he demonstrated a rare strength worthy of our nation's highest honor. The only opponent of his nomination argued that since Gatewood did not come under enemy fire during this event, he did not deserve the award. However, history should accurately reflect the impact of this quiet man who changed the face of the Southwest, in words other than guns.
Shortly after graduating from West Point, Gatewood was assigned to the Arizona area and became one of the leaders of the "Apache men", after gaining a thorough knowledge of the Apaches and their culture and leadership. of Apache scouts. This photo shows Apache scouts under the Gatewood command camped near the Mexican border in 1883. (National Archives)
Lt. Charles Bare Gatewood
Born in Woodstock, Virginia on April 6, 1853 as the eldest son of newspaper editor John Gatewood and his wife Emily, Charles Bare Gatewood had a decent if not extraordinary childhood. However, everything will change when an ancient event in the United States leads him to military service. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, eight-year-old Charles saw his father off to fight for the South. When John Gatewood returned, he moved his family to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he opened a printing shop and published
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, a local newspaper. Charles would finish his education there and then teach school for a while, before receiving a position at the US Military Academy (USMA) at West Point in 1873 from the representative John T. Harris, MC, of Harrisonburg.
Graduating in West Point's class of 1877 on June 14, 1877, Gatewood was ranked twenty-third out of a class of seventy-six. The 11-foot-5 Virginian was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 6th US Cavalry. Henry Ossian Flipper, USMA's first black graduate, was also a member of this class, as was Thomas Henry Barry, USMA's twenty-seventh president (1910-1912). The greater number of this distinguished class would see service and rank and participation in Indian warfare, with twenty-six ranks of colonel, five brigadier generals, and five major generals. However, Gatewood seems to be overlooked for promotion.
When Major General George Crook (USMA 1852) took command of the Arizona Department in July 1882, Lieutenant Gatewood had become one of the leading "Apache men" of the army. He came to know the Arizona Territory and commanded the Apache scouts almost constantly since his arrival in the Southwest in January 1878. Gatewood's life depended on the scouts under his command to accept and always obey his orders. Crook understood Gatewood's detailed description of the Apache and their culture. Therefore, in 1882 he appointed Gatewood to be the commander of the White Mountain Indian Reservation, which was headquartered at Fort Apache, Arizona Territory. Gatewood's honesty of character, honesty and respect for the Apaches allowed him to succeed in this role.
The gate (right) is shown here with Lieutenant M.F. Goodwin, 10th Cavalry, shortly after the end of the military campaign against Apache Chief Victorio in 1880. At the time, Gatewood was serving in the 6th Cavalry. (National Archives)
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The staff assigned to the Apache project found it very demanding. The guards usually stay for a few months. The harsh conditions of life in the field and maintaining a bad climate and bad environment caused it. In about 1881, doctors reported that Gatewood had "rheumatism of the knees, ankles, hips and shoulders, the result of exposure to work in Arizona." Gatewood's failing health would plague him throughout his career.
On May 17, 1885, Geronimo and Apache Chief Naiche (son of Cochise and the last Apache chief of the Chokonen or Chiricahua tribe) and a group of followers escaped the reservation and crossed the border into Mexico. Making occasional raids into the United States as well as Mexico, they effectively stopped the pursuit of US troops in Mexico. In March 1886, Crook met with warring Apaches in Cañón de los Embudos, Sonora, Mexico, to discuss their liberation. During the conversation, Crook looks scared and talks to Geronimo. Although the Apache surrendered and agreed to return to the United States, Geronimo, Naiche, and many followers feared for their lives and ran for the last time on March 28, 1886. Miles. On July 13, 1886, after several attempts to stop Geronimo and his group, Miles asked Gatewood to "find Geronimo and Naiche in Mexico and demand their surrender."
With incredible skill and courage, Gatewood and five others followed the Apaches and captured them on August 25, 1886 at the Bavispe River in the Teres Mountains of Mexico. However, suddenly, the Apaches stopped. A few panicked minutes passed before thirty-five or forty Chiricahua Apaches, including several armed warriors, ran out into the grass. Gatewood did not find Geronimo among them, but saluted the Apaches, took his weapons, and gave them tobacco and books. Everyone was smoking cigarettes.
In March 1886, Crook met with Apache chiefs Geronimo and Naiche in Cañón de los Embudos, Sonora, Mexico to discuss the liberation of the Apache. After Geronimo and Naiche agreed to terms and returned to Arizona, they fled to Mexico again with a small group of Apaches on March 28. Crook resigned his command shortly thereafter; He was replaced by Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles. (Arizona Historical Society, Tucson, PC 19 - #78166)
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Geronimo then emerges from the brush and puts up his Winchester, greets Gatewood, and asks about his thinness (Gatewood is sick and weak and weak). The two men were together—closer, Gatewood would later learn, because he could sense Geronimo's conversion. For a while, they spoke an English-Apache-Spanish pidgin, which allowed them to communicate with interpreters who sometimes supported their speech. When Gatewood informs Miles of the capital, Geronimo wants to know the terms. Gatewood replied, "Incredible release!" The Apaches will be sent to Florida, where they will await President Grover Cleveland's decision on their lives. Gatewood concluded by adding, "Accept these measures or fight them to the bitter end."
Geronimo looked at Gatewood angrily. After talking about other less profound topics, he talked about all the bad things the two countries, the United States and Mexico, have done to their people. The warriors were angry, and a group of Apaches left Gatewood so they could negotiate a surrender. An hour later, they returned with Geronimo demanding the same words that had been given earlier: "Lead us to safety or fight." But Gatewood couldn't do that. The wind blows again, but before anything happens, Chief Naiche says that Gatewood will not be done.
Reassuringly, Gatewood played along and said that the remaining Chiricahuas were sent to Arizona and Florida. Even if it wasn't true, he knew it would happen. Geronimo was angry that the Apaches were talking to each other again. Nothing has changed - they want to go back to the reservation or they will fight. The danger was approaching, but Gatewood held his breath. Finally, Geronimo asks Gatewood what to do. When Gatewood replied that he would accept Miles' offer, Geronimo said that he would announce their decision in the morning.
The next day, when Geronimo and Naiche agreed to return to the United States, Gatewood, realizing that his knowledge of the Apache—especially the White Mountain Apache—was exceptional, wrote to his wife that it was time to start. working on a memoir. So not only did he record Apache oral history before it was known as "oral history," he recorded perhaps one of the most significant events of the Indian Wars - the encounter between Naiche and Geronimo in Sonora, Mexico, telling them to surrender, and receive them. returned to the states without any problems, although some Mexican and US soldiers wanted the famous Apache leader dead.
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As 1886 drew to a close, Gatewood's health began to fail again. He never recovered from the hardships he experienced in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Therefore, the soldiers gave him a chance to rest. In May 1887, he returned to Miles' headquarters (then in Los Angeles), where he served as aide-de-camp. In the fall of 1890 he returned to the 6th
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