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COCHISE - Chiricahua Apache Leader
Cochise was born between 1810 and 1812.. Little is known of his early life. He lived in the Dragoon and Chiricahua Mountains, and in northern Mexico. He rose to leadership in the 1850's, a time of war between Mexicans and the Chiricahuas, and became a leader of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua. He made influential alliances with with leaders of other Chiricahua bands, marrying the daughter of Mangas Coloradas, a leader of the Chihenne (
Red Paint)band.
Cochise impressed all who met him, friend or foe.
Cochise had at least two wives, two sons, and two daughters. He remained leader of hs band until his death, possibly from stomach cancer, in 1874. His friend Tom Jeffords reported:
He was dressed in his best war garments, decorated with war paint, and...wrapped in a splendid, heavy red woolen blanket that Colonel H.C. Hooker had given him. He was then placed on his favorite horse...(which) was guided to a rough and lonely place among the rocks and chasms in the Stronghold, where there was a deep fissure in the cliff. The horse was killed and dropped into the depths, also Cochises' favorite dog. His gun and other arms were then thrown in, and at last, Cochise was lowered with lariats into the rocky sepulcher - deep in the gorge.
Cochise's oldest son Taza succeeded him in leading the Chokonen until he died of pneumonia on a trip to Washington, D.C. in 1876. Naiche, Cochise's youngest son, the assumed leadership.