Rambling discourse about the West and general and the Indian wars in particular, with a core story featuring the Chiricahua Apache chief Cochise, who went on the warpath for 10 years against the whites after a young lieutenant abducted his family to bargain for the return of an abducted boy. The book contains lengthy scene-setting detailing the history of contact between the whites and Apaches, as well as detailed information on related topics including mining, the stagecoach industry, the Mormons, the building of army forts and the Mexican-American war. Its is not a pretty story, this was a brutal conflict, with the Apache torture of captives matched with the summary hanging of Indians by the whites. Buts its a fascinating story which gives a good picture of what the the West was really like, far removed from the glamour of Hollywood depictions. ( )

Mort gives the outline of the Bascom incident at Apache Springs, in which Cochise escaped an attempt to take him hostage. The incident lead to years of warfare, which only ended when the Apache leaders were captured and exiled to Florida. Mort then fills in the background with chapters about the life and training of Lt. Bascom, the role of the US Army on the frontier, the settlement of the Southwest and the lifestyle of the Apache. While one can sympathize heartily with the Apache hatred of the mining and settlements in their land, Mort makes it clear that they were not Noble Savages--killing cruelly and indiscriminately in their constant raids on travelers and ranchers. ( )

Waiting for Cochise
The Wrath of Cochise is all about context. The book is an extraordinary adventure in the geography, geology, climate, politics, history, anthropology, industry, history and sociology of the players in the area. But it is not a biography of Cochise, who makes a brief appearance at the beginning and at the end.
Terry Mort has gone to great lengths to put everything in perspective. He tells us about the problems of being a soldier, doing what amounts to police work in living conditions as bad or worse than southern slaves endured. He tells us about lack of communication, leading to assumptions, stereotypes, and hatreds based on stories, legends and rumors. Various soldiers are profiled in great depth, and we learn all about West Point and how it prepared – or didn’t prepare – men for this duty.
Best of all, there is a chapter on the nature of the Apache tribe(s). The tribe continually split up as numbers increased, because the Apache understood that smaller units were far more manageable socially, politically, environmentally and sustainably. Their use of language was extraordinary, with specific words and phrases having specific uses by different members. They never used someone’s name if they were present. Body language was critical.
They could not even imagine life separated from religion – they were one and the same. Their morals were strict within the tribe, but outside, they could kill and torture without a second thought. Cochise’s band lived by raiding, doing no farming of any kind itself. They had no artistic skills or crafts either. They didn’t value gold, but they hated the white miners who disturbed the sacred Earth. They were constantly at war with the Mexicans, who they considered worse than the white man, at least until the Americans took over the southwest and got very much in their face. At their campsites they were laughing, jovial and constantly joking with each other. In battle, their strategy was to avoid the slightest injury. Every life was precious. They hid, attacked, and fled. They were guerrilla fighters. They would never attack at night because they would not have control. And they would not attack the obviously well defended. All the Apache tribes together probably amounted to less than 2000 people.
Cochise’s band was one of four for the Chiricahua Apache, and had little or nothing to do with other branches, some of which his band fought. Not only was he not responsible for their actions, but with little means of communication, had little or no knowledge of their activities, either. All the more reason that is most unfortunate for Second Lieutenant George Bascom (“There is nothing more dangerous than a second lieutenant with a compass and a gun”) to invite him to parlay and then kidnap his family for the ransom of returning stolen goods (and a child) he had no part in stealing. This one obnoxious act turned into a war costing thousands of lives, almost all civilian. Mort tries to minimize our disgust by explaining that kidnap and ransom was business as usual in the southwest, but no amount of rationalization can smooth over the naiveté of a young officer whose only other service was on Governors Island in New York City. He had never fired a gun except in target practice. He did not speak Cochise’s language and knew nothing of his culture, history or environment.
It takes about 240 pages for Mort to get to this point in history, such is the groundwork he lays out. The final 60 pages detail the resulting mess – a ten year war that made Cochise into a chief of mythical proportions, and Bascom a minor embarrassment, obscured by the Civil War, which swept him up and away. The army left the area entirely, needing to fight its own back east, giving Cochise a false sense of permanent victory. Ten years after, Cochise negotiated a real peace, and he died two years later, thinking it would last forever. The truth of course was vastly different. ( )