Victorio: Apache Warrior and Chief (Volume 22)

Oklahoma Western Biographies #22

by Kathleen P. Chamberlain

A steadfast champion of his people during the wars with encroaching Anglo-Americans, the Apache chief Victorio deserves as much attention as his better-known contemporaries Cochise and Geronimo. In presenting the story of this nineteenth-century Warm Springs Apache warrior, Kathleen P. Chamberlain expands our understanding of Victorio’s role in the Apache wars and brings him into the center of events. Although there is little documentation of Victorio’s life outside military records, Chamberlain draws on ethnographic sources to surmise his childhood and adolescence and to depict traditional Warm Springs Apache social, religious, and economic life. Reconstructing Victorio’s life beyond the military conflicts that have since come to define him, she interprets his character and actions not only as whites viewed them but also as the logical outcome of his upbringing and worldview. Chamberlain’s Victorio is a pragmatic leader and a profoundly spiritual man. Caught in the absurdities of post–Civil War Indian policy, Victorio struggled with the glaring disconnect between the U.S. government’s vision for Indians and their own physical, psychological, and spiritual needs. Graced with historic photos of Victorio, other Apaches, and U.S. military leaders, this biography portrays Victorio as a leader who sought a peaceful homeland for his people in the face of wrongheaded decisions from Washington. It is the most nearly complete and balanced picture yet to emerge of a Native leader caught in the conflicts and compromises of the nineteenth-century Southwest.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Darnell A Durrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief Victorio was an amazing American, servant, and leader! I enjoyed learning about this phenomenal hero of all people. In fact, reading his story allowed me to venture off and read more about the Mexican-American War. If you enjoy history, especially about the American West then this is a great book for you!

[Ike Rakiecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting look into the life of Victorio, who was an important Chihenne-Apache chief. He doesn't get brought up as much as Geronimo or Cochise but his role was just as important as the more well-known Apache leaders. The book presented an effective mix of anthropology and history. The author did a good job of including information about Apache culture. It was informative and highly readable.

[Amber Foxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once said—meaning to make a respectful acknowledgement to an Apache friend—that Truth or Consequences, the town where I live “used to be Apache land.” He replied, “It still is.”
Yes. It still is. Let the deeper meaning of his words sink in.

*****

Living in New Mexico, a state with more tribal lands than most, I’m aware of the Indigenous cultures that thrive here. Reading this book made me far more aware of how the rest of us got here—the complexity of the fighting, negotiation, and politics. Geronimo is famous. A mural of his face greets you with a powerful glare as you drive into town. Victorio is less well known. His younger sister, the warrior and seer Lozen, may have more fame. But his story is worth reading. New Mexico’s story is incomplete without him.
The author did extraordinary historical detective work to reconstruct his life and the events that led to his death, his final battle. She explores Apache culture and pre-reservation life, and reveals the misunderstandings, failures, sincere efforts, and also the insensitive ignorance on the part of various agents of the U.S. and Mexican governments that drove Victorio’s band from their sacred land and its springs and drove them to keep fighting.
This isn’t light reading, but it’s not dry or difficult, either. History can be a page-turner, even when you know how it ends.