Indigenous History in the Borderlands

Arizona is home to several reservations associated with Apache bands or band‐groups. Often designated collectively as “Western Apache” by anthropologists, these include the White Mountain, San Carlos, Cibecue, and Tonto. Contemporary federally‐recognized tribes include the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Tonto Apache Tribe, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai‐Apache Nation. Many collections at the University of Arizona Libraries document Apache bands and band‐groups throughout Arizona and New Mexico, although sometimes only incidentally. Collections bearing on Western Apache bands of Arizona were included in this survey; those dealing with the Chiricahua, Mescalero, and Jicarilla Apache bands of New Mexico largely were excluded.

Synonymy
“Apache” is a widely‐applied ethnonym which both identifies and obscures identity and diversity. As Ives Goddard writes, “There is no native self‐designation for the Western Apache as a distinct group. For self‐ reference the word ndee – nnee “man, person, Apache” may be used.” Today, San Carlos renders the autonym as Ndeh and White Mountain as Ndee. See Goddard, Handbook of North American Indians, v.10, pp. 487‐88.

Special Collections Materials | Arizona Historical Society Materials

Papers of John Clum, 1860-1975 (AZ 003)

Include documents from, and reflections on, his time as agent to the San Carlos Apache. Clum wrote extensively about his experiences and his collection also includes photographs of Apache associates in later years.

Papers of Leighton Finley, 1879-1892 (AZ 005)

Includes images of San Carlos Apaches, transportation and internment of Apache prisoners, and Kiowa and Comanche internees at Fort Sill.

Papers of Anton Mazzanovich, 1885-1934 (AZ 015)

Includes materials related to Mazzanovich's memoirs, which recount the pursuit of Geronimo.

Papers of John J. Wingar, 1833-1907 (AZ 089)

Includes a narrative by Alice Wingar Gregg entitled "How We Escaped from the Apaches" which also describes her father's role as agent at the San Carlos reservation.

The Story of Patchy, 1896-1916 (AZ 106)

Includes a typescript narrative, with photographs tipped in, of an infant, known as Apache May, found in southeastern Arizona and raised by the Slaughter family on the San Bernardino Ranch.

Record of William Henry Corbusier, Colonel, U.S. Army retired, 1924 (AZ 116)

Includes an account of Corbusier's service as a military surgeon in Arizona in the 1870s and 1880s. Corbusier was
sympathetic to indigenous medicine and traditional knowledge.

Letterbook of J.H. Stout, 1871-1875 (AZ 119)

Includes the correspondence, accounts, record, and observations of Stout, appointed to the Gila River Indian Agency during the brief era when agencies were staffed by various Christian denominations. Stout represented the Reformed Church of America (RCA). The collection contains incidental references to Apaches.

History of the Apaches (AZ 169)

Includes a photocopy of Charles D. Poston’s manuscript account of Apache history, intended as a foundation for more federal military aid. Also included are a call from the Society of Arizona Pioneers to President Grover Cleveland for military aid.

Edward Palmer manuscripts, 1865-1889 (AZ 197)

Includes the U.S. Army surgeon’s lengthy manuscript (approximately 200 pp.) entitled “Observations on the Apache Indians While Stationed at Camp Grant, 1866‐1867” and another entitled “Life at Camp Lincoln” which includes incidental references to the Apache.

Bibliography of the San Carlos Apache Indians, 1954 (AZ 213)

Includes references from standard tools as well as collections unique to the University of Arizona. Compiled by Robert A. Hackenburg.

Lewis W. Douglas papers, 1859-1974 (AZ 290)

Includes matter on the Fort Apache [White Mountain] and San Carlos Apache reservations, conflicts over bidding and administration, and complaints from the San Carlos about conditions.

Letter from the Sergeant James E. Derwent to Charles Fellows, Regarding the Death of Cochise, 1874 June 10 (AZ 322)

Contains little more than word of Cochise’s death.

Letterbook of Rueben Augustine Wilbur, 1871-1874 (AZ 344)

Contains copies of Wilbur’s outgoing correspondence, including accounts of the Tohono O’odham and their Apache captives after the Camp
Grant massacre.

Stewart L. Udall papers, 1950-2010 (AZ 372)

Includes a small amount of material on the San Carlos Mining Strip and the San Carlos Apache.

Jacobo Sedelmayr letters and reports, 1744-1751 (AZ 437)

Includes a 1749 letter which discusses the prospects for containing the Apaches.

Edward D. Tuttle papers, 1862-1928 (AZ 514)

Includes drafts of Tuttle’s recollections and publications, including description of conflict with the Apache, internment at San Carlos, and the role of
particular Apache figures and their pursuit by the U.S. Army.

Harold Christy Schwalen papers, 1896-1967 (AZ 563)

Includes logs for water wells drilled throughout Arizona's reservations, including San Carlos, during the early twentieth century.

Papers of Reuben Augustine Wilbur, 1867-1897, 1871-1880 (AZ 565)

Discusses relationships between the Tohono O’odham and the Apache throughout, including Apache captives after the Camp Grant massacre and Wilbur’s temporary charge of several Apache bands.

Photographs of Carl Moon, ca. 1903-1914 (MS 285)

Includes images of individuals from a number of different tribes, including the Apache.

Papers of Charles Fletcher Lummis, 1860-1956 (MS 297)

Includes Lummis’ notebook while with the 1886 U.S. Army campaign against Geronimo, Lummis adverts to scouts from San Carlos, White Mountain, and Tonto, as well as Quechan and Mojave scouts.

Papers of Francis J. Uplegger, 1899-1964 (MS 299)

Comprises two generations of Lutheran missionary work to the San Carlos Apache, including correspondence, sermons, language and instruction materials, and Francis J. Uplegger’s memoir and mission history. In English, German, and Apache.

Papers of Morris K. Udall, 1920-1995 (MS 325)

Documents the end of non‐Indian grazing leases on the San Carlos Mineral Strip and attendant controversy over eviction of ranchers.

Papers of Byrd Howell Granger (MS 340)

Include the folklorist’s notes and manuscripts for her unpublished “Folklore and Legends of the Indians of the Southwest” including drafts of a chapter with Apache content; also included is an audio recording of Billy Kane (White Mountain Apache?) speaking on Apache culture.

Papers of Elliott Arnold, 1920s-1980 (MS 387)

Includes a bound, two‐volume typescript of Charles T. Connell’s account of “The Apache Past and Present” apparently serialized in the Tucson Daily Citizen in 1921.

Dennis DeConcini papers, 1944-2003 (MS 399)

Includes material on San Carlos Irrigation divestiture, and the negotiation of new water and utility arrangements for reservation and non‐reservation clients; other materials including tribal correspondence involving law enforcement, recreational development, and efforts to conclude water rights agreements mutually satisfactory to San Carlos and the Ak‐Chin Indian Community. White Mountain Apache materials include conflict over support for tribal fish hatchery, and Tonto Apache work on housing grants.

Richmond Jones papers, 1859-1861 (MS 414)

Includes diaries that Jones maintained while surveying Sopori Ranch. He died in an 1861 Apache raid.

Robert R. Humphrey photograph collection, 1949-1963 (MS 431)

Includes photographs of mid‐twentieth‐century range conditions on the Fort Apache [White Mountain] reservation.

Bernard Fontana papers, 1832-2000 (MS 434)

Includes research materials and clippings on various Arizona Apache communities, including economic reports, travel and recreation brochures, and
information on the White Mountain hatchery.

Annita Delano photographic collection (MS 439)

Includes images from White Mountain’s July 4, 1937, celebrations. Images from Prescott may depict Apache peoples.

The materials located in this section can be found at the Arizona Historical Society Tucson location, an institution separate from the University of Arizona. There you can find manuscript materials, photographs, oral histories and books that highlight Indigenous life in the U.S./Mexico borderlands. This selection represents only a small fraction of the Arizona Historical Society's materials related to Indigenous life in the borderlands. Please contact their archivists for questions about additional materials.