Narration of Indian Scouts Video

The U.S. military used Native American Scouts in its southwestern operations. This video introduces some of the history of Indian Scounts and their relationship to Fort Verde State Historic Park, in Camp Verde, Arizona. Watch the video.

Today the Indian Scouts are an enigma—were they traitors or were they people trying to save their way of life? The motivation of the scouts has been long misunderstood or ignored.

Throughout the history of the America’s the military took advantage of rivalries in the tribes. Cortez and Coronado hired Indian guides and warriors. The Pueblo Indians joined with the Spanish to fight the Apache, Navajo and Comanche. Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of the Province of New Mexico in the late 1700s, defeated the Comanche forcing them to seek peace. De Anza then required them to provide warriors to fight the Navajos as proof of their good faith.

Along the Atlantic coast other European countries in their colonies used Indian allies. The English colonists recruited Narragansett and the Mohegan in their fight against the Pequot. As the fight over control of North America continued, all sides enlisted Indians. By the mid-17th Century this pattern was firmly entrenched in the military. During the American Revolution both the English and the Colonists enlisted Indians in their fight against one another. During the Civil War, the North and South recruited Indian allies.

Today people see the Indians as ‘one people’. This is not the way Indians viewed each other. While tribal names generally translate to, “the People or Our People”, it referred to a particular group and not Indians in general. Each group established alliances and had enemies. They were aware of differences. Within the Plains Indian sign language there was no general sign for “Indians” while there were signs for each different tribe. Alliances were established, broken and changed over time. As new settlers moved into the west and the US Army became a presence, tribes began to establish new alliances with them. This flow of new people also brought a bonus to the Indians: trade goods, cloth, metal and guns. An alliance became an economic boost for the tribe. Horses, brought by the Spanish, in time became a crucial part of Indian life, warfare and economy. Stealing horses was a way of showing bravery and an economic necessity. The Army would often distribute horses captured from raids to the scouts, thus making the Army an important ally.

After the Civil War large numbers of people traveled west and conflicts with the Indians grew. Farmers, ranchers and miners were clamoring for protection from Indian raids. In response the Army established a series of military posts that stretched from the Mississippi to the Pacific Coast.

The Indians’ style of warfare was hit and run. Look for a tactical advantage, attack and get out. Their tactics emphasized surprise, mobility, individual action and the use of terrain. This made them a difficult enemy to fight. Enlisting Indian scouts was a way of increasing the army’s ability to catch Indians. While differences of opinion about the scouts’ reliability raged within the Army, most officers close to the campaigning realized their value.

General Phillip Sheridan and General George Crook often disagreed about the value of the scouts. Crook was convinced the only way to subdue Indians was with Indians and championed their use. He liked to recruit his scouts from groups that had recently been put on the reservations. Becoming a scout was a way a warrior could retain a lifestyle that was rapidly disappearing. In fact they had a lower desertion rate than the regular Army. Under Crook the Scouts were the most effective fighting force the Army had.

In Arizona the first regular Army Scouts were recruited from the Cibicue Apaches in 1871 at Fort Apache. The Army recruited scouts from several tribes, but found the Apaches the most useful. Navajos did not like to fight the Apaches. Pimas and Maricopas had elaborate rituals they needed to perform after killing an enemy, limiting their usefulness. Eventually 250 Apaches served in seven Companies in Arizona.

Overall Indian policy was not decided by the Army. In fact the Army had little to do with the fate of the tribes once they were put on the reservations. Many officers opposed the policies that required frequent moves because officers understood that each upheaval caused problems. Groups would get fed up, leave the reservations and start raiding again, creating more problems for the Army. While the Army’s goal was to control the Indians, they felt that once on the reservations and peaceful they should be left alone. But many times peaceful groups were forced off the land and moved. Such moves served as one of the catalysts for the only incident of Scouts firing on the soldiers.

Apaches began to gather around the medicine man Noch-ay-de-kline, who was proclaiming he could raise the dead. The local Indian Agent feared that this could be the beginning of new hostilities. Colonel Carr, Captain Hentig and a company of scouts were sent to arrest the medicine man. The night after the arrest, they were attacked, in the commotion some scouts fired on the soldiers.

The scouts who fired on the soldiers surrendered or were arrested. Tried and convicted in a military court, some were sent to Alcatraz and three were hanged. There were several officers including Colonel Carr that protested the hangings. They believed the circumstances surrounding the incident did not justify sentence and the judicial process itself suspect. However their appeals were denied.

While this incident colored many officers’ view of the scouts, they had become an important part of the Army. General Crook was so confident of the scouts that he used them in independent operations. In all fourteen scouts received the Medal of Honor for valor in action between 1860 and 1890. Eleven were from Arizona. One, Alchesay became a tribal chief and is still honored by the White Mountain Apaches today.

Throughout Arizona scouts were actively used. At Fort Verde Al Sieber served as chief of scouts for seven years. The Chief of Scouts was a civilian position actually attached to the Quartermaster Department, but his job was to manage the Indian Scouts. While they had an officer commanding them, the Chief was the one responsible for carrying out the orders. Between September of 1874 and March of 1879, Company B, Apache Scouts participated in 24 field operations. They saw action 17 times, killing 115 Indians and capturing 122.

Scouts had little use for military routines. Their willingness to fight was based on the individual’s decision rather than under orders. The drilling and marching were seen as a useless exercise. While on campaign, they would scatter in small groups of two or three. The Army adapted to their style, Lt. Marion Maus wrote:

“it was impossible to march the scouts as soldiers, or to control them as such, nor was it deemed advisable … Their system of advance guards and flankers was perfect, and as soon as the command went into camp, outposts were at once put out, guarding every approach. All this was done noiselessly and in secret, without giving a single order … It was necessary to allow them their way and we followed, preserving order by exercising tact and by a careful study of their habits.”

They looked for a tactical advantage. Colonel Harold B. Wharfield writes:

“They approached ridges and high ground with extreme caution, peeking around, looking as far ahead as possible, using cover, and keeping exposure to the minimum. In a fight they did not believe in charging and battling against all odds … always they sought for an advantage over the foe, and retreated rather than expose themselves to gun fire. These characteristics account for the fact that small numbers of hostile Apaches were able to thwart the efforts of the Army in so many instances.”

After the last Geronimo campaign, there was little use for the scouts, and their numbers were greatly reduced. Some were kept on for border patrol, including the Poncho Villa campaign, others became reservation police. The Indian Scouts were honorably disbanded in 1943.

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Narration of Indian Scouts Video