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Posted on 06/12/2005 10:08:19 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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General Nelson Miles summoned Lieutenant Charles Gatewood to Albuquerque in July 1886 and ordered the reluctant veteran of the Apache wars to go find the elusive Chiricahua leader down in the mountains of Mexico.  2nd Lt. Charles Gatewood On March 27, 1886, Geronimo and Naiche, the hereditary Chiricahua chieftain, along with the remnants of their band of Chiricahua Apaches, surrendered to General George Crook at Cañon de los Embudos, Sonora, Mexico. That surrender should have ended the last Apache war. Should have. It did not. Instead, it set in motion a series of events that would resurrect a lieutenant's career that had all but ended when he stood up for Indian rights. Geronimo began drinking after the surrender. At the second camp on the trip back to the United States, he, Naiche and 34 other men, women and children slipped into the night and vanished. In short order, Crook resigned as commander of the Department of Arizona (April 1), and General Nelson Miles, who had campaigned for his assignment, replaced him (April 11). Miles immediately dumped Crook's strategy of using Indians to defeat Indians. Reducing Indians to auxiliary duty only, Miles assembled 5,000 U.S. troops to patrol the international border and guard all known water holes. Using the U.S. 4th Cavalry as his primary offensive weapon, he began sending seek-and-destroy missions into Mexico. Three months passed. Geronimo and those with him were worn out, hungry and shot up. Even so, they avoided capture. Miles had no intention of sharing Crook's fate. While continuing the hunt, he decided to send an officer into Mexico to negotiate with Geronimo. Although he was unsure who to select, he knew the officer had to be a Crook man (none of his own men knew the Chiricahuas). Unfortunately, two of the three men perfectly fitted for the assignment were no longer available: Captain Emmet Crawford was dead, and Lieutenant Britton Davis had resigned his commission. That left the Crook outcast--Lieutenant Charles Gatewood.  General George Crook The Apaches called Gatewood Bay-chen-daysen, which translates to "Long Nose." Tall, slender and Southern born, Gatewood graduated from West Point in 1877. Shortly after reporting for duty with the 6th U.S. Cavalry at Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, in 1878, he became a veteran Indian campaigner. By 1884, Gatewood had emerged as one of Crook's handpicked subalterns to bring peace to the Southwest. An experienced commander of Apache scouts, he also served as military commandant of the White Mountain Indian Reservation, headquartered at Fort Apache. His career looked promising. Then he arrested Thomas Zuck, a territorial judge, for defrauding his wards. When Crook asked him to drop the charges, Gatewood refused. This set off a series of litigations that led to the end of Gatewood's working relationship with Crook and the Apaches but ultimately to his participation in the last Apache war. On July 13, 1886, Miles summoned Gatewood--who knew every member of the hostile band--to his office in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory. He ordered the lieutenant to take two Chiricahua guides, find the elusive warring Apaches in Mexico and demand their surrender. Gatewood balked. The mission sounded like a fool's errand. Besides, he was not healthy; his arthritic body could not handle a prolonged campaign in the wilds of Mexico. Miles offered to eventually make the lieutenant his aide-de-camp. The position appealed to Gatewood. After outfitting at Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, he set out with Martine (a Nednhi Chiricahua) and Kayitah (who was either a Nednhi or a Chokonen Chiricahua), both of whom were related to members of the hostile band; interpreter George Wratten; and packer Frank Huston. Everyone rode mules. Courier Tex Whaley joined Gatewood before he dropped into Mexico on July 19.  General Nelson Miles Gatewood traveled eastward in Sonora, cut through the Guadalupe Mountains and into Chihuahua. The trek south played havoc with his health. His joints ached, he suffered from dysentery, and he had an inflamed bladder. When he reached Carretas on July 21, Lieutenant James Parker, who had supposedly followed Geronimo's trail, told him there was no trail to follow. Gatewood refused to quit. After resting for six days, he set out to find Captain Henry Lawton (U.S. 4th Cavalry), who was leading Miles' primary seek-and-destroy column in the field. Lawton was somewhere to the south in the Sierra Madre. After traveling 150 miles, on August 3 Gatewood found Lawton on the Aros River. Lawton--who also had no idea where the hostiles were--was not pleased with Gatewood's appearance. After making it clear he intended to "hunt Geronimo down and kill him," Lawton allowed Gatewood to join his command. Rains pounded the earth nightly. During daylight hours, a merciless sun reached 117 degrees. Days passed. Lawton meandered one way and then another. He found nothing. During this time, Gatewood's health continued to deteriorate. On August 8 he asked Leonard Wood, Lawton's surgeon and second-in-command, to medically discharge him. Wood refused. While moving northward, on August 18, Lawton and Gatewood heard that two Apache women had opened negotiations for peace at the pueblo of Fronteras, some 70 miles to the northwest. Gatewood, with Kayitah, Martine, Wratten, several packers and six of Lawton's men, set out for Fronteras the next morning at 2 a.m. He rode and walked 55 miles, arriving at Cuchuta late that night.  Geronimo and Gen. Crook at Cañon de Los Embudos, Sonora, March 27, 1886, photo by Camillus S. Fly. On August 20, Gatewood pushed on the remaining 15 miles to Fronteras. He presented himself to Jesus Aguirre, the prefecto of the Sonaran district of Arispe, to which Fronteras belonged. The meeting did not go well. Aguirre did not support Gatewood's mission. After his interview with Aguirre, Gatewood camped with an assembly of American troops three miles below Fronteras. After dark, Aguirre visited the American camp. Although Aguirre told several officers he did not want them present when he negotiated peace with Geronimo, he told Gatewood he hoped to get the Apaches drunk and then massacre them.
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Morning E.G.C.
We're supposed to be overcast for the next ten days with possibilty of rain in time for the weekend. Figures.
Morning GailA.
I hate soggy Mondays.
Morning Mayor.
We had some rather active weather here yesterday.
Our area was under a Tornado Watch for much of the day. We had storms across parts of Central and Northern Oklahoma.
The Clinton and Weatherford area in Custer County caught the brunt of it all. Power outages, street flooding, there was even a couple of semis blown over on I-40.
All in all an active weather day in parts of Oklahoma.
Today it's much clamer. The sun's out and it's in the low 70's.
How's it going, snippy?((HUGS))
Oh nice feather, thanks Sam.
Always a great supporting actor and staple of John Wayne westerns.
Morning PE.
Nice Flag-O-Gram today. :-)
Morning PxLdr.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I haven't read any of those yet.
Hi Sam.
Present.
Hi miss Feather
Idiot
ò E.dA = q/e0
ò B.dA = 0
ò E.ds = -d/dt(ò B.dA)
ò B.ds = m 0ò j.dA,
I listened on the telephone at 75 cents/minute.
Hi Manna
Hiya Sam
Turn your sound up!
http://www.intandem.com/NewPrideSite/Pride2/P2Cannons.html
"Why not?"
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