Mangas Coloradas: Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches

One would expect that a biography of the great Apache leader would be sympathetic to the Native American's plight. Mangas was a prominent and influential leader of his people against the Mexicans and later the Americans who ended his life in 1863. But Sweeney's (Cochise) choice of language in his cumbersome work is appalling. Whites fighting against Apaches ""killed a few Indians,"" ""repeatedly whipped,"" ""slain,"" ""executed,"" and ""dispassionately killed""; the Apaches ""massacred,"" ""murdered,"" ""killed indiscriminately,"" ""laid waste,"" ""committed... depredations"" and ""slaughtered"" troops and civilians--as if what the Apaches did in trying to protect and sustain their way of life was more heinous than what Mexicans and Americans were doing to deprive them of it. Especially dismaying is this passage describing an Apache raid: ""they lanced seventy head of cattle, just for devilment"" portraying them as little more than mischievous children. Understandably, any reconstruction of events will necessitate a dependence on historical documents, especially in this case with no records from the Apaches. But a historian should be careful of surmises, and the frequent use of ""probably,"" ""perhaps,"" ""likely"" and ""apparently"" undermines reader confidence. The writing is blase, a sluggish narrative that is little more than recounting of historical facts. Mangas Coloradas's life was anything but boring, and although well researched, this volume of his life is just that. Illustrated. (Oct.)