Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas was a prominent leader of the Chiricahua Apache tribe who played a significant role in the resistance against both Mexican and American encroachment on Apache territory during the mid-19th century. His leadership was particularly notable during a period of escalating conflict sparked by the discovery of gold in the Mimbres Mountains, which was part of his people's homeland. A pivotal moment in his life occurred when he was brutally attacked during a peace negotiation, an event that deepened hostilities between the Apaches and settlers.
Alongside his son-in-law, Cochise, Mangas Coloradas engaged in guerrilla warfare to protect Apache lands and communities. The conflict intensified following the "Bascomb affair," a controversial incident that led to violent reprisals. Despite his eventual commitment to peace, advocating for dialogue to end the conflict, Mangas Coloradas was tragically killed in 1863 during a peace mission. His death marked a significant turning point, leading the Apache people into a more determined phase of resistance against U.S. military forces. The legacy of Mangas Coloradas continues to be a symbol of the struggle for indigenous rights and sovereignty.
Subject Terms
Mangas Coloradas
- Born: c. 1791
- Birthplace: Present-day New Mexico
- Died: January 19, 1863
- Place of death: Unknown
Tribal affiliation: Apache
Significance: Mangas Coloradas was an important war chief during the era of the so-called Apache Wars
Along with his equally famous son-in-law, Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache, Mangas Coloradas was a leader in the guerrilla warfare waged by the Apaches against the Mexicans. Toward the end of his life, Americans replaced Mexicans as his adversaries.
A long peace was disrupted in 1860 when prospectors discovered gold in the Mimbres Mountains, homeland of Mangas Coloradas’ people. During a visit to negotiate peace, the great leader was bound to a tree and whipped. He was released to return home with deep wounds.
The decisive event for both Cochise and Mangas Coloradas was probably the “Bascomb affair”—Lieutenant George N. Bascomb’s charge that the Chiricahua Apaches had kidnapped a “half-breed” boy. The Chiricahuas blamed the Coyotero Apaches. During the investigation, prisoners were murdered on both sides; retaliation replaced investigation and dialogue.
During the following summer, in July of 1862, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise were besieged by infantry from Star Chief Carleton’s command. In the fighting that ensued, Mangas Coloradas was wounded in the chest. Cochise took his father-in-law to a surgeon in the Mexican village of Janos. A strong, broad-shouldered man, still towering over six feet tall in his seventies, Mangas returned to his Mimbres Mountains later that year.
In January of 1863, perhaps reflecting on the “perpetual peace” he had pledged in an 1852 treaty, Mangas Coloradas committed his final days to securing peace for his people. Although accounts vary, historians agree that he went alone and unarmed to discuss peace under a white flag with Captain Edmond Shirland of the California Volunteers. The great leader’s body was found in a ditch the next day. His feet and legs had been burned by heated bayonets; his body was pierced by close-range multiple bullet wounds; his head had been removed and defleshed to be sold. From that point, the Apaches went to war in earnest.