Tom Jeffords and Cochise

Jefford’s was the superintendent of a mail line that later became part of the famous “Pony Express” system and was to become a friend of Cochise when he rode by himself with great courage into the chief’s stronghold to ask for safe passage of his mail riders. This fierce chief was much impressed with his simple honesty and bravery. Their friendship lasted throughout the SW Indian Wars conflict, no matter what the circumstances this conflict brought.
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Warfare with the Chiricahua Apaches began in 1861, when US Army troops rode into Cochise’s stronghold at Apache Pass. They falsely accused the chief of kidnapping a white child from a nearby ranch. When Cochise denied the accusation soldiers tried to take him hostage, he escaped, took his own hostages. Soldiers then hanged a number of Apache prisoners, some of whom were relatives of Cochise which caused him to execute his hostages and the war was on.

In an alliance with another Apache chief, Mangas Coloradas, Cochise and other Apaches formed bands of raiders who terrorized southern Arizona for the next ten years. Before this he had been relatively friendly toward the whites in his area. He was, however, implacable toward the Mexican government and raided them pretty much at will during and before his war with the “White Soldiers.”

In 1871, President Grant, in a move to end the Apache wars, sent General Oliver Howard to negotiate treaties with the tribes. He enlisted the help of Tom Jeffords who eventually led the general into Cochise’s camp. A treaty was signed in 1872, ending the decade long war with the Chiricahua Apache. Cochise requested that his people be allowed to remain in the Chiricahua Mountains and that Jeffords be made Indian agent for the region.

His requests were granted but Tucsonans branded Jeffords “Indian lover” and wrote scathing reports to politicians back in Washington. In 1875 he was removed as the federal agent and the Chiricahua Apaches were relocated to the San Carlos Reservation. The treaty, so successfully negotiated through the help of Tom Jeffords, was broken. Luckily Tom’s blood brother and friend Cochise didn’t live to see this infamy. In less than a year from signing the treaty Tom Jeffords saw his friend for the last time. In this reported conversation Cochise asked his friend if he thought they would see each other again in another life. Tom said he thought so and Cochise agreed. The next day the great chief went to his “Happy Hunting Grounds.”

The Indian Wars ended in 1886 with the surrender of the last Apache leader Geronimo and the West was secured for the White settlers. In a side note it should be stated that Geronimo and Cochise were never on good terms. It is believed that the accepting of Captain Jeffords as a blood brother was the last straw that sundered the two great war leaders forever.

An excellent movie titled “Broken Arrow” was made of this story from the Book “Blood Brother” by Elliot Arnold. In this movie in which Academy Award winner Jimmy Stewart played the role of Tom Jeffords this story was told though distorted by Hollywood as usual. But this was of course not the end of Mr. Jeffords career. A few years after the end of the Indian Wars in 1892 we find him homesteading and mining parts of the Tortolita Mountains near the Owlhead Buttes. His hand dug mines can be seen there to this day.

Apparently his company was not well received in Tucson and so he became somewhat of a hermit in his last ten years or so. An occasional visitor would stop by and rarely would he come into town for supplies. He never hit much in the way of gold but some silver and copper was extracted and apparently he lived a quiet and uneventful life for the last 22 years. His homestead was a nice but small frame home with a picket fence that included a well and his own smelter which he worked with the occasional help of some Mexican laborers.

He seemed to sense his own death coming as he started visiting Tucson the last few months he lived, even though he hadn’t appeared there in public for the preceding 4 or 5 years. He died on February 21, 1914 as he lived; simply and without fanfare at the Owlhead Buttes likely from complications of Asthma. He was given a respectable funeral at the Pioneer’s Society on W. Congress Street and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery on Oracle near Miracle Mile.

In the end we have to ask ourselves who was Tom Jeffords? Our best guess is that he was a very courageous man to whom bravery was simple a way of life. He was witty, self-depreciating, and didn’t go in for refinement. He apparently did not have any driving ambition and did not seem to crave material possessions. In the end we can only guess what made him tick. But he was certainly one of the more interesting pioneers of the Tortolita Mountain area.

Spanish Influence

Recorded history in Arizona began when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th Century. In 1528 Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and his companions had been shipwrecked in Florida and subsequently wandered for eight years in the desert. Probably the next Europeans to arrive in Arizona were a Spanish expedition, searching for gold, led by an Italian Franciscan, Marcos de Niza in 1539. Coronado followed, looking for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. He claimed the area for Spain in 1540. When no gold was found and the natives proved difficult, the area was left to the Christian missionaries.

In 1687 Father Kino established missions in what the Spanish called Pimeria Alta or Upper Pima country inhabited by the Pima and Tohono O’odham. Spanish culture, law, language and religion could be introduced.

Spanish ranchers and miners settled along the mission frontier leading to skirmishes with the Indians over land and resources. A fort was built in Tubac to prevent Indian uprisings and deal with the Apache raids in 1751, marking the beginning of the Spanish colonial period in Arizona. After making peace with the Apaches, ranching, mining and missions flourished until the start of the Mexican Revolution in 1810.

Early Anglos

The Spanish established a presidio at Tubac in 1752 and white soldiers began bringing their their wives and families. In 1824, groups of mountain men and trappers signaled the first real entry of Anglo-Americans into Arizona.

When the Mexican war ended in 1848, Mexico lost most of the Arizona territory to the United States. In 1857 stagecoaches arrived for mail delivery and gold was discovered along the Gila River, opening up the region for settlement. Prospectors and settlers staked claims to Indian lands. A clash of cultures was inevitable and by 1859 the number of white area residents had dwindled due to Apache marauding. At the same time, the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 caused the US government to focus its attention elsewhere and Federal troops were removed. Anglos were left to their own devices and had to fend off hostile Apaches and Mexican bandits.

Indians

Prehistoric Paleo Indians (the” ancient ones”) entered Arizona as early as 15,000 BC, following the large game animals as they migrated south from Asia. When the animals died off about 6000 BC, a desert culture evolved and the people turned to gathering and hunting smaller game and began the cultivation of maize or corn. Growing crops allowed them to settle into permanent villages. They developed distinct cultures, which became known as the Anasazi, Mogollon, Patayan, Salado, Sinagua and Hohokam. They are also called the Desert People and the Cochise People.

The Anasazi were known as the basket makers for their fine yucca fiber baskets. They cultivated corn, squash and beans. The bow and arrow had come into use and their pottery was primarily white or gray and black. They lived in pueblos and, later, cliff dwellings.

The Mogollon were a mountain people who lived in single family units made up of one-room pit houses constructed of twigs and logs covered with mud. Although they cultivated corn they were primarily hunter-gatherers. Their pottery was decorated with surrealistic designs and animal scenes.

The Hohokam were a highly developed civilization of farmers who built extensive irrigation canals and lived in permanent villages of walled compounds. Their crops consisted of corn, beans squash, cotton and tobacco. They made pottery and traded with the Mesoamericans to the south.

Between 1250 AD and 1450 AD, these cultures disappeared and were replaced by the Hopi and Pima or Tohono O’odham. The Navajo and Apaches arrived from the north around 1100 AD.

The Hopi

The Hopi call themselves the Peaceful People and are probably descended from the Anasazi. They live in villages and have the oldest continuously inhabited city in North America at Oraibi in the Black Mesa Range. The Hopi are a matrilineal society, handing down the land and all properties through their daughters. Their lives center around the kiva, a round, underground chamber where religious ceremonies are held. Their economy is based on herding, farming and the sale of their pottery, basketry, silver and turquoise jewelry, weavings and recently, painting and sculpture. Their kachina dolls are much in demand. The Hopi way continues to retain its culture and traditions into modern times.

The Pima

The Pima or River People farmed the river valleys and were probably descended from the Hohokam. They grew crops of corn, beans, melons and cotton and harvested the fruit of the desert cacti. Some hunting and gathering supplemented their diet. A chief presided over each village.

Pima clans were patriarchal, members belonging to the father’s family until marriage when the women went to live with the man’s clan. Polygamy was commonly practiced. The Pimas are generally known today as the Tohono O’odham and are economically the poorest people in the Southwest. They live on reservations in southern Arizona.

The Navajo

The Navajo call themselves “Dineh”, The People. They are known as great borrowers for adopting many of the customs of the Pueblo people, Apaches and the early Spanish. Their earth covered houses, known as “hogans” are uniquely their own, having been traced back to their Asian origins. Their reservation covers 25,000 square miles in the Four Corners area. It is barren, isolated desert, consisting of canyons, sculptured sandstone monoliths and pine-covered mountains. They are primarily sheepherders but also grow corn, squash and beans. Their society is matriarchal and is based on a family unit headed by the eldest woman. Men join the wife’s family when they marry. The Navajo have many local customs and taboos and the medicine man is an important figure in the tribe. Sweat baths and sand painting are part of their rituals. The traditional ways are giving way to change and massive coal reserves and mining leases are becoming an important source of income to the tribe.

The Apache

The Apache were a hunting and gathering society, living in small bands based on a matriarchal system. When men married they then belonged to the wife’s’ clan but polygamy was common due to a lack of men in this warrior society. The medicine man held a powerful position in the tribe. The Apache were the most warlike of the Arizona tribes and were fierce adversaries. Even before the introduction of the horse by the Spanish they used trails to raid and plunder, capturing women and livestock. When they adopted the horse they became some of the best horseman in the world. In modern times the reservations they occupy in the scenic White Mountains support them with recreational facilities such as ski resorts, fishing and hunting. Cattle ranching has turned these fierce warriors into modern day cowboys.

Recent History

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Territory of Arizona and in 1864 Prescott became the territorial capital. It remained a territory for 49 years, when it became the 48th state of the Union on February 14, 1912. It had taken Arizona 300 years from its” discovery” to becoming a distinct political entity. Arizona had weathered Spanish Conquistadors, missionaries, mountain men and trappers, miners and prospectors, the bloody Apache wars, the Confederacy, cattlemen, sheep men, outlaws, rustlers and Mexican revolutionaries.

The railroads had brought expansion. The capital was moved to Phoenix in 1889. Mining and ranching were the main enterprises, water resources were harnessed and Phoenix became the largest urban center in the state. The Grand Canyon became a national monument in 1908. Air conditioning improved the quality of life and mild winters drew retirees. Cotton farming and tourism became important. City industries led to further growth after World War II.

State population reached more than three million in 1984. Space age technology now flourishes alongside cowboys and cattle and Native Americans enter the millennium, keeping their cultural lifestyles alive.