eservation, preferably along the Rio Grande somewhere in New Mexico. Cochise disagreed, and proposed a reservation along the Eastern Arizona border, to include the Chiricahua mountains and land larger enough for hunting. On October 13, 1872, final ceremonies concluded an agreement for peace, thus ending a war which had lasted for a dozen years (Cole 113).Thomas Jeffords, Indian agent appointed to the Cochise Reservation, dealt with several problems that were beyond his control. Subsequent raiding was common practice although they had promised for it not to continue. The idea that a form of centralized control, even with the influence of Cochise was ludicrous and not the Apache way. Logistics was a thorn in the side of Jeffords, because he knew that when the supplies were low, the raiding would increase. After the death of Cochise, Jeffords, although highly respected among the Chiricahua, was unable to maintain any form of control among raiding bands from the reservation. The reduction of supplies in 1876 led Jeffords to let loose the Chiricahua to hunt which meant that they would have to leave the reservation to pursue game. These hunting parties were almost immediately caught up in conflict, and this was to be the beginning of the end for the Cochise reservation in Arizona (Cole 156). In the early months of 1877, after the official closing of the Cochise reservation, the Chiricahua were sent to San Carlos, including Geronimo and his bands, while others were sent to the Mascelero reservation to be integrated with other Apache factions. Misappropriation of supplies, small pox and malaria caused some 350 people to leave the Mascelero reservation and head towards Mexico or the Sierra Madres. Much of the same situation resurfaced from the 1960s. Apache raids would continue and military action would follow, which would lead to more raids, all with increasing loss of life on both sides (Cole 163). During the next five years, the...
