Worked at lunch today on an image of Beh-to, also called Victor, a captured Mexican boy who grew up to be an Apache warrior. And, in fact, is the leader of the Coyotero raiders who kidnapped Felix Ward on January 27, 1861. I wondered what a Mexican boy raised as an Apache might look like, so utilizing some stills I took off the TV a month or so ago (the Mexican Pancho Villa movies that ran on the Westerns Channel), I extrapolated between Hispanic facial structure and Apache hairdos to end up with a laughing Beh-to:
I wanted to show Beh-to, not as a villain but a raider who likes to have a good time. I believe "Ya-Goosh" is a Navajo saying, but I seem to remember the Hualapais I grew up with using a similar expression, "Ya-Shoosh" which is a sort of catch-all expostulation like, "Oh, Man, that is funny," as in, "Ya-Goosh, that is funny."
Meanwhile, at lunch, I also did this scene as well, of one of Beh-to's men cornering Felix Ward in a peach tree. "Baje!" is Spanish for "Come down." Most Apaches spoke Spanish, and it's ironic that young Felix could speak both Spanish and English. He is about to learn a third language.
Normally, Apache raiders would kill a 12-year-old boy because by that age they are usually beyond molding, but Felix, who was in fact 12, looked young for his age. And, perhaps Beh-to saw himself in the young captivo.
"Quien sabe."
—Old Vaquero Saying ("Who knows?")
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