The Arizona Republic ran one of my True West Moments yesterday on Sibi's Boys, about the group of San Carlos riders, Al Sieber, Mickey Free, Tom Horn and the Apache Kid who rode the res dispensing frontier justice as they saw it. I mentioned that this lasted until the Kid was outlawed and went to Mexico to live out his days. I got this curious response:
I read with considerable interest your article in the May 28 Republic about The Apache Kid. Your article states that the Kid fled to Mexico and was lost to history; that is one account I have read in past years. However, the attached photo shows a sign posted by the US Forest Service in the Blue Mountains of New Mexico that states that the Kid died at this tree. He was captured by a posse and hanged on the tree, and then buried at the base of the tree. My son and I located this spot after a 6 hour hike and then smoked my home made peace pipe while sitting on a mound of earth beneath the tree...that certainly looks like an old grave.
What do you think?
Ron Diegle
The Apache Kid Treed?
I have visited several Apache Kid caves in Arizona where he allegedly hid out. They may be true, but I take these with a grain of salt. His notoriety probably accounts for most of the naming. I have heard and read about several oldtimers who claimed they bagged the Kid but none of them have been proven. Most historians that I know concede he lived out his life somewhere in the Sierra Madres. In fact, that is the theme of our August issue which we are working on right now. I would classify this story, above, as one of those many stories, although I am curious about why the Forest Service would give it official sanction like this.
"History is something that never happened, written by someone who wasn't there."
—Old Vaquero Saying
No comments:
Post a Comment
Post your comments