By Jan Cleere
Few records exist detailing the life of the Apache warrior Lozen who rode beside her brother, Chief Victorio, during the height of the Indian wars. With valor, determination, and perseverance, she played an important role in western history, as did many other women who gave their lives during the early years of westward expansion.
A Chihenne Apache, Lozen was born sometime between the mid 1830s and mid 1840s, probably in what is now southwestern New Mexico, an area known as Warm Springs, or Ojo Caliente. According to legend, Ussen, the Apache Creator of Life, gave Lozen the power to detect enemies from great distances. With outstretched arms, palms up, she would turn to follow the sun. When she felt a tingling in her hands, and her palms darkened, she knew from which direction the enemy would come.
Lozen sat beside her brother, Chief Victorio, at council meetings and participated in warrior ceremonies. Very few Apache women reached the status Lozen experienced.
Hostilities between incoming Europeans and the Apaches escalated by the early 1860s. Chief Victorio had signed several peace treaties with the United States, but few had been honored.
To retaliate for the stealing of their land, Chief Victorio’s band, including Lozen, ransacked encroaching settlements. But by 1876, the military had forced the Chihenne onto the San Carlos Indian Reservation, a desolate, unhealthy expanse in southeast Arizona known as “Hell’s Forty Acres.”
The Chihenne bristled under strict reservation rules imposed on them and in 1877, 300 Chihenne, led by Chief Victorio and Lozen, escaped from San Carlos.
An Apache named James Kawakla provided one of the few firsthand accounts of Lozen’s bravery and tenacity. James was just a young boy when he saw her as she was riding into a river while guiding the Chihenne as they fled from San Carlos.
“There was a commotion and the long line parted to let a rider through,” James later wrote. “I saw a magnificent woman on a beautiful black horse—Lozen, sister of Victorio. Lozen, the woman warrior! High above her head she held her rifle. There was a glitter as her right foot lifted & struck the shoulder of her horse. He reared, then plunged into the torrent. She turned his head upstream, and he began swimming.”
Victorio and his people fled into the mountains, but the military pursued. Battles took a devastating toll.
During one skirmish with ammunition running low, Lozen agreed to make the long trip back to the Mescalero Reservation and return with more ammunition as well as additional warriors. She always felt it her duty to protect the women and children of the tribe, so she agreed to take with her a young pregnant woman who wanted to return to the reservation.
Shortly after the two women set out, Lozen hid the pregnant woman in a wash and stood guard as soldiers passed by, and the woman silently gave birth.
The search for water became a major issue. Lozen killed a calf and used its stomach for makeshift canteen, but it held only a small supply. An unexpected encounter with a lone soldier allowed Lozen to relieve him of his rifle, his ammunition, a blanket, and his life. But most treasured was his canteen.
Finally arriving at the Mescalero Reservation, Lozen learned that on October 14, 1880, her brother Victorio and seventy-eight of his followers had been killed in Mexico at the battle of Tres Castillos. Sixty-eight were taken prisoner, with only seventeen escaping. Lozen joined the few remaining Apaches to avenge Victorio’s death.
The Chihenne eventually rode into Mexico and joined forces with the Chiracahua Apache warrior Geronimo who had also escaped from the San Carlos Reservation.
In September 1886, with over 5,000 military troops hunting him down, Geronimo surrendered. Lozen was with him along with just a handful of men, women, and children.
The Apaches were taken to an encampment at Fort Marion, Florida, where they lived about a year before being relocated to Mt. Vernon Barracks north of Mobile, Alabama. Many died from illnesses such as diphtheria and tuberculosis.
Lozen lasted less than three years. On June 17, 1889, she died from tuberculosis and is buried in an unmarked grave.
Lozen represents many more women who must be recognized and acknowledged. Only through their bravery, fortitude and persistence did the west develop and prosper.
Jan Cleere is an author, historian, and lecturer. This article is a preview of a presentation she will make at the Fifteenth Annual Western History Symposium that will be held at the Prescott Centennial Center on August 4th. The Symposium is co-sponsored by the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral and is open to the public free of charge. For more details, call the Museum at 445-3122 or visit the sponsors’ websites at www.sharlothallmuseum.org and www.prescottcorral.org.
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at https://sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles.l. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org. Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 2, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.