The Apache Kid

“Ever felt you were caught between a rock and a hard place” or “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t”? That must have been the feeling of the Apache Kid in 1887 Arizona. His correct name was Haskay-bay-nay-ntay, but the whites found the name too difficult to pronounce, so they called him, the Apache Kid. The Kid’s troubles are well told in the groundbreaking Court-Martial of Apache Kid - Renegade of Renegades written by Clare V. McKanna, Jr. published by Texas Tech University Press. A renegade is a deserter, a rebel, or one who rejects an allegiance. The author, a history teacher at San Diego State University takes us through the Kid’s many problems struggling with the laws of three strong legal systems - Apache, military, and civil.

When the Apache Kid left his military post, he felt that he was an unemployed since Indian scouts worked only when needed.  When he  traveled south to avenge the murder of his grandfather, the Kid was following Indian custom or to him, Apache law. The military charged him with desertion and mutiny.  He was to be imprisoned at the infamous Yuma Territorial Prison but escaped from Gila County sheriff.  Although he had served as a faithful scout to the famous Al Sieber, the Kid was being hunted by not only the military but civil authorities.

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