The Wrath of Cochise: The Bascom Affair and the Origins of the Apache Wars

In February 1861, the twelve-year-old son of Arizona rancher John Ward was kidnapped by Apaches.Ward followed their trail and reported the incident to patrols at Fort Buchanan, blaming a band of Chiricahuas led by the infamous warrior Cochise.Though Ward had no proof that Cochise had kidnapped his son, Lt.George Bascom organized a patrol and met with the Apache leader, who, not suspecting anything was amiss, had brought along his wife, his brother, and two sons.Despite Cochise's assertions that he had not taken the boy and his offer to help in the search, Bascom immediately took Cochise's family hostage and demanded the return of the boy.An incensed Cochise escaped the meeting tent amidst flying bullets and vowed revenge.What followed that precipitous encounter would ignite a Southwestern frontier war between the Chiricahuas and the US Army that would last twenty-five years.In the days following the initial melee, innocent passersby-Apache, white, and Mexican-would be taken as hostages