The government, unable to find an acceptable alternative, at last relented and established a Chihenne reservation at Ojo Caliente in 1874. Victorio and his people rejoiced; they could now live in their sacred homeland and care for it.

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But in 1877, policymakers decided to consolidate all the Apache bands at San Carlos, a hot, disease-ridden place on a parched stretch of the Gila River in Arizona. Victorio and his people were herded across the mountains to that desolate place. The men stayed only a few months before breaking away to head back toward their homes. Army patrols swarmed into the mountains of western New Mexico and edged Victorio northward until he surrendered at Fort Wingate. Not willing to care for the prisoners so close to the Navajos, who acted as scouts for the army and were enemies of the Apaches, the army moved them back to Ojo Caliente pending a decision on their future.

Still classified as prisoners of war, the Chihennes awaited the government’s decision with mounting frustration. Would they remain at Ojo Caliente, or would the army one day appear and force them to go back to San Carlos?

After two years of uncertainty and insecurity, and following yet another rumor that they were to be moved to San Carlos, Victorio had had enough. In the autumn of 1879, he declared war.

The United States had the full might of its army on its side, but several factors favored Victorio. First, of course, was Victorio himself—a splendid warrior and natural leader, who drew followers with his often-stated conviction that he would rather die than be sent back to San Carlos. Second was the physical endurance of his people, who were accustomed to traveling long distances, day and night, without rest, food, or water. Third was the tortuous nature of the country itself, the steep precipices and plunging canyons webbing the Black Range and Mogollon Mountains. The Chihennes knew every rocky height and sinuous crevice of the tangled land, and they knew how to position themselves on craggy elevations invulnerable to enemy assault and usually ideal for ambushing any pursuing force.

The Indians could also travel rapidly on fresh mounts. When their own began to break down, they simply stole remounts from the nearest ranch. (The cavalry, by contrast, had to pursue on horses that rapidly broke down in some of the most punishing mountains in the West.) Finally, the Chihennes knew well the safety offered by the international boundary: when too closely pressed, they could find refuge in Mexico.

Victorio faced a strong force, principally composed of black troopers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry, led by some of the army’s most skilled frontier fighters. The 9th garrisoned in New Mexico and the 10th in West Texas, into which Victorio’s band occasionally spilled.

Plagued in civilian life by racism and discrimination, blacks could find a better life in the military. The black regiments, therefore, boasted the highest reenlistment rates and the lowest desertion rates in the army.

Moreover, since the creation of their regiments at the close of the Civil War, they had been relegated to the harshest, most demanding sector of the Indian frontier. Their long service in the Southwest made them seasoned veterans.

So were their senior officers—all white, of course. Col. Edward Hatch commanded the 9th, Col. Benjamin H. Grierson the 10th. Both had endured their own share of discrimination. Coming out of the volunteer service in the Civil War as general officers, they attained colonelcies in the Regular Army because of distinguished wartime service. Such origins, rather than West Point and the Regulars, counted against them, as did their command of black regiments. Both passed their entire postwar careers—more than a quarter of a century—commanding these regiments.

Colonel Hatch also served as commander of the territory of New Mexico, headquartered in Santa Fe. His principal field commander was Maj. Alfred P. Morrow, a courageous, dogged field soldier who commanded all the troops in southern New Mexico, with headquarters at Fort Bayard. Once on the trail, he refused to let go.

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