Merejildo Grijalva: Apache Captive, Army Scout (Southwestern Studies Series) [Paperback]

Edwin R. Sweeney (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874041910
• ISBN-13: 978-0874041910
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for western history buffs and students., May 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merejildo Grijalva: Apache Captive, Army Scout (Southwestern Studies Series) (Paperback)

Merejildo Grijalva was an Indian Scout who was captured by the Chiricahua Apaches in 1849 and lived more than a decade among the people under such renowned Native American leaders as Miguel Narbona, Mangas Coloradas, and Cochise. Indeed, it was Cochise who used Grijalva as his interpreter in the late 1850s. In 1859, Apache agent Michael Steck encouraged Grijalva to escape the Apaches and two years later aided the American army working in the New Mexico Territory and out of Fort Bowie, Arizona. Edwin Sweeney's Merejildo Grijalva: Apache Captive, Army Scout is number 96 in the University of Texas at El Paso Southwestern Studies series and a work of impeccable scholarship that will be much appreciated by students of Native American studies and western frontier history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!! Unique, true, and monumental, March 2, 2008

By 

John D. Garcia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Merejildo Grijalva: Apache Captive, Army Scout (Southwestern Studies Series) (Paperback)

For how many years had the Apaches lived and survived in the Southwest, even with Spanish, Mexican, and Americans aggression? And yet within a matter of a few short years after Merejildo Grijalva leaves the Apaches, are the Apaches forcefully removed form their homelands. The author demonstrates that the strongest reason for the subduing of the Apaches is because of the valuable information provided by Merejildo Grijalva and other scouts to the United States Army. Devastating campaigns against hidden Apache strongholds could be conducted by the U.S. Army, with Grijalva leading the way. In fact it is my opinion that if Grijalva hadn't left the apaches, the Apache wars could have waged on for at least another 10 or 20 years. What would that have meant for America? With 2 world wars on the horizon, could the Copper and Uranium rich Arizona and New mexico territories have been fully utilized by the U.S. when needed?
If the book has one draw back it is that I would have liked to have read more about Merejildo's life in Solomonville, Arizona. My own family (the Garcia's) Settled in Solomonville at this time and lived on a farm right next to merejildo's. I would have loved to have read how Merejildo received the Gila River land and also why he chose to live there. If I could gleen some insight into his decisions I could possibly understand why my ancesters did the same. Lastly, I wish that more information was uncovered concerning Merejildo's relationship with the Freighters of the area, particularly Tully and Ochoa (Run by Esteban Ochoa with Sydney Delong and Michael Steck as silent partners), Mariano and his mom Raphaela Barela of Mesilla, Ex-confederate Jack Swilling, and The Western end of the Butterfield Mail Company (Brad Daley, Price Cooper, Etc.)
Ultimately though this excellent Book brings out more hidden truth about the South west than many can fully, currently, comprehend! You need to buy this book to understand the Rise and Fall of the Apaches!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for a little known army scout, June 23, 2011

By 

Efrem Sepulveda "history geek" (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Merejildo Grijalva: Apache Captive, Army Scout (Southwestern Studies Series) (Paperback)

Edwin R. Sweeney's monograph on Merejildo Grijalva provides us with an extraordinary glimpse of the life of an army scout who was effective in his work in tracking down Apache Indians including the notorious Cochise. Born in Sonora, Mexico, Merejildo was captured and taken away by the Chokonen band of Chiracahua Apaches when he was nine years old and stayed among them for ten years until a stage station manager by the name of Tevis encouraged him to escape his captors.

Armed with the knowledge of the lands and terrain of the southeastern portion of Arizona and knowing the ways of the Indians of that area from his captivity, Grijalva was hired to track down Apaches for the purpose of launching retaliatory raids on Indians who committed depredations on lands and livestock of the Americans. As was common in this time of history, there were atrocities committed on both sides and Grijalva was indirectly involved as well being that his mother was also captured and enslaved to the indians so it seemed that he had a score to settle in terms at getting back at his former enslavers.

Grijalva was stationed at Camp Wallen as well as Fort Bowie and did scouting off and on and was an interpreter until the end of the Apache wars. He was mustered out afterward and spent the rest of his years in relative obscurity in Solomonville near present-day Safford, Arizona until his death from tuberculosis in 1912.

The book consisted of 60 pages of text, a good amount of endnotes and small bibliography. It also has some photographs and a helpful map at the beginning of the book. This was a quick read and I recommend it to anyone who wants a general overview of life in Apacheria at that time.