Category: Native Americans

Apache Wars history book – “A Bad Peace and A Good War” (University of Oklahoma Press, 2018) – Mark Santiago interview

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Mark Santiago is a historian and director of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch heritage Museum.  He’s written articles and books on Spanish history in the Americas and we talk about his new book on the Spanish-Apache War of 1795. 

 0:52 – Mark talks about how he got into studying history.  He’s currently the head of a New Mexico museum.

2:00 – Mark talks about the details of the book.  It deals with a period of 30 years when the Spanish were trying to deal with the Apaches. Many historians have called this a period of peace but in 1795 there was a large scale conflict between the Mescalero and the Spanish.

6:53 – Mark talks about the basis for Mescalero resistance to Spain.  This includes conflict with other Native American groups.

19:01 – Mark talks about the demographics and population patterns in this area in the late 18th century.

24:59 – Mark talks about the size and make-up of the garrisons in the Presidios.  He also discusses their weapons, armor and tactics. There is a lot of similarity to what the US cavalry did a hundred years later.

32:15 – Mark talks about cannons at the Presidios, the effectivness of the Presidios in controlling war parties, and where the troops at the Presidios came from.

 42:00 – Mark talks about three Presidios of Indian soldierson the northern frontier.

43:55 – Mark talks about the resources he used for the book.

58:55 – Mark talks about the end of the Spanish Empire.

1:09:20 – Mark can be reached at msantiagobooks@gmail.com to answer questions about his work.

Links of interest

https://www.oupress.com/books/15037346/a-bad-peace-and-a-good-war
http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Mark Santiago

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict,war, interview, non-fiction book, Spanish borderlands, Bourbon reforms, Apaches,New Mexico, French, british, Spanish Empire, Spain, Arizona, Texas, Comanche.Bernardo De Galvez, reservations, presidios, Lepan, Chiracahua, Revolutionary France, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, carbines, dragoons, Carlos III

Apache Wars history book – “The Black Legend: George Bascom, Cochise, and the Start of the Apache Wars” (TwoDot, 2018) – Doug Hocking interview

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Doug Hocking has lived in the American Southwest for much of his life. He’s written lots of western historical fiction and non-fiction. We discussed his latest book on Cochise and the Apache War of 1861.

0:50 – Doug talks about how he got into studying the Apache Wars. He grew up on the Jicarilla Apache reservation. He got into studying the Bascom and Cochise affair and found many discrepancies in the accepted story.

6:32 – Doug talks about how he starts the story in 1856. He then gets into how the Apache War started.

13:57 – Doug talks about the differences between US Army and Native American tactics.

He talks about terrain and weapons. He also talks about rations and food for each side.

19:00 – Doug talks about why he considers Cochise the best Apache leader in history.

22:32 – Doug talks about the relationships between the area tribes. He also talks about how the Apache Indians learned how to raid for spoils.

25:16 – Doug talks about how various groups in the area were armed.

29:08 – Doug talks about Apache clothing and how it was affected by combat. He also talks about clothing worn by US soldiers.

37:01 – Doug talks about the US Army were supplied in the area.

39:28 – Doug talks about who had to serve out in this area.

44:04 – Doug talks about what the forts were like in the area.

47:37 – Doug talks about the newspapers and other resources he used. He also mentions some Mexican records hat are useful to this research.

54:40 – Doug came to dislike Rueben Bernard.

58:07 – He’s on DougHocking.com and his books are there as well as on Amazon.

Links of interest

http://doughocking.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Doug Hocking

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, California, Texas, US Civil War, Bascome, Cochise, Apaches, dragoons, Utes, Embudo mountains, Fort Union, Fort Buchanan, Santa fe, General Buell, West Point, Fort Massachusetts, Fort Defiance, Fort Cummings, Army posts, adobe, jachal, Tucson