Santana : War Chief of the Mescalero Apaches

Students of the Mescalero Apache have long used the Blazer Family Papers, found in the Rio Grande Historical Collection, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. Combining this source and others, editor Pruit, who grew up near the Mescalero Reservation, revives Mescalero expert Blazer's 1930s manuscript, a biography of Santana as Blazer's father, Dr. Joseph H. Blazer, knew him in the 1870s. Although not as well known today as Geronimo, Barranquito, or others, Santana (1810?-76) was considered one of the "worst" Apaches, whose ambush and murder of Capt. Henry Stanton in 1855 led to a 15-year self-exile. Returning in the calmer 1870s, Santana became a visitor and later a smallpox patient of Dr. Blazer. Blazer came to admire the intelligent chief, who had become resigned to white ways. This sympathetic account reveals new information about Santana, although mysteries remain. The book's greatest value is in its description of Mescalero culture, reflecting the unique knowledge the author and his father had of the tribe.Drawn from priceless firsthand accounts of the years 1862 to 1880, this book tells the story of a great Mescalero war chief who was targeted for death by the U.S. military as a dangerous renegade. His gifts as leader and negotiator eventually won Santana the confidence of the U.S. government, enabling him to save his people from extermination and secure a reservation on their New Mexico homeland. Written in the 1940s, Almer N. Blazer's factually based novel presents Indian history from an Indian perspective. A neighbor and close friend of the Mescalero, Blazer faithfully transmitted the oral history and cultural traditions he was exposed to, presenting a vital picture of tribal life, customs, and religious beliefs. The story of Santana himself comes from Dr. J. H. Blazer, the author's father, who was Santana's close friend and ally in negotiations with the government. The book includes rare early photographs of the Mescalero Apache.