The Apache Wars and the Swiss Sergeant, John Spring

Authors

Albert Winkler, Utah Valley University

Keywords

Apache, Apache Wars, Swiss, Swiss Sergeant, John Spring

Abstract

The Apache Wars were a series of conflicts that comprised the longest sequence of confrontations between a Native American Nation and the white Americans of the United States. These largely took place starting with the first US military incursions into the American Southwest in 1846 during the War with Mexico and lasted until Geronimo’s final surrender in 1886. While most of the fighting occurred in the modern US states of Arizona and New Mexico, yet much of the warfare was between the Mexicans and the Apaches dating back to the seventeenth century. Those wars were very costly in lives and resources on both sides of the conflicts. They also took place over such a lengthy period of time that they involved generations of participants on both sides. The ultimate defeat of the Apache peoples meant the destruction of their culture and represents yet another crime the United States government inflicted on the American Indians.

Recommended Citation

Winkler, Albert (2022) "The Apache Wars and the Swiss Sergeant, John Spring," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 58: No. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol58/iss2/2