Shadow of the Wolf: An Apache Tale

319 Pages·1997·0.74 MB·English

by  Harry James Plumlee

title: Shadow of the Wolf : An Apache Tale
author: Plumlee, Harry James.
publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
isbn10 | asin: 0806129050
print isbn13: 9780806129051
ebook isbn13: 9780585156033
language: English
Indians of North America--Arizona--Wars--
subject
Fiction, Apache Indians--Wars--Fiction.
publication date: 1997
lcc: PS3566.L76S53 1997eb
ddc: 813/.54
Indians of North America--Arizona--Wars--
subject:
Fiction, Apache Indians--Wars--Fiction.
Page i
Shadow of the Wolf
An Apache Tale
By Harry James Plumlee
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS
Norman and London
This is a work of fiction. Although some of the names, characters, places, and incidents
are based on historical fact, their depiction is a product of the author's imagination.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Plumlee, Harry James, 1944
Shadow of the wolf: an Apache tale / by Harry James Plumlee. p. cm.
ISBN: 0-8061-2905-0 (alk. paper)
1. Indians of North AmericaArizonaWarsFiction. 2. Apache IndiansWarsFiction. I. Title.
PS3566.L76S563 1997
813'.54dc20 96-34556
CIP
Text design by Cathy Carney Imboden.
Text is set in Baskerville.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources, Inc.
Copyright © 1997 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division
of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Page v
In loving memory of my mother,
Clara Plumlee
Page vii
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to all of those who offered encouragement, suggestions
on my manuscript, or editorial assistance. They include Tom Bone,
Pam Bone, Travis Bone, Danielle Terrasi, and my wife, Valerie Ann
Plumlee.
Chapter epigraphs consisting of previously published copyrighted
material are used by permission of the publishers. The epigraphs for
chapters 2, 4, and 23 are from Western Apache Raiding and Warfare:
From the Notes of Grenville Goodwin, edited by Keith H. Basso,
copyright University of Arizona press, 1971; the epigraphs for
chapters 5, 15, and 26 are from Apache Days and After, by Thomas
Cruse, copyright Caxton Printers, 1941; the epigraph for chapter 6 is
from With the Scouts and Cavalry at Fort Apache, by Col. H. B.
Wharfield, copyright Arizona Historical Society, 1965; the epigraph
for chapter 18 is from John Spring's Arizona, edited by A. M.
Gustafson, copyright University of Arizona Press, 1966.
Page 2
Apacheria, circa 1870
Page 3
1
The Apache had few wants and cared for no luxuries. War was his business,
his life, and victory his dream. To attack a Mexican camp or isolated village,
he would gladly travel hundreds of miles, incurring every risk.
John G. Bourke,
General Crook in the Indian Country
"It is good to kill Mexicans," considered Nakaidoklinni as he signaled
to Sanchez to keep the horses quiet. The trap was nearly sprung, and
once more parting the grama grass, he spied, with steadfast
anticipation in his heart, on the dusty track below. A conducta. This
was his third raid to Mexico and always before they had taken horses,
cattle, or burros from isolated ranchos, happy to be given meat to take
back to the gota. But now, a small conducta was wending its way, one
hoofed step at a time, to the narrow passage where the white rocks
constricted the canyon far below the crest of the hill.
One, two, three burros reappeared from the obscuring mesquite, then
three more, pushed by two Mexicans on horses, each leading a mule.
Now the faint tink of the bell could be heard from the lead burro
urging the others onward to the white rocks. Nakaidoklinni offered
prayer using the special words of war language that he and Sanchez
had learned. He prayed that the power of the warriors would be
Page 4
strong, and that killing the Mexicans would be like killing a deer or
even a rabbit; but he was careful to ask this in a humble way because
boastful pride or too much confidence must be guarded against when
on a raid.
The lead burro raised its shaggy gray head and picked up the pace,
scenting the water flowing from the spring in the rocks. Its pack
jounced unevenly in response to the jerky gait. There was something
strange on the last Mexican, thought Nakaidoklinni. He saw a brown
belt around his waist, and as he wondered what it might be, it
disappeared behind the man and then moved again into view. So! He
has a child with him. How old, he wondered. Is it a boy or a girl? It
shouldn't be long until he would have the answer to his question. The
last burro had splashed into the sandy basin at the foot of the rocks
and was drinking thirstily from the cool, clear waters.
Nakaidoklinni was tense and utterly still. Only his eyes moved as he
searched for any movement, any sign from below that the Mexican
conducta was about to belong to the raiding Apaches. The last horse
had now appeared. Just as the child slid off, the man slumped in the
saddle, and then Nakaidoklinni heard the shot. In the time it takes to
cut the throat of a deer so it will bleed, it was over. Two arrows
pierced the front man as he sprawled face down in the water. The
other had fallen from his mount, but one foot hung in the stirrup, and
he was being dragged by the now panicked horse. Six warriors were
in view, and one lunged for the reins of the horse, catching it as it tried
to run up the narrow trail. Nakaidoklinni could not tell who caught the
horse. From this distance each figure seemed to be the same naked
Apache with a breechcloth, but he saw the warrior raise his lance
against the hated Mexican, banishing

Page 5
any life that he may have harbored as his foot finally rolled from the
stirrup. Nakaidoklinni could hear the terrified cries of the child, even
from where he kept his vigil, as another warrior tucked the young
Mexican under his arm, having blocked his path of escape. Sanchez
was watching expectantly and understood as he saw his friend hold up
the flat of his hand and then make a fist. All had gone just as Coyote
Waits had foreseen.
"Enju," thought Nakaidoklinni. It is good. This raiding path had begun
with the approach of the season called Ghost Face. Each new day
notched another line on the time stick he carried in his quiver, and
there were thirty-four days marked so far. Coyote Waits had told the
gota that they would return in forty days.
On Nakaidoklinni's first raid, in his fifteenth winter, the band had
returned as they departed, but with emptier stomachs and poorer
moccasins. Tragedy had caught them as they drove the Mexican stock
into the valley of the Rio Magdalena, where they were ambushed by
the Mexican cavalry. Two brave men had been killed, forcing the
Apaches to abandon the herd and scatter to the hills to meet again at
Big Cottonwoods Standing on the San Pedro.
The second raid followed quickly after the first so the dead could be
avenged. A large herd of cattle and horses was seized, and the
Mexicans paid many times for the death they had dared to inflict.
Nakaidoklinni had been given a horse and three cows for his bravery
and discipline, and people were heard to say that he would be a man.
He was not afraid to be a raider. Coyote Waits had told how
Nakaidoklinni gathered wood, made fire, cooked the horse meat, and
did all that he was told. As all novices were instructed, he carefully
observed and learned while