Cochise (ca. 1825-1874) was both hereditary and war chief of the Chiricahua Apache band of American Indians. His ability earned him the designation "the Apache Napoleon."

Born probably in southern Arizona, Cochise grew to imposing manhood. A newspaper correspondent in 1870 described him as 5 feet 9 1/2 inches tall, weighing 164 pounds, with broad shoulders, a stout frame, black eyes, high forehead, hair straight back, large nose, "scarred all over his body with buckshot," and "for an Indian, straight."

As leader of the Chiricahua Apache, Cochise fought the Mexicans relentlessly, as had been his tribe's custom for centuries. Often these raids were conducted in concert with the Warm Springs Apache, who were led by Mangas Coloradas.

Cochise maintained a strong friendship for Americans when they began arriving in numbers in Arizona during the 1850s until the "Bascom affair" of 1861, when Cochise was wrongly accused of kidnapping the stepson of an Arizona rancher...