As a member of the Mimbreno Apache, Mangas Coloradas (ca. 1790-1863) was a leader in the early years of the Apache Wars of the 1860s.

Some authorities cite Mangas Coloradas as the most significant Apache war chief of the nineteenth century, although some dispute whether he was formally recognized as their chief. Americans and Hispanics of the period described Mangas as an influential statesman, diplomat, and sage, as well as a ferocious, uncompromising, and brutal butcher who laid waste huge tracts of northern Mexico, all of Arizona, and much of New Mexico. His name was synonymous with terror. Despite his apparent penchant for violence, however, he was said to be a peace-loving man whose only interest was in preventing the Hispanics and Americans from overrunning his people's lands.

A member of the Mimbreno ("Willow") band of the eastern Chihenne ("Red Paint People") Apache, Mangas Coloradas was born between...