I lived for 21 years on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and I worked in the emergency room as the nursing supervisor in the San Carlos Apache hospital. My father in law was the grandson of an Apache chief named Capitan Chiquito. I lived with my father in law for seven years until his death, and it was him that first got me interested in Capitan Chiquito.
When my wife passed away in 2013, I retired from Indian Health Service. I had the privilege of witnessing a generation of Apache tribal members grow from infancy to adulthood. I stayed in San Carlos for one year after my retirement to finish writing my book on Capitan Chiquito, which I had been researching for many years. If I did not finish this story it would be lost.
Capitan Chiquito lived a fascinating life from 1821 to 1919. As a war chief he fought the Mexicans, then he fought the Americans. He lost several family members in the infamous Camp Grant massacre. He went with a delegation of Apache chiefs to Washington D.C., where he met President Grant. He eventually joined the U.S. Army as an Apache scout. He spent three years in prison with Geronimo for helping the Apache Kid after his escape while in route to the Yuma Territorial prison. After his release from the federal prison at Mount Vernon, Alabama, he returned to San Carlos. He was eventually able to obtain ownership of 160 acres of land where the Camp Grant massacre took place on Aravaipa Creek. He was able to live in peace there for the last years of his life. He had a green thumb and grew fruits and vegetables that he sold in nearby towns. Capitan Chiquito lived almost 100 years, and he died helping other victims in the canyon who were dying from the greatest pandemic ever to occur in the United States.
There are over 600 biographies written about the life of Geronimo, but this is the first written about Capitan Chiquito. The man who did the Forward for my story is Karl Jacoby, who teaches history at Columbia University. I first met Karl when he came the reservation to research his book, Shadows at Dawn, about the Camp Grant massacre. Karl encouraged me to also make my book a memoir of my 21 years on the San Carlos Apache reservation, so it is really a story within a story.
My new wife is named Yan Yan Sun and we moved to Vail 2 years ago. We also started a Naturopathic Medical Clinic in Vail. Yan Yan was a physician in China and is a widow like myself. In Arizona she is licensed as a massage therapist. I am licensed as a registered nurse and a Naturopathic Physician.
My book was published by Texas A&M University Press. They had two southwestern historians review the book and suggest some changes, so it has gone through a few revisions. I tried to make it readable and not boring. If you are interested in my book, it is available through the Texas A&M Press and also Amazon and Barnes and Noble. If you would like a signed copy you can come by my office at 13180 E Colossal Cave Road Suite 140. It would be best to call first to make sure I am available at 928-812-2152. The title of the book is Capitan Chiquito: A Personal History of an Apache Chief 1821-1919.
