Jicarilla War

Jicarilla War
Part of the Apache Wars, Ute Wars, Texas-Indian Wars
Kit Carson in 1854 by William Ranney
Date 1849 - 1855 Location New Mexico Territory, Texas Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Apache Ute
Commanders and leaders
Philip St. George Cooke John Davidson Kit Carson	Lobo Blanco † Flechas Rayada Chacon

The Jicarilla War began in 1849 and was fought between the Jicarilla Apaches and the United States military in the New Mexico Territory. Ute warriors also played a significant role in the conflict as they were allied with the Jicarillas. The war started when the Apaches and Utes began raiding against settlers on the Santa Fe Trail. Eventually, in 1853, the American army retaliated which resulted in a series of battles and campaigns that ended in 1854 when a large military expedition managed to quell most of the violence. However, some minor skirmishing continued into 1855.

Dolores Gunnerson argues that "the Jicarillas would have transferred their allegiance to the Americans and served them as faithfully as they had served the Spaniards if the Anglos had been willing to accept them as "friends" and allies." She further states that "the Jicarilla were at war with the United States for only a year and a half and spent nearly all that period eluding the troops rather than fighting."

The war began in 1849 when a wagon of settlers was killed by a band of Jicarillas and Utes. The event, sometimes referred to as the White Massacre received considerable publicity at the time and did much to prejudice the Anglo population against the tribe. A year later a group of mail carriers were killed in what is called the Wagon Mound Massacre. Various incidents in the next half decade would raise the tensions between the Americans and the Jicarillas, leading both sides to increasingly mistrust the other until the winter of 1853 to 1854 when the army began operations.

In February 1854 a government beef contractor near Fort Union, New Mexico reported to the army that several of his cattle had been stolen by the Jicarillas so in response, a troop of dragoons from the 2nd Cavalry were sent to retrieve the stolen property. On March 5, Lieutenant Bell encountered a group of warriors under Chief Lobo Blanco, out on the Canadian River. It was uncertain whether Lobo Blanco and his followers were responsible for the stolen property but the army had long suspected Lobo Blanco's band of killing white and Hispanic settlers. A battle then ensued which left the chief and four of his warriors dead while the Americans lost two men. On the next day, the conflict escalated when a band of Jicarillas and Utes raided a herd of cattle near Fort Union, killing two herdsmen in the process. After that the United States Army 1st Cavalry Regiment launched an expedition into Apacheria. The first engagement was fought on March 30 when First Lieutenant John Davidson's launched an unauthorized attack on a Jicarilla village near the present day Pilar, New Mexico.

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Wikipedia