Chatto (Apache)

Chatto

Chatto (1860–1934) was a Chiricahua Apache subchief who later became an Apache Scout. Following his service as a scout he was taken prisoner after being coerced to travel to Washington, D.C. Chatto was imprisoned in St. Augustine, Florida along with almost 500 other Apache at Fort Marion.^[1]

The McComas massacre was the name given to an incident which occurred in southwestern New Mexico Territory on the afternoon of March 28, 1883. Former Union soldier and a prior judge, Hamilton C. McComas, his wife Juniatta and six-year-old son Charlie were attacked by a Chiricahua war party led by Chatto while on the road between Silver City and Lordsburg, New Mexico. McComas died of gunshot wounds and his wife was killed by a blow to the head. The fate of Charlie was never ascertained as there were a variety of conflicting reports. The incident made national headlines at the time being reported in newspapers across the country.^[2]

References

1. ^ The Apache prisoners in Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida by Herbert Welsh (1887) p. 7
2. ^ Massacre on the Lordsburg Road: A Tragedy of the Apache Wars, by Marc Simmons, p. 16 Texas A&M University Press, College Station, (1997).