Apache - by Will Levington Comfort (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

At the center of this stirring saga of the Apache-Anglo frontier is Mangas Colorados, the formidable chief of the "Red Paint People," or Eastern Chiricahua Apaches. Born about 1795 probably in southern New Mexico, the Apache warrior (popularly known as Mangus or Mangas Colorado) is shown to possess abilities and qualities of char-acter to merit the respect of both whites and Indians. In this fictionalized biography, Will Levington Comfort describes his education and rise to leadership and, most dramatically, his plan to unite his people in their struggle for survival. After a lifetime of avenging wrongs, Mangas Colorados faces a losing battle with U.S. troops in 1862. Will Levington Comfort's Apache has been cited by literary historian Lawrence Clark Powell as one of the two or three great books on the American Southwest.

From the Back Cover

At the center of this stirring saga of the Apache-Anglo frontier is Mangas Colorados, the formidable chief of the 'Red Paint People, ' or Eastern Chiricahua Apaches. Born about 1795 probably in southern New Mexico, the Apache warrior is shown to possess abilities and qualities of character to merit the respect of both whites and Indians. In this fictionalized biography, the author describes his education and rise to leadership and, most dramatically, his plan to unite his people in their struggle for survival.

Review Quotes

"[Comfort] has created for us the real Indian . . . in a manner that few scientists and no other writers have achieved."--Oliver La Farge, Books

"A sustained and informative piece of writing, as thrilling in its own fashion as a Wild West adventure tale."--New York Times

"Mangas Colorados is never idealized, never explained, never pitied. Mr. Comfort writes his story as an Indian might submit the chronicle of an Indian."--Times Literary Supplement

"Will Levington Comfort's Apache remains for me the most moving and incisive piece of writing on Indians of the Southwest that I have found."--J. Frank Dobie, Life and Literature of the Southwest