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Chief Nana
(1810-1895)
Warriors Citation
Nana's military pursuits encompassed the period from the 1860s to the 1880s. He fought throughout the Apache Wars from the
1860s to 1880s with most of the famous Apache leaders, including Mangas Coloradas, Victorio, and Geronimo. In 1880, when Victorio
died in Mexico, Nana became chief of the more militant Apaches, while the moderates supported the leadership of Loco. In summer
1881, an aging Nana with about fifteen Mimbrenos and two dozen Mescaleros began raids on settlers and attacked an army wagon
train. Traversing more than twelve hundred miles, Nana's band engaged in eight battles that summer, slaying seventy-five to
one hundred whites and seizing several hundred head of livestock. As a result of these depredations, the Ninth Cavalry under
Colonel Edward Hatch and several citizen posses were dispatched to subdue Nana and his followers.
Fleeing back accross the Rio grande into the Sierra Madre of Mexico, he combined his forces with Geronimo, Loco, Juh, Naiche,
and Chato. All had recently left the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. In 1882, Nana was captured and forced to settle
on the San Carlos Reservation, but in 1885 he fled San Carlos for the Sierra Madre once again with Geronimo, Naiche, and several
other chiefs. After eluding capture for about a year, he surrendered for the last time in March 1886. Initially, Nana and
many other militant Apache war chiefs were shipped to Florida. Eventually, he ended up at Fort Sill in Indian Terretory, where
he was given some land. It was at Fort Sill, while in his eighties and still resisting white control, that Nana died around
1895. He is buried in the Apache cemetery outside of Fort Sill. From: historical accounts & records
LINK TO BRAVEHORSE WARRIORS VOLUME TWO
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