[[Mohave people|Mohave]]
[[Yavapai people|Yavapai]]
[[Apache]]"},"combatant2":{"wt":"[[Maricopa people|Maricopa]]
[[Pima people|Pima]]"},"commander1":{"wt":"[[Francisco (war chief)|Francisco]]{{KIA}}"},"commander2":{"wt":"unknown"},"strength1":{"wt":"~300"},"strength2":{"wt":"unknown"},"casualties1":{"wt":"~200 killed or wounded"},"casualties2":{"wt":"unknown"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .desktop-float-right{box-sizing:border-box;float:right;clear:right}}.mw-parser-output .infobox.vevent .status>p:first-child{margin:0}
Battle of Pima Butte | |||||||
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Part of the American Indian Wars | |||||||
![]() An American wagon train and Maricopas at Maricopa Wells in 1857. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Yuma Mohave Yavapai Apache | Maricopa Pima | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Francisco † | unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~300 | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
~200 killed or wounded | unknown |
The Battle of Pima Butte, or the Battle of Maricopa Wells, was fought on September 1, 1857 at Pima Butte, Arizona near Maricopa Wells in the Sierra Estrella. Yuma, Mohave, Apache and Yavapai warriors attacked a Maricopa village named Secate in one of the largest battles in Arizona's history. It was also the last major battle fought by the Yumas and the last major battle fought solely between Native Americans in North America. [1]
For hundreds of years prior to 1857, the Yumas and the Maricopas were enemies. On many occasions the two tribes would gather their warriors together at the peak of Berdache Mountain. There the two sides would shout insults at each other before fighting a battle. Chief Francisco of the Yuma led the combined army which numbered at least 300 men and they arrived near Secate on August 31, 1857. Francisco began his attack the following morning and captured the Maricopa village and began burning the structures. The Yumas and their allies had just walked 160 miles over the course of eight days so Francisco's men were tired and hungry. As a result, the Yumas and their allies made the deadly mistake of remaining in the burning village to rest and eat the captured Maricopa food. [2]
When Francisco's army attacked, the surviving women and children fled for protection to Pima Butte, which was just to the south of the village. The warriors gathered as well and sent a distress call to the nearby Pima villages. The Pima sent all of their warriors in the area and a counterattack was then launched. But before the Maricopa and Pima arrived, all of the Apaches, Yavapais and most of the Mohaves fled, leaving the remaining Yumas and Mohaves outnumbered. The Maricopa and Pima forces, some mounted on horses, surrounded the attackers before annihilating them. Most of the Yumas and Mohaves were killed, including Chief Francisco. On or about September 11, traveler John B. Hilton visited the battlefield and later wrote that he observed ninety bodies in one spot, lying on the ground in every kind of position. [3]
The San Diego Herald mistakenly reported on September 12 that the battle was a three-sided engagement between the Pima, Yuma and the Maricopa all against each other. At the same time the Daily Alta California reported that the battle was
....seldom equaled in Indian warfare. It is reported that 150 to 160 allied Indians, being nearly of quite the entire party, were left dead in the field.
The allies referred to the Yuma who after the Yuma War became good neighbors with the Americans on the California side of the Colorado River. In a later article, the San Diego Herald stated the following;
....from all accounts it would appear that this battle, in which the Maricopas and their allies the Pima so bravely defended their homes, destroying nearly the whole force which came into battle against them, is the largest Indian fight in this region for years. [4]
The Maricopa or Piipaash are a Native American tribe, who live in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community along with the Pima, a tribe with whom the Maricopa have long held a positive relationship. The Maricopa at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community consist mostly of Xalychidom Piipaash members and are concentrated in Lehi. The Maricopa at the Gila River Indian Community are concentrated in Maricopa Colony. The Maricopa are a River Yuman group, formerly living along the banks of the Colorado River.
Indigenous peoples of Arizona are the Native American people who currently live or have historically lived in what is now the state of Arizona. There are 22 federally recognized tribes in Arizona, including 17 with reservations that lie entirely within its borders. Reservations make up over a quarter of the state's land area. Arizona has the third largest Native American population of any U.S. state.
Olive Ann Oatman was a White American woman who was enslaved and later released by Native Americans in the Mojave Desert region when she was a teenager. She later lectured about her experiences.
The Estrella Mountains or The Sierra Estrella is a mountain range located southwest of Phoenix, Arizona. Much of the range falls within the Gila River Indian Reservation, but 14,400 acres (5,800 ha) of BLM land is protected as the Sierra Estrella Wilderness, and is also located near Goodyear, Arizona
The Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona or Tonto Apache is a federally recognized tribe of Western Apache people located in northwestern Gila County, Arizona. The term "Tonto" is also used for their dialect, one of the three dialects of the Western Apache language, a member of Southern Athabaskan language family. The Tonto Apache Reservation is the smallest land base reservation in the state of Arizona.
The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Their Yavapai language belongs to the Upland Yuman branch of the proposed Hokan language family.
The Qahatika were a Native American tribe of the Southwestern United States and lived in the vicinity of present-day Quijotoa, Arizona.
The Yuma War was the name given to a series of United States military operations conducted in Southern California and what is today southwestern Arizona from 1850 to 1853. The Quechan were the primary opponent of the United States Army, though engagements were fought between the Americans and other native groups in the region.
The Mohave War was an armed conflict between the Mohave people and the United States from 1858 to 1859. With the California Gold Rush of 1849, thousands of American settlers headed west through Mohave country and into California. The influx of migrants passing through, combined with simple misunderstandings, led to conflict. Fort Mohave on the Arizona side of the Colorado River was built for operations against the Mohave and was the second American military post established on the river after Fort Yuma. Eventually advantages in weaponry and tactics brought the Mohave and their allies to surrender. After the signing of a peace treaty in 1859, the Mohave no longer opposed the United States through warfare. The peace also ended a long guerrilla war between the Mohave and the Maricopa of south central Arizona.
The 6th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which met in Tucson beginning on January 11, 1871, and ran until February 14, 1871.
The Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the Yavapai and Tonto tribes against the United States in the Arizona Territory. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a band of the Western Apache people due to their close relationship with tribes such as the Tonto and Pinal. The war culminated with the Yavapai's removal from the Camp Verde Reservation to San Carlos on February 27, 1875, an event now known as Exodus Day.
The Hualapai War, or Walapai War, was an armed conflict fought from 1865 to 1870 between the Hualapai native Americans and the United States in Arizona Territory. The Yavapai also participated on the side of the Hualapai and Mohave scouts were employed by the United States Army. Following the death of the prominent Yavapai leader Anasa in April 1865, the natives began raiding American settlements which provoked a response by the United States Army forces stationed in the area. By the spring of 1869 disease forced the majority of the Hualapais to surrender though some skirmishing continued for almost two more years.
Pima Villages, sometimes mistakenly called the Pimos Villages in the 19th century, were the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee-Posh (Maricopa) villages in what is now the Gila River Indian Community in Pinal County, Arizona. First, recorded by Spanish explorers in the late 17th century as living on the south side of the Gila River, they were included in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, then in Provincias of Sonora, Ostimuri y Sinaloa or New Navarre to 1823. Then from 1824 to 1830, they were part of the Estado de Occidente of Mexico and from September 1830 they were part of the state of Sonora. These were the Pima villages encountered by American fur trappers, traders, soldiers and travelers along the middle Gila River from 1830s into the later 19th century. The Mexican Cession following the Mexican American War left them part of Mexico. The 1853 Gadsden Purchase made their lands part of the United States, Territory of New Mexico. During the American Civil War, they became part of the Territory of Arizona.
Irataba was a leader of the Mohave Nation, known as a mediator between the Mohave and the United States. He was born near the Colorado River in present-day Arizona. Irataba was a renowned orator and one of the first Mohave to speak English, a skill he used to develop relations with the United States.
Sacate is a populated place in the Middle Gila River Valley area, within Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Located 8 mi (13 km) north of Maricopa on the south side of the Gila River near Pima Butte, Sacate was an Pima village, a railroad station of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and a Catholic mission. It had originally been called Sacaton Station but the name was shortened to its current version in 1904.