Known as “The Apache Napoleon”, Cochise was war chief of the Chiricahua Apache tribe and fought tirelessly against the American and Mexican armies and settlers for many years. Cochise originally befriended white settlers until he was wrongly accused of kidnapping and several of his relatives were executed in retaliation in 1861. From that point on, Cochise made it his mission to kill as many white men as possible in Arizona. The following year, Cochise and his followers took on the U.S. Army in the battle at Apache Pass. (Although he lost that engagement, Cochise continued his attacks on settlements and travelers on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border until signing a peace treaty with the U.S. in 1872. He died on a reservation a couple of years later.)

Ça, c’est le point de départ, la grande histoire qui fournit le petit scénario. Ensuite, il y a des gentils et des méchants côté Apaches comme côté visages pâles, ce qui permet toutes sortes d’interactions dramatiques appuyées par des sonneries de clairon et des dialogues plein d’emphase, sous les yeux écarquillés des jolies dames. Toute une époque.