Mangas Coloradas

Mangas Coloradas was a leading Mimbreño Apache chief who resisted Mexican and United States encroachment in the south-west. He formed alliances with other Apache leaders, including his son-in-law Cochise, and was involved in decades of conflict shaped by mining, settlement and retaliatory violence. In 1863 he entered a United States camp under a flag of truce, was detained and killed by soldiers.

Lucia St. Clair Robson’s Ghost Warrior places Mangas Coloradas within the older generation that shaped Lozen’s world. Historical fiction often uses his death as evidence of the collapse of negotiation and the danger of trusting military assurances. His career also helps explain why later Apache leaders viewed confinement and peace proposals with profound suspicion.