Mescalero Apache

Prior to U.S. control, the Mescalero Apaches frequently camped in the Davis Mountains while hunting or conducting raids against Spanish settlements on either side of the Rio Grande. Occupants of southeastern New Mexico, the Mescaleros were linguistically related to the Lipans. The Mescaleros raided in broad swaths through the west Texas desert, fording the Rio

Grande between the present-day Mexican cities of Ojinaga and Juarez. They ranged from parts of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and west Texas northward into east-central New Mexico.

The Mescaleros entered into a treaty arrangement never ratified with the U.S. in 1855 following a punishing campaign in New Mexico that saw their strident war leader Santa Anna killed. The U.S. established Fort Stanton in the middle of the Mescalero range in 1855, which helped to reduce Mescalero forays. With the establishment of the San Antonio - El Paso Road, the Mescaleros increased their attackss on the region. Soldiers from Fort Davis, established in 1854 to protect travelers along the road, spent the next two decades in countless and seemingly fruitless empty pursuits of the Mescaleros.

One of the most notable Mescalero victories against Fort Davis troops occurred in August 1861 when the post was manned by Confederate forces. Mescaleros under Nicolas raided the post’s livestock corral. A party of fourteen Confederate Texans and civilians under Lt. Reuben Mays pursued the Mescaleros south into Big Bend country. Nicolas turned on his pursuers. When the dust and smoke settled, all of Mays's party were killed except for one guide who escaped.

The Mescaleros continued to make travel and life precarious in west Texas after the Civil War. In 1871, however, the Mescaleros agreed to a tentative peace and withdrew to their New Mexico reservation, leaving the Texas frontier quiet for four years. The attacks quickened in 1875 as Mescaleros and Lipans raided into Mexico, after seeking sanctuary in the Davis Mountains. Military scouts from Fort Davis increased during this period. Between 1878 and 1879, troops from Fort Davis conducted numerous patrols through the region. Subposts of Fort Davis were constructed, including one at Pine Springs in the Guadalupe Mountains near the New Mexico-Texas line. Following the death of the Apache leader Victorio and many Mescalero warriors in Mexico in October of 1880. The Mescaleros never again seriously threatened west Texas.