Essay Questions

Why isn't Jeffords killed by the Apaches after he heals up one of their young boys?

Jeffords has found a young Apache boy who has several buckshots in his back. He digs out the shots and cleans the wounds, nursing the boy back to health. But Jeffords is ambushed once he does this, he is only released because the young Apache boy vouches that the white man has helped him and asks that they let him go, which the Apaches do, but not before they make him watch as they murder and torture several other white men.

How did the war between the white men and the Apaches begin?

It is said that the war was started by Cochise, the Apache leader. However, Jeffords makes it clear that it was an American Lieutenant from the east that began the war. He waved a flag of truce between his soldiers and the Apaches which Cochise accepted. Still, the Lieutenant betrayed this truce by killing Cochise's brother and five other Apaches and this started the war.

How does Jeffords gain access to Cochise?

Jeffords has made up his mind that he will meet with Cochise and put an end to his tribe killing the riders who deliver the mail for the white men. In order to do so, Jeffords hires an Apache man who works for the postmaster to teach him the Apache language and their customs in order to allow him to gain access to the tribe and speak with Cochise in person in order to create a real truce between them.