R-14, Apache Cattle King......

To most of us the term “rich Indian” connotes an indolent, well dressed, copper-colored chap riding in a swanky sedan. Usually, he sports a different car every year, and worries none about the expense of operating it. We are reminded of the subtle smell of crude oil; of derricks dotting the landscape; of the rhythmic rise and fall of force pumps. In other words, most wealthy Indians (and these are few) have become so not as a result of their initiative and effort, but rather because Dame Fortune has chosen to play their hands for them. The life story of R-14, cattle king of the White Mountain Indian Reservation, deserves narration because of the singular manner in which Lady Luck led off for him, and also the unusual game the cattleman played following her suit.

After the close of the Apache campaign in 1886, the War department still had plenty of unfinished business on its hands. The authorities at Ft. Apache realized the seriousness of the situation that then confront ed them. Years spent running down the A youthful prisoner of war after the Apache Campaigns, R-14 rose to be the Apache cattle king. When he died in 1937 his wealth was estimated at nearly $500,000. He was the most successful Indian cattleman who ever lived.

renegade Geronimo had, in some measure, acquainted them with the elusiveness of the Apaches, and they decided that feeding the Indians would be preferable to fighting them again.

This proved to be no small task. Having adopted the policy of food-rationing, the Government, to expedite the undertaking, corralled the natives on Ash Flat, where the heads of families were given names, brand numbers, or other distinguishing earmarks. Some were named after certain officers of the Army Post at Ft. Apache, thus receiving such renowned names as Gatewood, Crook, Crawford, et cetera. Others retained their unspellable native appellations.

Among the latter there was an Altaha, the father of four stalwart sons, the eldest of whom eventually became the wealthiest Indian cattleman in the United States.