Al Sieber Chief of Scouts - by Dan L Thrapp (Paperback)

About the Book

General Crook relied on Al Sieber to lead Apache scouts against renegade Apaches, who were adept at hiding and raiding from within their native terrain. In this carefully researched biography, Dan L. Thrapp gives extensive evidence for Sieber's expertise, nothing that the expeditions he accompanied were highly successful whereas those from which he was absent met with few triumphs.

Book Synopsis

General George Crook planned and organized the principal Apache campaign in Arizona, and General Nelson Miles took credit for its successful conclusion on the 1800s, but the men who really won it were rugged frontiersmen such as Al Sieber, the renowned Chief of Scouts. Crook relied on Sieber to lead Apache scouts against renegade Apaches, who were adept at hiding and raiding from within their native terrain. In this carefully researched biography, Dan L. Thrapp gives extensive evidence for Sieber's expertise, noting that the expeditions he accompanied were highly successful whereas those from which he was absent met with few triumphs. Perhaps the greatest tribute to his abilities was paid by a San Carlos Apache who, no matter how miserable life might become, because, he said, Sieber would find him even if he left no tracks.

Review Quotes

"[An] exhaustively researched and well-told biography of Sieber....This is a notable book, recommended for the serious student as well as the casual reader."--Robert M. Utley, New Mexico Historical Review


"[The book] presents an excellent close-up picture of the action taken in the post-Civil War decades to rid Arizona of hostile Indians."--Francis Paul Prucha, Colorado Magazine