- Early relations with the Apache nation when Americans first moved into the Southwest were generally peaceful. At that point, the United States government considered the Apaches as quasi allies against Mexico. Once the gold rush began in 1848 increasing whites began moving into Apache areas seeking fortunes. The proximate cause of antipathy between whites and Native Americans may have been an incident when Mangas Coloradas, an important Apache leader, was attacked by miners.
- Significant military operations in the Southwest did not begin until during the Civil War when four posts were built in Arizona. From these locations, sporadic operations against the Apaches began in the mid 1860's and were exacerbated in 1868 when Cochise was taken prisoner under false pretenses and escaped. Other Apaches were killed during the escape and some remaining prisoners were hung by the Army. Encounters continued during the 1870's. By the 1880's it was a full-fledged war, lasting until September 3, 1886 when Geronimo surrendered.
- Several large battles took place in the early years. In 1863 fifty Apaches were killed by a small force of soldiers. The U.S. forces tended to ignore ordinary rules of warfare. For example, in Arizona in January 1864, after promising a peaceful negotiation, the Army massacred a group of Apaches who came to talk. This type of peaceful meeting followed by bloodshed was typical of the war. Smaller skirmishes occurred during the war in New Mexico as well.
- The Apache and Navajo wars covered large areas of what is now Arizona and extended into New Mexico.
- By the end of the war, 5,000 soldiers and 500 Native American scouts working for the U.S. Army were involved. There are no completely reliable figures on the number of deaths on either side. Sources for American deaths range from 5,000 to 19,000. Estimates of Native Americans killed during these wars vary from 7,000 to 45,000.
- The wars sharply reduced the Native American population in the Southwest and placed those who survived in reservations. They did open up the Southwest for settlement and development by the newcomers. Some writers suggest the elements of the conflict were like those in the Iraq War that began in 2003. In both events, the civilian attempts and failures at settlement---the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the post-invasion civil actions in Iraq as well as multiple responsibilities in both areas for security and counter-insurgency, seem remarkably similar.
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