Born on the Black Range of
New Mexico around 1825, Victorio was raised as a member of the Chihenne
Apache. Though little is known of his early life, it is said that he may
have been part Mexican. His sister was the famous woman warrior, Lozen, or
"Dextrous Horse Thief".
By the early 1850’s he was considered a Chief in his
band and in his twenties, he began to ride with
Geronimo,
Nana, and other
Apache leaders making numerous raids into northern Mexico. In 1862, he
joined with
Mangas Coloradas in making raids not only into Mexico but also
upon the encroaching white settlers.
When
Mangas Coloradas
met with the U.S. Army in January, 1863, under a flag of
truce, instead of maintaining the peaceful negotiations that
were alleged, the army took
Mangas Coloradas prisoner and
later executed him on January 18th. This, of course, very
much angered not only Victorio, but also
Cochise, another powerful leader.
Afterwards, Victorio
formed a band of Eastern
Chiricahua and Mescalero, numbering
some 300 and began to retaliate against the Army. Those
military officers who fought against Victorio regarded him as
a sound tactician and a leader of men. However, by 1869,
Victorio and his band had been subdued and convinced to move
to a new reservation near Ojo Caliente,
New Mexico. In 1869,
they were settled near Fort Craig,
New Mexico
waiting the completion of the reservation.
The following year, Victorio, together with 500 Mimbrenos. Mogollones, and Mescaleros, were
assigned to the Ojo Caliente Reservation some fifteen miles
northwest of present-day Monticello.
 The area, claimed by
Victorio to be their ancestral homeland, initially served the
Apache well and generally, they were
content. The population
on the reservation grew to more than 3,000. However, the
rations provided by the government were not substantial enough
to feed them all and they soon started to stray from the
reservation, foraging on their own. Before long, they were
blamed for every depredation in the surrounding area, most of
which were actually the work of Mexican bandits. In August,
1871, the Army recommended removal of the
Apache from Ojo
Caliente to the Tularosa Valley, some seventy miles to the
northwest.
By April, 1872, the new reservation was
established, and the next month the first
Indians began to
move. By June, about 450
Apaches, including Victorio, had
arrived, but the rest of them had simply taken off, many of
them joining with their
Chiricahua cousins in
Arizona. In the
summer of 1874, Tularosa was abandoned and the remaining
Apache were allowed to return to Ojo Caliente.
Apaches moved to the
San Carlos,
Arizona reservation. The Ojo Caliente Reservation
was officially closed and in May, 1877, Taza, son and
successor to the deceased
Cochise, began to lead his people to
Arizona. The reservation conditions at San Carlos were
abominable and in early September, Victorio, with about 300
followers, fled the San Carlos Reservation and began three
years of intermittent attacks in Mexico,
Texas, and
New Mexico. In
Texas, he was hotly pursued by Buffalo Soldiers of
the 9th and 10th Cavalries, as well as
Texas Rangers.
 In April, 1880,
Victorio was said to have led his band in the "Alma Massacre,”
where a number of settlers’ homes were raided and several
people killed. As a result, U.S. Army troops were sent out in
force from Fort Bayard,
New Mexico to capture Victorio and his
band. The soldiers outpaced Victorio to the water holes in the
Sierra Diablo Mountains, and after two unsuccessful attempts
to reach water, the
Apaches retreated into Mexico.
On October, 14, 1880,
Victorio and his people were surprised by Mexican troops who
killed Victorio and his warriors. Only women and
children survived the confrontation and were held prisoners in
Chihuahua City for the next several years.
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