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Lozan was a powerful member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe. The sister
of Chief Victorio, she was said to have the ability to sense with her hands
how many soldiers were coming, and at what distance, by slowing turning
in a circle with her hands outstretched. never married, she was also a
scout, an excellent shot, and a gifted healer.
The Chiricahuas were forced onto the Warm Springs Apache Reservation in San Carlos, Arizona, a desert land run by agents who stole much of the money meant to buy food for the Apaches. Many people died of smallpox and malaria. Not surprisingly, groups repeatedly fled, and Victorio led a band of 320 Apaches in an escape on September 2, 1877, trying to return to their homelands at Ojo Caliente, New Mexico. Lozen was among them. The desperate band stole food and horses, ran from and fought off both American and Mexican soldiers, and survived on the run for three years throughout Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. On October 15, 1880, in a surprise attack called the Battle of Tres Castillos, Victorio and over 100 others were killed by Mexican military forces. Only 17 Apaches escaped; 68 others were captured, and sold as slaves. Lozen was not with them; she had dropped back to care for a woman giving birth. It was said that had she been with them, the group never have been surprised. Lozen worked her way south and joined up with Geronimo’s band, and she was among the 36 Apaches with Geronimo at his final surrender in August of 1886. She had lived nine years on the run. In retaliation for the Chiricahua Apaches' success at resisting imprisonment, the entire band, over 500 people, were deported from Arizona. |
| Lozen was among the Apache ringleaders shipped by train from Fort Bowie, AZ to Fort Pickens, Florida. During a rest stop, the prisoners were allowed out for a break, where this famous photograph was taken. Lozen is in the back row, the third figure from the right. (Geronimo is in the front row, third from the right.) |  |
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Fort
Pickens, located on Santa Rosa Island in western Florida, had been
abandoned since the Civil War, but there was plenty of fresh air and space,
and conditions were not too bad. A young woman reached maturity during
this time, and the group received permission from the authorities to give
her a womanhood ceremony. Tickets were sold to 300 white spectators, who
apparently thought they were witnessing a Corn Dance (a vegetable which
the Apache never cultivated). In 1888 they were reunited with the main
band in Alabama.
The main band of Chiricahuas were interred at Mount Vernon Barracks in Marion, Alabama, where they stayed until 1894. They lived in tents while they built their own log cabins, but there was no furniture, and the Apaches were cheated of food and supplies. Public attention to their miserable living conditions finally forced some reforms. A large number of Apaches died, mostly of pneumonia, meningitis, malaria and tuberculosis. The post doctor also reported deaths due to depression at their conditions. Most accounts say Lozen died of tuberculosis here around 1890. She is buried in an unmarked grave. For specific travel information about these sites, check the "Travel Resources" page. |