Cibecue
"Indian camp, farm, and creek. There is now a branch indian school there. August 30th, 1881, Captain E.C. Hentig of the 6th Calvary, with six enlisted men of General Carr's Command, were killed here in a fight with Apaches. Nock-aye-de-Klinney, Apache Medicine Man, was killed by the troops. Hurley, interpreter at Apache, shortly after the fight, told the author that when General Carr asked an Apache scout what they called the place, he replied "She-be-Ku," meaning "My house"; (she, "my", becue, "house"). Carr accepted this as a name for the place. Later the author secured substantially the same story from another Apache .

Three White Mountain Apaches, Dandy Jim, Dead Shot, and Skippy, enlisted Indian scouts who turned against troops at the figth, were tried for mutiny by military Court Martial at Fort Grant and hanged there, March 3, 1882. Two others were sent to Alcatraz prison for life. Dead Shot's squaw hanged herself at San Carlos the day of the execution.

Creek rises in northwest corner of Fort Apache Indian Reservation, flows south into Salt River about 10 miles west of junction White and Black rivers which form Salt. Post office established here for Indian School, March 18, 1910, Agnes W. Chamber Post Master."

Barnes, Will C. Arizona Place Names University of Arizona Press.1997  p. 95
 

Websites

Fort Apache Indian Reservation
http://jeff.scott.tripod.com/ftapache.html
 

Books/Manuscripts

Apache nightmare : the battle at Cibecue Creek / Charles Collins.
E83.88 .C67 1999

Aftermath of Cibecue : court martial of the Apache Scouts, 1881 / by Sidney B. Brinckerhoff.
F 591 .W595x  no.36 1978

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Last Updated: July 15, 2002
If you would like to know more about the author of this site, Jeffrey Scott, feel free to visit his homepage.
In addition, if you have any questions about this site or Arizona History, feel free to e-mail Jeffrey