Beginning in 1849, bands of Apache fought against settlers throughout the Southwest. The most famous of these fights was led by Geronimo. Using guerilla war tactics to raid non-Indian settlements and evading capture by hiding in the mountains, bands like Geronimo’s interfered with Euro-American expansion and exploitation of the region’s wealth of natural resources.

The last major campaign of the Apache Wars ended in 1886 when Geronimo surrendered after an exhausting pursuit. The Government also took the approximately 500 remaining Chiricahua band of Apache Indians as prisoners of war, seizing their land and forcibly removing them to Florida. The Chiricahua remained prisoners of war until 1912.