At the center of this stirring saga of the Apache-Anglo frontier is Mangas Colorados, the formidable chief of the "Red Paint People," or Eastern Chiricahua Apaches. Born about 1795 probably in southern New Mexico, the Apache warrior (popularly known as Mangus or Mangas Colorado) is shown to possess abilities and qualities of char-acter to merit the respect of both whites and Indians. In this fictionalized biography, Will Levington Comfort describes his education and rise to leadership and, most dramatically, his plan to unite his people in their struggle for survival. After a lifetime of avenging wrongs, Mangas Colorados faces a losing battle with U.S. troops in 1862. Will Levington Comfort's Apache has been cited by literary historian Lawrence Clark Powell as one of the two or three great books on the American Southwest.
