About Apache Indian Transportation
The Apache Indians are a southern branch of the Athabaskan language group of North America. The Apache tribe consisted of several politically non-cohesive bands that ranged across the American southwest and southern plains region. Apache Indian transportation was similar in all of these bands and can be broken into two periods: before the introduction of the horse to the Apache and after.
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Features
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Before the Spanish introduced horses to North America, Apaches moved on foot and used dogs to pull belongings.
When the Apache moved on to a new campsite, they would take down their temporary shelters, often tipis or wickiups, and load them onto sleds, called travois, that the dogs would be harnessed to and pull.
With the arrival of the Spanish in North America, and with them the horse, Apache Indian transportation quickly incorporated the useful animal into their traveling methods. Horses were used to pull their loads of shelter and belongings from campsite to campsite, and allowed the Apache to move faster. On horseback the Apache could hunt more efficiently and raid enemy tribes or European and American settlements more successfully.
Time Frame
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Most historians say the Apache arrived in the American Southwest after 1000 A.D. but well before Spanish colonization of the area. Apache Indian transportation consisted of walking on foot and dogs pulling travois until the Spanish introduced the horse in the 1500s. In the late 1800s most Apache Indians were living on reservations throughout the American southwest and Oklahoma.
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Types
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The Apache tribe consisted of several bands that included the Lipan Apache of Texas, the Mescalero Apache of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the Jicarilla of northeastern New Mexico, the Navajo of northwestern New Mexico, the Chiricahua Apache of southwestern New Mexico, the Western Apache of Arizona, and the Plains Apache of Oklahoma.
Benefits
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Before the Apache were introduced to the horse they were nomadic and had few possessions. The Apache lived simply and carried their shelter with them using the dogs and sleds.
The horse changed Apache Indian transportation and allowed for greater mobility, and better access to food and water. The Apache could travel, hunt, and raid farther on horseback, bringing more food, wealth, and captives into their society than ever before. On horseback the Apache Indians proved to be a formidable enemy against the Spanish in the southwest.
Significance
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The Apache were one of the first Native American tribes to make use of the horse. As other tribes witnessed the transformation of the Apache into a powerful, mobile tribe, they sought to acquire horses also. Horses may have enabled tribes to resist European conquerors a little longer than if they had not had them.
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