Apache Kid - Early History

Early History

Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl was captured by Yuma Indians as a boy, and after being freed by the U.S. Army, he became a street orphan in army camps. As a teenager, in the mid-1870s, the Kid met and essentially became adopted by Al Sieber, the Chief of the Army Scouts. A few years later, in 1881, the Kid enlisted with the US Cavalry as a scout, in a program designed by General George Crook to help quell Apache raids. By July 1882, owing to his remarkable abilities in the job, he was promoted to sergeant. Shortly thereafter he accompanied General Crook on an expedition into the Sierra Madre Occidental. He worked on assignment both in Arizona and Mexico over the next couple of years, but in 1885 he was involved in a riot while intoxicated, and to prevent his being hanged by Mexican authorities, Sieber sent him back north.