Mangas Colorados and the California Column

The fierce looking fellow to the left is Mangas Colorados, which means "Pink Shirt."  He should have a talk with Mrs. Colorados about the wash, I guess, altho' we have all made the same mistake.  


He was the chief of a group of Apaches in the Arizona-New Mexico Territory in the 1860s, and they made life for the California Column unpleasant in the extreme.  


No sooner did the Confederates decided their big Westward Ho push wasn't going to work out quite like they'd hoped than the Indians began to get annoyed.  


There is nothing politically correct about what happened--the Apaches, under Mangas Colorados and Cochise were destroyed--but that is what the Californians were doing for the rest of the war, after the fall of 1862.


Perhaps the Native American voice will be the one that the California State government finally hears when it comes to saving our landmarks, like Fort Tejon.  If anyone listens at all, that is.