TALKALAI, CHIEF - Gila County, Arizona | CHIEF TALKALAI - Arizona Gravestone Photos

Chief TALKALAI

Pinal Cemetery
Gila County,
Arizona

Born in 1817 in Arizona
Died in 1930 in Miami, Gila Co., Arizona

Apache Chief and Chief of Scouts.

He was raised on the San Carlos Indian Reservation and was the chief of the Apache Peaks band of the Apache Tribe.

He also served as Chief of Scouts for three different United States Army Generals, Crook, Miles, and Howard. In April of 1887 he was the leader of the scouts that marched 400 miles into Mexico and captured Geronimo.

He served twenty-one years as Chief of Police on the reservation. He once saved the life of his good friend John Clum, first Indian Agent at San Carlos Indian reservation, by shooting his own brother. This act so inflamed some of his fellow tribesmen that he was forced to flee the reservation and move into the town of Miami, Arizona.

He was also a friend of the Earps in Tombstone and had been a guest of President Cleveland in the White House.

There are conflicting reports on his participation in the dedication of the Coolidge Dam. One report states that at the age of 113 he was the guest of honor and stood beside President Coolidge at the dedication of the dam and that he watched as the waters from the dam flooded his home land. The excitement was too much for him and he collapsed and died. More probable is the story that he died comfortably in his bed on the day of the dedication.

His tombstone is engraved with the words, "The White Man's Friend."

Contributed on 3/9/09 by goldwing.traveler
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Record #: 66308

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Submitted: 3/9/09 • Approved: 3/10/09 • Last Updated: 3/24/18 • R66308-G0-S3

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