More than 100 runners and walkers came out March 8, 2014, near New Post Chapel on Fort Sill, Okla., to celebrate the centennial release of the Chiricahua-Warm Spring Apaches.
The Chiricahua Apaches were imprisoned in 1886 by the United States and removed from their homelands of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona and held in Florida, Alabama and Oklahoma, where they were released.
To remember their ancestor's journey, tribal members decided to walk where they were held captive.
"We originally wanted to run between the village sites on Fort Sill there were several, but they were so far apart it would've been more than a 5K. It might have been like a half marathon," said Jeff Haozous, Fort Sill Apache Tribe chairman.
He said they chose a route that goes around the Fort Sill Golf Course because it passes by Choctaw Road, where Choctaw Village once stood to house Choctaw and Apaches.
Elgina Eoolew, a direct descendent of the Chiricahua-Warm Spring Apaches was among the walkers.
"My dad was Watson Mighlo. They called him Mr. Bill Watson. He left here when he was 27 years old."
She said her father was born in prison and spent his time taking care of and giving rations to German prisoners.
Eoolew said she took her time on the walk to really think about her father's daily routine in captivity.
"I was thinking about how he would pull his horse and carriage and spread the food and rations."
Her father told her it made him sad he never had a homeland to go to because it was taken from him, something Haozous is working on.
"We are commemorating and reflecting on the strength of our ancestors and on their desire to return to our homelands in southwest New Mexico and Arizona," said Haozous. "Although the tribe was released 100 years ago, we're still struggling to fulfill their dream to return to our rightful home."
As reported in the Albuquerque Journal, the Fort Sill Apache tribe filed a lawsuit against Gov. Susana Martinez and her administration in the New Mexico Supreme Court asserting that the governor is violating a state statute in failing to recognize the Fort Sill Apaches as a New Mexico tribe.
"We were promised this reservation and the Army needed it for artillery. We were given allotments of land around Apache and Caddo County and some in Comanche County."
He said there were 80 prisoners and the Fort Sill Apache Tribe is the descendent of those 80 people who were the last Chiricahua-Warm Spring Apaches to leave Fort Sill.
"The Chiricahua Apache left in two groups. So part of them left the tribe and went to Mescalero in 1913 and the remainder stayed 'til 1914," said Haozous.
The run/walk was one of several events the tribe held to commemorate the centennial along with a blessing the day before at Apache Gate where the Chiricahua-Warm Spring Apaches took their first steps toward freedom.
Haozous said they also had an event at their hotel where Maj. Gen. Mark McDonald, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill commanding general, spoke, as well as state and city representatives.
Col. Glenn Waters, Fort Sill Garrison commander, led the one mile fun run/walk.
"It's a good historical event for them and for us to look back and remember the good and times and bad. It's important to do that," said Waters.
He said Fort Sill and the Army try to spend time with the local tribes and always looks for opportunities to collaborate on events.
"We're just glad that a lot of people came to participate. The mile walk was invigorating," said Lori Gooday Ware.
For more photos, visit www.flickr.com/fortsillcannoneer.
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