Juh (c. 1825 – Sept/Oct 1883) was a warrior and leader of the Janeros local group of the Ndéndai (or Nednhi) band of the

Chiricahua Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. ...

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

. Prior to the 1870s, Juh was unknown in the areas controlled by the United States. He went to war together with the Tchihende leader

Mangas Coloradas Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeves"), or Dasoda-hae (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central Apaches, whose homela ...

and Tsokanende leader

Cochise Cochise ( ; Apache: or , ; later or , ; June 8, 1874) was the leader of the Chiricahui local group of the Chokonen and principal nantan of the Chokonen band of a Chiricahua Apache. A key war leader during the Apache Wars, he led an upri ...

, and was particularly close to the Bedonkohe di-yin and leader

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

Tribal background

The home range of the Janeros Nednhi was usually in the remote wilderness of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

of northern Mexico. This range was referred to as "Blue Mountains" by the Apache, therefore they likely called themselves ''Dzilthdaklizhéndé'' - "Blue Mountain People". They constituted the northern local group of the Nednhi and lived from the

Animas Mountains The Animas Mountains are a small mountain range in Hidalgo County, within the " Boot-Heel" region of far southwestern New Mexico, in the United States. Location They extend north–south for about 30 miles (50 km) along the Continental Div ...

and

Florida Mountains The Florida Mountains are a small long, mountain range in New Mexico. The mountains lie in southern Luna County, New Mexico, Luna County about southeast of Deming, New Mexico, Deming, and north of the Chihuahua (state), state of Chihuahua, M ...

in southwestern New Mexico, south into the Sierra del Tigre,

Sierra San Luis The Sierra San Luis range is a mountain range in northwest Chihuahua, northeast Sonora, Mexico at the northern region of the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera. The region contains sky island mountain ranges, called the Madrean Sky Islands, som ...

, Sierra de Carcay, Sierra de Boca Grande, west beyond the

Aros River The Aros River is a river in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the largest tributary of the Yaqui river, and is the largest free flowing river in western Mexico. Its headwaters are in the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Yaqui river begins at ...

Bavispe Bavispe is a small town and a municipality in the northeast part of the Mexican state of Sonora. Geography Location The municipality is located in the northeast of the state at . The elevation of the administrative seat is 902 meters above sea lev ...

in northeastern Sonora, and east along the Janos River and

Casas Grandes River The Casas Grandes River is a river of Mexico. See also *List of rivers of Mexico This is a list of rivers of Mexico, listed from north to south. There are 246 rivers on this list. Alternate names for rivers are given in parentheses. Rivers flowi ...

toward the

Lake Guzmán A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

in the northern part of the

Guzmán Basin The Guzmán Basin is an endorheic basin of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies the northwestern portion of Chihuahua in Mexico, and extends into southwestern New Mexico in the United States. Notable rivers of the Guz ...

in northwestern Chihuahua. They were named Janeros after the town Janos in northern Chihuahua, with which they were usually at peace and traded their goods (often stolen in neighboring Sonora).

Biography

Killing of Howard B. Cushing

Historians believe that Juh planned and executed an 1871 attack in which Lt. Howard Bass Cushing was killed, in the Whetstone Mountains of southern Arizona. A noted U.S. Army Indian fighter, Cushing had made disparaging comments about Cochise that offended Apache sensibilities, and he relentlessly pursued the Apaches (specifically Cochise) around southern Arizona and northern Sonora. At the same time, Cushing became a focus of Juh's attention. The ambush and fight in which he was killed may have been intended to teach him a lesson. It was widely thought at the time that Cochise was himself responsible for the planning and execution of the battle, but a description of the Apache leader does not match eyewitness accounts, including the observation that the Apache leader didn't speak much, but directed his fighters with gestures and hand signals during the battle. The Apache leader most closely matching the physical and behavioral description was Juh. Dan Thrapp made this observation in his book ''The Conquest of Apacheria.'' Later, the fact was confirmed by

Asa Daklugie Asa Daklugie (born abt. 1869-1955) was a Chief of the Nedni Apaches, the Southern Band of the Chiricahua, son to Juh and nephew to Geronimo. His father was an Apache Chief, Juh, and his mother was Ishton. Another close relative to Daklugie was hi ...

(Juh's son) in Eve Ball's (1980) book about the Chiricahuas, ''Indeh.''

Death

Juh died on September 21, 1883, while trying to cross the

near

Casas Grandes Casas Grandes (Spanish for ''Great Houses''; also known as Paquimé) is a prehistoric archaeological site in the northern Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. Construction of the site is attributed to the Mogollon culture. Casa ...

, Chihuahua. Accounts of his death vary, and some contemporary sources were skeptical of the report, saying "dispatches have Juh the Apache chief killed again." One version is that he was drunk and fell off his horse, breaking his neck. His son Asa Daklugie said that he was not drunk, but after trading ammunition from Casas Grandes he had a heart attack, fell off his horse as a result and died before a physician could arrive to help him.Thrapp, p.291 Other sources and local stories claim that Juh fell fatally into the river while trying to jump off a cliff with his horse. After his death, the surviving son of Mangas Coloradas took care of his family, and was the last Apache chief to surrender. Juh was buried by his sons and his band on the bank of the river.

Personal life

Juh was referred to by various names, including Ju, Ho, Whoa, Woah, and sometimes Who, Why, How.Kraft, Louis (2000). - ''Gatewood and Geronimo''. - Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. - p.4. - His name reportedly meant "He Sees Ahead" or "Long Neck". He was also known as ''Tan-Dɨn-Bɨl-No-Jui'' - "He Brings Many Things With Him" or ''Ya-Natch-Cln'' - "See Far". Most descriptions focused on Juh being a very large and stocky man. He stood over six feet and weighed 225 pounds. Juh was a natural leader, but had a

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

. Because of this,

often acted as a conduit for Juh's words. Some sources say he was Geronimo's cousin. They grew up together even though they were from different bands. He married Ishton, who was Geronimo's sister,Roberts p. 62 and had a son with her who was later known as Asa Daklugie.Kraft, p.5 He had also two sons called Delzhinne and Daklegon.

References

External links

Apache warriors
{{Authority control 1820s births 1883 deaths Native American leaders Apache Wars Chiricahua people People from Sonora Indigenous Mexicans