The Salinero Apaches were an Apache group closely associated with the Mescalero Apaches who lived in the area of what is now western

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, eastern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and northern Chihuahua in the 18th century. The name Salinero, "salt producer", was frequently used by the Spanish to refer to various unrelated Indian groups of northern Mexico (present Tamaulipas,

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

, and Chihuahua) and Texas, that exploited local sources of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. The main base of the Salinero Apaches was along the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

in Texas, and their range extended northward along this river into southeastern New Mexico. Sometimes these Salinero Indians were equated with the ''Natages (Nadahéndé - ″Mescal People″)'', a powerful band of the Apache which ranged between the Pecos River and Rio Grande. It is clear therefore that the Salineros were Apache Indians and that they were among the groups that eventually became known as Mescalero Apache. The Pecos River was therefore called by the Spanish ''Rio Salado'' or also ''Rio del Natagee'' after the Salinero Apache or Natages. The term is often used for other unrelated groups of Hokan stock who lived in what is today

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

. In the early 17th century, some of the Salinero people of northern Mexico allied with the Acaxee in their war with the Spanish.Roberto Mario Salmon, ''Indiana Revolts in Northern New Spain: A Synthesis of Resistance, 1680-1786'' (New York: University Press of America, 1991), p. 21

Sources

{{authority control Apache tribes Athabaskan peoples Native American tribes in Texas Native American tribes in New Mexico Mescalero Apache