My Life as an Indian Scout (Albert Sieber)

Pleasure to meet you. 

My name is Albert Sieber, and I was considered one of the best Indian scouts in the Arizona Territory, if not the Southwest. I was born in Germany on February 19, 1844, and came to America as a young boy, the 13th of 14 children. 

Early in 1862, I enlisted in Company B, 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. I saw some terrible sights during the Peninsula Campaign in the Army of the Potomac as a Corporal and a sharpshooter. I thought I was a goner at Gettysburg when a piece of a shell hit me in the head. I sat lying on the battlefield until long after the fighting before they found me. 

Buffalo Soldiers March Into Whipple

When the newspaper announced in March 1885 that “it has been definitely settled that the headquarters of the 10th Cavalry [of Buffalo Soldiers] will be on their arrival in this Territory at Whipple and that a company of the colored troops will also be stationed at that post,” the citizenry was apprehensive. They had read about “the inevitable [poor] reputation given the 10th Cavalry by certain journals in southern New Mexico and Arizona.”

However, the proud 10th Cavalry would quickly allay such fears, and the people of Prescott would become completely impressed by them. “Since their arrival in Prescott,” the paper later wrote, “the members of the 10th…are as well behaved and as soldierly looking a set of men that have ever been stationed at Whipple.”

Indian War Military Posts of Yavapai County: A Primer

Fort Whipple

One cannot fully understand the Indian Conflicts in Yavapai County without a general understanding of the military posts of the time.

Here then is a primer of the early military posts including locations, dates, the the reason behind their names. This is first presented in alphabetical order, followed by a chronological list.

1865: The Shocking Twist at Battle Point (Skull Valley)

It was a usual day in the freight business for Sam and Jake Miller. Yet in 1865, freighting through the Arizona wilderness was unusually dangerous. Indian raids on the toll road from Ft. Mohave to Prescott were happening regularly, and this time the Miller brothers would be taking mostly passengers as well as some supplies and stock.

"People wishing to come to Arizona traveled with freighters for protection." Every precaution would have to be made to protect both riders and supplies. (*1)

Story Behind the Names: Mingus Mountain; Cherry & Yeager Canyon

The first mention of the mountain that would become known as Mingus is found in the origin story of the Yavapai people. A girl named Kamalapukwia was placed in a water-tight log to survive the worldwide flood. After the waters receded, she went to Mingus Mountain before dawn and allowed the rising sun to hit "her inside" in preparation for having a child. (*1)