Al Sieber

Al Sieber
File:SieberAL1874.jpg
Born	(1843-02-27)February 27, 1843 Mingolsheim, Baden, Germany
Died	Tonto Road-(Apache Trail) Gila County, Arizona
Place of burial	Globe, Arizona
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1862-1864, 1871-1890
Rank	Chief of Scouts
Unit	1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Sixth Cavalry
Battles/wars	Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg Apache Wars Battle of Cibecue Creek Battle of Big Dry Wash

Al Sieber (February 27, 1843 – February 19, 1907) was a German-American who fought in the U.S Civil War and in the American Old West against Indians. He became a prospector and later served as a Chief of Scouts during the Apache Wars.

Early life

With Apache scouts

Emigration notice

Albert "Al" Sieber was born in Mingolsheim, Baden as the 13th of 14 children. He was baptized on March 1, 1843 in St. Lambertus Church, Mingolsheim. His father Johannes died on September 16, 1845. Between March and April 1851, three years after the "Badian Revolution", his mother Eva Katharina née Fischer, immigrated with her still living eight children (six had already died) to the United States. Sieber grew up in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

Civil War service

He enlisted on March 4, 1862, in the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Sieber was severely wounded on July 2, 1863 in the Battle of Gettysburg, at Cemetery Ridge. He fought in several key engagements, including Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Apache Wars, Battle of Cibecue Creek, and Battle of Big Dry Wash. After the war, he became a prospector in California, Nevada, and in Arizona Territory, where he managed a ranch from 1868 to 1871.

Army scout and guide

In July 1871, General George Stoneman hired Sieber as Chief of Scouts and for much of the Apache Wars. He participated in Crook's Tonto (Apache) campaign (1871 – 1873). When the Camp Verde reservation was closed, Sieber was told to move Yavapais and Tonto Apaches to the San Carlos Reservation in the middle of winter. He remained employed there and participated in several engagements with Apache groups that had left the reservation.

On October 24, 1874, the Arizona Miner reported, “Al Zieber, Sergeant Stauffer and a mixed command of white and red soldiers are in the hills of Verde looking for some erring Apaches, whom they will be apt to find.” Three days later, Sieber and Sgt. Rudolph Stauffer found the Apaches that had escaped the reservation at Cave Creek and fought them. Josephine Earp wrote that when she arrived in Arizona, she learned that “some renegade Yuma-Apaches had escaped from the reservation to which they had been consigned and had returned to their old haunts on the war-path” and that Sieber was tracking the escaped Apache. She said Sieber and his scouts led her stagecoach and its passengers to a nearby adobe ranch house where they remained until the Indians were captured.

In February, April, and May 1877, Sieber acted as a guide for Pima County Marshal Wiley Standefer, who was pursuing outlaws in the region.

In 1883 Crook went into the Sierra Madre of Mexico following Geronimo. Sieber was Crook's lead civilian scout and mentor to Tom Horn, whom he taught to speak German, as well as fighting together during the Battle of Cibecue Creek and Big Dry Wash. Sieber was in the field but not present when Geronimo surrendered to Lt Charles B. Gatewood and General Nelson Miles in 1886.

Wounds

In 1887, Sieber was shot and wounded when Apache Kid and his followers escaped the reservation to prevent being jailed again. During his various battles and fights, Al received 28 wounds.

Prospector

However, he was dissatisfied with the treatment of the Apaches at San Carlos and resumed prospecting in 1891 to 1898.

Death

On February 19, 1907, Sieber was leading an Apache work crew that was building the Tonto road to the new Roosevelt Dam site on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. The project was under the supervision of another famous frontier scout, "Yellowstone" Luther Kelly at Apache Trail, Gila County, Arizona. Sieber was killed when a boulder rolled on him during construction. He was buried with military honors at the cemetery in Globe, Arizona.

In film and media

Sieber has been portrayed in a handful of films:

• 1953: The character "Ed Bannon" portrayed by Charlton Heston in the film Arrowhead was based on Sieber-
• 1954: John McIntire in the film Apache
• 1955: Kenneth MacDonald in the episode "Apache Kid" from the television series Stories of the Century
• 1967: Willard Sage (as "Al Seiber") in the film Silver Tombstone, and Strother Martin as Ed Schieffelin
• 1979: Richard Widmark in the film Mr. Horn
• 1993: Robert Duvall in the film Geronimo: An American Legend

References

• Bourke, John G. On the Border with Crook. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. 1891. ISBN 0-8094-3583-7.

(reprint): Bison Books. 1971. ISBN 0-8032-5741-4.

• Crook, George. General George Crook: His Autobiography. University of Oklahoma Press. 1986. ISBN 0-8061-1982-9.
• Cruse, Thomas. Apache Days and After. University of Oklahoma Press. 1987. ISBN 0-8032-6327-9.
• Cozzens, Peter. Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865 – 1890 (The Struggle for Apacheria). Stackpole Books. 2001. ISBN 0-8117-0572-2.
• Davis, Britton. The Truth About Geronimo. Bison Books. 1976. ISBN 0-8032-5840-2.
• Debo, Angie. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place. University of Oklahoma Press. 1982. ISBN 0-8061-1828-8.
• Field, Ron. US Army Frontier Scouts 1840 – 1921. Osprey Publishing. 2003. ISBN 1-84176-582-1.
• Gatewood, Charles B. Lt. Charles Gatewood & His Apache Wars Memoir. Bison Books. 2009. ISBN 0-8032-1884-2.
• Goff, John S. Arizona Biographical Dictionary. Black Mountain Press. Cave Creek. 1983.
• Lockwood, Frank C. More Arizona Characters. University of Arizona. 1943.
• Roberts, David. Once They Moved Like The Wind; (Cochise, Geronimo, And The Apache Wars). Touchstone. 2005. ISBN 0-671-88556-1.
• Robinson, Charles M. General Crook and the Western Frontier. University of Oklahoma Press. 2001. ISBN 0-8061-3358-9.
• Sabin, Edwin L. General Crook and the Fighting Apaches (1871 – 1886). Lulu Press. 2008. ISBN 1-4097-1970-7.
• Thrapp, Dan L. Al Sieber: Chief of Scouts. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 1964. ISBN 0-8061-2770-8.
• Thrapp, Dan L. The Conquest of Apacheria. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 1967. ISBN 0-8061-1286-7.
• Thrapp, Dan L. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography. Volume III, P-Z. University of Oklahoma Press. (Reprint 1991). ISBN 0-8032-9420-4.
• Traywick, Ben T. Legendary Characters of Southeast Arizona. Red Marie’s. Tombstone. 1992.