Apache Devil

# Apache Devil

Edgar Rice Burroughs's 1933 adventure novel is set among the Be-don-ko-he Apaches in Arizona and features the "Apache Devil," Shoz-Dyiji (the Black Bear), a young war chief. The narrative opens with a rain dance led by the medicine man Nan-ta-do-tash. Shoz-Dyiji confides in his friend Gian-nah-tah about his conflicted feelings for a white girl named Wichita, whom he rescued and escorted home; she recoiled from his attempted embrace. The novel then turns to deliberations among Apache leaders—Geronimo advocates for patience despite broken treaties and starvation at the San Carlos reservation, while the impulsive Shoz-Dyiji urges immediate war against the soldiers. A messenger arrives with an invitation from white military leaders to a peace council at Fort Thomas. Geronimo proposes a council to decide whether to attend, delivering a lengthy speech about Usen's creation of the Apache people and their rightful homeland.