The Apache–United States conflict was itself a direct outgrowth of the much older Apache–Mexican conflict which had been ongoing in the same general area since the beginning of Mexican/Spanish settlement in the 1600s.

On May 17, 1885, a number of Apache including Nana, Mangus (son of Mangas Coloradas), Chihuahua, Naiche, Geronimo, and their followers fled the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona after a show of force against the reservation's commanding officer Britton Davis. The people, who had lived as semi-nomads for generations, disliked the restrictive reservation system. Department of Arizona General George Crook dispatched two columns of troops into Mexico, the first commanded by Captain Emmet Crawford and the second by Captain Wirt Davis. Each was composed of a troop of cavalry (usually about forty men) and about 100 Apache scouts. They pursued the Apache through the summer and fall through Mexican Chihuahua and back across the border into the United States. The Apache continually raided settlements, killing other Native Americans and civilians and stealing horses.

While Apaches were shielded from the violence of warfare on the reservation, disability and death from diseases like malaria was much more prevalent. On the other hand, rations were provided by the government, though at times the corruption of Indian agents caused rationing to become perilously scarce. Rebelling against reservation life, other Apache leaders had led their bands in "breakouts" from the reservations. On three separate occasions — August 1878;September 1881; May 1885—Geronimo led his band of followers in "breakouts" from the reservation to return to their former nomadic life associated with raiding and warfare. Following each breakout, Geronimo and his band would flee across Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico, killing and plundering as they went, and establish a new base in the rugged and remote Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. In Mexico, they were insulated from pursuit by U.S. armed forces. The Apache knew the rough terrain of the Sierras intimately, which helped them elude pursuit and protected them from attack. The Sierra Madre mountains lie on the border between the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, which allowed the Apache access to raid and plunder the small villages, haciendas, wagon trains, worker camps and travelers in both states. From Mexico, Apache bands also staged surprise raids back into the United States, often seeking to replenish his band's supply of guns and ammunition. In these raids into the United States the Apaches moved swiftly and attacked isolated ranches, wagon trains, prospectors, and travelers. During these raids the Apaches often killed all the persons they encountered[50] in order to avoid detection and pursuit as long as possible before they slipped back over the border into Mexico.

to heal other Apaches.

Information link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo

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