In the midst of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico stands this cross-topped mound. It marks the crypt and burial site of Sergeant James Cooney, and the marker besides the grave tells readers that Cooney was killed by Indians in 1880 as he tried to warn settlers about an upcoming Indian raid. What the sign does not mention, however, is Cooney’s role in igniting the hostility of the Native Americans- he had bilked them out of their mining prospects and set up a raid which ended in the death of a local cheiftain’s relative. When the locals asked for the assistance of an Indian resistor named Geronimo, he was only too glad to lend a hand.
