Apache Kid #17
Last of the Tomahawks
With the Tomahawk tribe about to go on the warpath, settlers have come to seek refuge at Fort Madison. As Captain Bill Gregory and Aloysius Kare count the last of the settlers, they both notice that the Kincaid family is not accounted for. Knowing that they live out near Native territory, Kare rides off and changes into the Apache Kid in order to see if they are in any trouble. He comes across the Kincaids as they are moving their wagon toward the fort. Their youngest son Billy, who dislikes Natives, tries to shoot the Apache Kid, but the hero easily disarms him and tells the boy that he admires his willingness to protect his family, he should not give into blind prejudice. The Kid then sends them on their way, telling them that he will be between them and the Tomahawks.
Down the path, the Apache Kid is jumped by Tomahawk warriors who are led by the Sioux warrior Yellow Wolf, the one who instigated the Tomahawks into preparing to go to war. Apache Kid is captured and brought before the Tomahawk leader Tall Pine and his son Great Bear. The Kid learns that Yellow Wolf had convinced Tall Pine that the white man is weak and that his tribe should go to war against them. Apache Kid tries to convince them to let a white man and a Tomahawk warrior fight one on one to prove they are equals to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, offering to go and get one. However, Yellow Wolf convinces Tall Pine not to let Apache Kid go, suspecting a trap.
Unable to get away to change into his alter ego of Aloysius Kare, the Apache Kid decides to expose his double identity and announces that a white man is present to fight their greatest warrior. However, before he can expose his secret, young Billy Kincade appears to take the challenge. Unwilling to have a boy fight his greatest warrior, Tall Pine agrees to let his son fight Billy to see who is the greatest. The two young men fight it out, and in the middle of the fight Tall Pine orders them to stop, convinced that white man and Native American are equals and calls off the war. When Yellow Wolf tries to flee the scene the Apache Kid chases after him and captures him, bringing him back to Tall Pine for punishment.
Recurring Characters
Apache Kid
Bill Gregory
Nightwind
Wild Horse Mesa
Red Hawk's Apache tribe, including the Apache Kid, are rounding up horses for their people unaware that an outlaw named Barlow and his gang are watching nearby. When the Apaches herd the horses into Quamki Canyon Barlow and his men move into position to steal the horses. Removing false rocks from the box canyon, they round up all the horses and cover their tracks. When the Apaches enter the canyon to collect the horses they are shocked to see that they have mysteriously vanished, and believe that the gods have punished them. With the threat of starvation looming, Red Hawk and his people return to their tribe, but the Apache Kid tells his adopted father that he believes he can recover the horses.
Apache Kid then straddles the side of his horse Nightwind and sends it running to the canyon. Barlow sees only the horse and decides to capture it as well, unknowingly exposing his trick to the Apache Kid. The Kid attacks Barlow and his men but is easily over powered and then tied to a tree so that Barlow can ransom him off later. Apache Kid warns Barlow and his men that the gods will punish them but they laugh off the Kid's warnings. Left to himself, the Kid manages to loosen his bonds enough to get to his change of clothes and changes into Aloysius Kare. He then calls out to the rustlers and they are shocked to see a white man in the place of the Apache warrior. Kare claims that he doesn't know how he got there, saying his last memory was sleeping at the hotel in Culver City. This frightens Barlow's men who believe it is a curse form the gods and they flee.
When Barlow himself tries to flee, Kare trips him and grabs the outlaw in his legs, threatening to crush him to death if he does not free him. Barlow complies and then flees the scene as well. Changing back into the Apache Kid, the brave warrior then herds the stolen horses back to his people.
Recurring Characters
Apache Kid
Red Hawk
Nightwind
Dangerous Heritage!
During an attack on the Apache people by their enemies the Cohoes, the father of young Running Stag tells his son no to fear and to have hope, relating to him a tale of the Apache Kid that occurred the last time the Cohos attacked...
It was during a great meeting between the Native chiefs that Coho leader Flaming Wolf demanded that the tribes work together to go to war against the white men who have settled on their land. However, Red Hawk convinces the other tribal leaders that going to war would do nothing more than bring bloodshed and death to their collective peoples. When Flaming Wolf calls Red Hawk a coward, his adopted son the Apache Kid came to his defence, but Flaming Wolf stands by his declaration and leaves his words seeding doubt among the Apaches.
On their way back to their tribe, the Apache Kid warns his father that they should put up defences should Flaming Wolf and his warriors attack, but Red Hawk refuses telling his son that he is a man of peace. Much to his shock the Apache Kid then leaves, sowing more doubt among Red Hawk and his people. Shortly thereafter, Aloysius Kare pays a visit to Flaming Wolf and offers to sell him guns to go to war against the Apaches. Flaming Wolf agrees and Kare is soon on his way. However a Coho who is sympathetic to the Apaches have warned them of Kare's business with Flaming Wolf and they ambush Aloysius on the trail. They bring him toward Red Hawk who is shocked to learn that Kare (whom only he knows is secretly the Apache Kid) was offering weapons to their enemies. Heart broken, Red Hawk tells his people to let Kare go, much to their confusion.
With his people thinking him a coward, Red Hawk decides to make a stand and tells his people to prepare to go to war against the Cohoes. Soon when the Cohoes arrive with their guns, both parties soon realize that Kare sold the Cohoes dud ammunition. Soon the Apaches gain the upper hand the fair fight and Flaming Wolf tries to flee the scene. However he is stopped by the Apache Kid who easily trounces Flaming Wolf in battle. Realizing what the Apache Kid did in both his identities, Red Hawk tells the Kid that he is proud of them both.
... With his fathers tale done, Running Stag is given hope which blooms even more when he spots the Apache Kid leading the brave Apache warriors against the Cohoes.
Recurring Characters
Apache Kid
Red Hawk
Nightwind
The Sunset Trail!
When one of the Apaches becomes to old to hunt and defend himself he is sent on the "sunset trail". Watching this is Red Hawk and the Apache Kid, the exile of another elderly man is too much for the Kid who demands to know how they can just send away one of their elderly when they should be looking after him. Red Hawk tells him that the laws cannot change unless an elderly tribesman can prove he is not too old to look after himself, but to date no elder is foolish enough to challenge a young warrior, and the young warriors have too much respect to battle one of their elders.
Later when Apache Kid and Red Hawk join a buffalo hunt, Red Hawk gets caught in the middle of a buffalo stampede forcing the Apache Kid to rescue his adopted father. Realizing that he can no longer defend himself or provide for the tribe, Red Hawk makes the decision to take the sunset trail himself, much to the dismay of the entire tribe. Knowing that his people need Red Hawk, the Apache Kid sets plans into motion to try and change the law of the tribe.
Returning to the tribe in his alter ego of Aloysius Kare, Kare asks where Red Hawk is. When he is told that their chief has left, Kare tells them that he made a bet with Red Hawk that he could not defeat the Apache Kid in battle, if he lost the Apaches would forfeit their hunting ground. With Red Hawk gone, Kare tells them that the challenge is forfeit and that he will go to get the soldiers of Fort Madison to secure their land. Not wishing to lose their hunting grounds, the Apaches agree to bring Red Hawk while Kare tells them that he will bring the Apache Kid.
Sure enough the Apache Kid is present when Red Hawk is returned to the tribe and the two fight it out. Apache Kid loses the fight and the Apaches decree that the laws must change and Red Hawk reinstalled as their tribal leader. In privacy, Red Hawk believes that his son lied to his people and allowed him to win the fight, however the Kid points out it was Kare who lied and reassures his adopted father that he won the bout fairly.
Recurring Characters
Apache Kid
Red Hawk
Nightwind
