Ghost Warrior

Ghost Warrior, Lozen of the Apaches is a 2002 historical novel by Lucia St. Clair Robson. This novel was the runner-up for the Golden Spur Award in 2002.

The Chiricahua Apaches revered Lozen while she lived and they revere her still. One Apache described her as their patron saint. She is one of history’s most remarkable individuals. The human story is richer because it includes her life and her spirit.

Plot summary

The Chiricahua Apache chief, Victorio, called his sister Lozen his wise counselor and his right hand. He said she had the strength of a man and was a shield to her people. Even in a society possessing extraordinary courage, endurance and skill, she was unique. The Apaches believe that when she was young, the spirits blessed her with horse magic, the gift of healing and the power to see enemies at a distance. In the Apaches’ 30-year struggle to defend their homeland, they came to rely on her strength, wisdom, and supernatural abilities.

Because of her gift of far-sight, she was the only unmarried woman allowed to ride with the warriors and fight alongside them. After her beloved brother Victorio's death, she joined Geronimo's band of insurgents. With Geronimo and fifteen other warriors, she resisted the combined forces of the United States and Mexican armies, and the heavily armed civilian populations of New Mexico and Arizona Territories. She and the sixteen warriors, and seventeen women and children held out against a total of about nine thousand men.

Excerpt from Ghost Warrior

Smoke from the grass fire smudged the blue sky of early May, but it did not obscure the footprints in the moist sand in the arroyo. The footprints weren’t a mystery. For miles the soldiers had been following the woman who made them.

“She’s heading up the canyon.” Lt. Howard Bass Cushing beckoned to thirteen of the sixteen privates in the company. “These men and I will trail her. Sergeant Mott, you and Collins, Green, Pierce, and Fichter cover the rear.”

“The tracks are too clear, sir,” said John Mott.

“What do you mean?”

“The squaw set her feet down heavy. She avoided places where the prints won’t show. Looks like she wants us to follow her.”

“More than likely she doesn’t know we’re here. She’s being careless.”

“Apaches aren’t careless.” Rafe knew that disagreeing with Cushing wouldn't change his mind, but he had to try. … Rafe kept his peace on the subject of Cushing and stared at the thorny landscape until his eyes watered.

“If I were an Apache. I’d set up an ambuscade in that canyon,’ said Mott. “That dry gulch is a sack waiting to close around us.”

As though on cue, rifle fire reverberated across the canyon. Where no Apache had been, dozens appeared. Cushing and his troops retreated and joined Mott and Rafe to form a line, firing as they fell back.

The Apaches advanced down the slope in two lines, keeping formation rather than scattering…

External links

• For book club discussion points, more background information, and an excerpt, see author's website: Ghost Warrior