By Linda Wommack
One of the few known photographs of Col. Albert H. Pfeiffer.
He came from humble beginnings and became a colonel. He lost his wife in an Apache raid, yet became an adopted member of the Utes. He served in the Civil War and later under Col. Christopher “Kit” Carson. He was a man for his time, and left as a Colorado legendary hero.
The son of a Lutheran pastor, Albert Hinrich, was born on Oct. 7, 1822, in East Friesland, Germany, to Hinricus and Wilhelmina Pfeiffer. At age 22, young Pfeiffer immigrated to America, settling in St. Louis, Mo., in 1844. Caught up with the adventure of Western migration, as many young men in St. Louis were at the time, he ventured west. Arriving in the Territory of New Mexico, he found work as a clerk in a mercantile operated by Joseph Hersch. He later moved on to the settlement of Abiquiu, north of Santa Fe, where he married into an influential Mexican family. A few years later, he became the sub-agent for the Ute tribes when Abiquiu became a trading post.
This wooden sign directs travelers along Highway 160 to the grave of Col. Pfeiffer.
It was in October 1859 that Carson met with Pfeiffer regarding the difficulties with the Tabeguache Utes. Following their meeting, Carson wrote to his superior, James Collins, superintendent of Indian affairs in New Mexico, “Give to me and Pfeiffer authority to give good and peaceable talks.” While these talks did indeed prove peaceful with the Utes, and form a lifelong friendship with Ute Chief Ouray, the Navajo were an entirely different matter. The following year, Pfeiffer, in his capacity as an Indian agent, along with Ute leader Kaniache, participated in a raid against the Navajo. This was the first of several controversial actions Pfeiffer would be involved in.
When the Civil War broke out, Pfeiffer enlisted with the New Mexico Volunteers, serving under Col. Carson. While their regiment stayed primarily in New Mexico Territory, there were reconnaissance missions, often involving Indians raids. During this time, Pfeiffer and Carson forged a friendship that would remain throughout their lives.
In 1863, Fort McRae was established 3 miles east of the Rio Grande River, near present day Truth or Consequences, in the New Mexico territory. (The Elephant Butte Reservoir has since swallowed the site.) Intended to protect settlers and stop Indian raids, the fort got off to a bad start. Pfeiffer, now a colonel, was put in charge of the new fort. On a seemingly quiet, uneventful day, the Mescalero Apache suddenly attacked the fort. Pfeiffer, bathing in the local hot springs, was obviously caught off guard. In the attack, he was seriously wounded, while his pregnant wife, Antonia, daughter Maria and a woman named Mercardo were captured. During the raid, five people were killed. Pfeiffer and a troop of soldiers set out in pursuit of the kidnappers and the rescue of the women, who ultimately were found.
It must have been a horrendous scene, as all three women were found shot, and barely alive. They were immediately taken to Fort McRae for medical treatment. All three women died of their wounds and were buried at the cemetery at Fort McRae. Later, a grieving Pfeiffer had the bodies reburied at the military cemetery of Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Meanwhile, Carson had been leading the New Mexico Volunteers successfully in fighting the Mescalero Apache throughout that summer of 1863. When Carson received orders from Gen. James H. Carleton to end the campaign by winter, with military forces through the Navajo stronghold of Canyon de Chelly, he called on his old friend, Pfeiffer.
Col. Dixon S. Miles had traveled through the canyon in 1858 and recommended that no command ever enter again. However, on Jan. 6, 1864, Carson led a troop of 375 men from the 1st New Mexico Cavalry toward the Canyon de Chelly. The command split, with Pfeiffer leading 100 men to the east end of the canyon, and Carson and the remaining troops marched to the west entrance. As the military entered the most forbidding Navajo citadel, they were immediately attacked with shooting arrows from the high rock rim canyon walls. Proceeding east through the sticky sandy canyon bottom, Carson became alarmed when he did not meet Pfeiffer’s command. Sure his friend had not survived the onslaught of piercing arrows that Carson’s men went through, he was soon overcome with shock and joy when Pfeiffer and his men emerged. They had been delayed by a skirmish, but remained victorious. The campaign was a success and the Navajos came into Fort Canby in surrender. Later that year, Pfeiffer, along with others under the command of Carleton, conducted the Navajos on their Long Walk to the ill-fated social experiment of Bosque Redondo.
Pfeiffer was without a doubt involved in controversial situations, yet often at risk of his own life. In all the many battles he engaged in, he is perhaps most known in Colorado history for an alleged duel with a Navajo warrior. In contrast to his adversarial relations with the Navajos, who had been just about everyone’s enemy for generations, Pfeiffer had made many friends with the Utes, including Chief Ouray.
Col. Albert H. Pfeiffer’s grave Photos courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Collection
In late 1866, a war was raging between the Utes and the Navajos over the hot springs of Pagosa in southwestern Colorado. Both tribes had considered the waters sacred, and so the Utes, who had lived in the area for generations, allowed the Navajo access to the spring waters. The Navajo soon waged a war for control of the springs, fighting for several days, ending in a stalemate. In such instances, the issue was often settled by personal combat. The Utes sought assistance from Pfeiffer. The Navajos sent out their largest, seasoned young warrior. The duel to the death was fought with Bowie knifes at Pfeiffer’s insistence. It wasn’t much of a fight, Pfeiffer killed his enemy and the Utes retained possession of the sacred hot springs.
Pfeiffer left for Fort Garland, where Carson was in command. He roamed the San Luis Valley for many years, finally homesteading on land west of Del Norte in 1872. Working with local livestock operators, he gained permission to graze their animals on Ute land southwest of Pagosa Springs.
Amazingly, Pfeiffer, at the age of 57, his body worn out and covered with scars from numerous wounds, died in bed.
Pfeiffer’s grave is located west of Del Norte, just off Colorado Highway 160.
