Cochise signed a peace agreement with the United States at Apache Pass in 1872.
Cochise was a leading figure of the Chiricahua Apache and had fought U.S. forces during the long conflict known as the Apache Wars. After years of war, General Oliver O. Howard negotiated with him in 1872 with the help of Thomas Jeffords, a trusted intermediary.
The agreement created a reservation for the Chiricahua in southeastern Arizona, including territory near the Chiricahua homeland. It temporarily reduced fighting, although disagreements over administration, land, and later federal policy continued to threaten the arrangement.
Cochise died in 1874. Geronimo, another Chiricahua leader, remained active after Cochise’s death and later became the best-known Apache leader in popular memory. The two men were not the same person, and Cochise’s 1872 agreement should not be confused with Geronimo’s final surrender in 1886.