Adriadne Hale, age 13, of Keen, N.H., for her question:

WAS COCHISE A REAL INDIAN?

There have been a number of purely fictional accounts of the life of an Indian named Cochise. They showed him as a man who fought for a cause in which he believed.

However, there really was an American Indian leader by the name of Cochise. He was a chief of the Chiricahua Apaches. He came to notice in 1861 when an army officer tried to capture him under a flag of truce for a crime he had not committed.

Cochise escaped and then led his tribe in a war against the white settlers. He was daring and used brilliant strategy in battles against the army. He led his people in war against the United States for nearly 11 years.

A white man named Jeffords made friends with Cochise in 1862. In 1871, Jeffords led Gen. 0.0. Howard to Cochise's hiding place for an interview. Cochise accepted a reservation for his Chiricahua Indians through Howard.

Cochise moved his tribe to the reservation and died there in 1874.