The Life and Times of Tom Jeffords, Friend of Cochise

Tom Jeffords grew up in Ashtabula, OH, without much education and was promoted to lake captain in his early twenties. The lure of making his fortune called Tom west to the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, the San Juan Rush and to the Colorado River. He scouted and was dispatch rider for the Army during the Civil War and was present at its bloodiest battle. After the war, he prospected, scouted and helped start Tucson’s mail service. Along the way, he met Cochise, then the most feared Apache chief, and the two became friends so that he was able to guide General O.O. Howard to the chief and negotiate peace.

Doug Hocking is an independent scholar who has completed advanced studies in American history, ethnology and historical archaeology. He is a retired Army officer who has lived among the Jicarilla Apache and paisanos of the Rio Arriba (Northern New Mexico). He writes both fiction and history and is currently working on a biography of Tom Jeffords and has two historical novels in print: Massacre at Point of Rocks and Mystery of Chaco Canyon.