James Kirker

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James Kirker (1793–1852) was an Irish-born American privateer, soldier, mercenary, merchant,

Indians.[1]

James Kirker (signed Don Santiago at bottom of photo) 1847, by Thomas Martin Easterly

Early life

Kirker was born in

St. Louis, Missouri with several kinsmen. In St. Louis, Kirker worked as a merchant.[2]

In 1822, Kirker joined a

Chihuahua, Mexico. In 1833, without divorcing his first wife, he married Rita Garcia and in 1835 he became a Mexican citizen. The couple had three sons and a daughter.[2]
He became known in Mexico as Santiago Querque or Quirque.

Kirker is described as a "large, agile man," fearless, an excellent marksman and horseman. He was considered during his lifetime as having "great enterprise and vision."[2]

Mercenary

Kirker had become familiar and friendly with the Apache during his years of work and travel. He sold arms and ammunition to them and was alleged to have accompanied Apache bands on livestock raids into Mexico. Beginning in 1831,

Creek Indians, including his second in command, a Shawnee named Spybuck.[4]

Kirker's first operation in 1840 was to kill 10 Apache men and take 20 women and children prisoners from a group that had begun peace negotiations with Mexican authorities. He continued to have some successes killing and capturing Apache, but Apache raids increased in 1841 rather than decreased. Kirker was reemployed in 1846 and he and local Mexicans were responsible for a massacre of 130 peaceful Apache at

Galeana, Chihuahua. Kirker claimed that he had followed the trail of stolen livestock to the Apache encampment.[5] However, the bankrupt Chihuahua government could not afford to continue paying Kirker and offered him instead a commission as Colonel in the Mexican Army. Kirker turned down the offer. In ill repute and with the Mexican–American War inflaming public opinion against Anglo-Americans, Kirker fled Mexico. He was declared an enemy of the state with a 10,000 peso price on his head.[2]

After Mexico

Kirker was employed by Col.

Contra Costa county in California. Kirker Creek[6] and Kirker Pass[7] are named after him, with controversy arising by 2022 about using his names after the slaughter he committed.[8] He died in 1852.[2]

It is difficult to untangle fact from folklore in the details of Kirker's life.[9]

Footnotes

  1. ISSN 0021-8723
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e Smith, Ralph A. "Kirker, James." Handbook of Texas Online, [1] accessed 16 Jul 2012
  3. ^ Griffen, William B. Utmost Good Faith: Patterns of Apache-Mexican Hostilities in Northern Chihuahua Border Warfare, 1821-1848 Albuquerque: U of NM Press, p. 58
  4. ^ Often called "Skybuck" but Spybuck is more likely given that a well-known Shawnee family is named Spybuck. "James Kirker, the King of New Mexico" http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS?scalpin/children.html, accessed 13 Jul 2012
  5. ^ Griffen, Utmost Good Faith pp. 58–61, 119, 171–172,
  6. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kirker Creek
  7. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kirker Pass
  8. ^ "The Washington Football Team rebranded. California's Kirker Pass should, too". 5 February 2022.
  9. ^ Mero, William E., "Myths, Legends, and Facts, the final days of James Kirker," [2] Archived 20 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine,. accessed 3 Jun 2019

References

External links
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