1. Al Sieber was a German-American immigrant who fought in the American Civil War, and in the American Old West frontier against the Native Americans in the later American Indian Wars of the mid to late 19th century.
21 Facts About Al Sieber
1. 2.
Al Sieber became a prospector and later served as a decorated Chief of Scouts for the United States Army during the subsequent Apache Wars of 1849 - 1886 in the southwestern United States.
3.
Albert "Al" Sieber was born in Mingolsheim, Baden as the 13th of 14 children.
4.
Al Sieber was baptized on March 1,1843, in St Lambertus Church, Mingolsheim.
5.
Al Sieber enlisted on March 4,1862, in Company B, 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.
6.
Al Sieber participated in General George Crook's Tonto campaign.
7.
Al Sieber remained employed there and participated in several engagements with Apache groups that had abandoned and left the reservation.
8.
Al Sieber said Sieber and his scouts led her stagecoach and its passengers to a nearby adobe ranch house where they remained until the Indians were captured.
9.
In February, April, and May 1877, Al Sieber acted as a guide for Pima County Marshal Wiley Standefer, who was pursuing outlaws in the region.
10.
Al Sieber was Crook's lead civilian scout and mentor to Tom Horn, whom he taught to speak German, as well as fighting together during the battles at Cibecue Creek, and Big Dry Wash.
11.
Al Sieber was in the field but not present when the Apache leader and renegade Geronimo surrendered to young Lt.
12.
Al Sieber stayed on at San Carlos as Chief of Scouts for the Army for another 13 years.
13.
In 1887, Al Sieber was shot and wounded when the Apache Kid and his followers escaped the reservation to prevent being jailed again.
14.
Unhappy with military law, Al Sieber decided to retry the Kid, this time for attempted murder in the local territorial court.
15.
On October 29,1889, according to the official records as the star witness, Al Sieber testified that the Apache Kid had shot him, even though he knew the Kid was not wearing a weapon at that moment.
16.
Al Sieber's perjury resulted in a sentence of seven years in the infamous Yuma Territorial Prison in Yuma, for the Apache Kid and 3 other scouts.
17.
Al Sieber left San Carlos and took up prospecting for the next eight years until 1898.
18.
On February 19,1907, Al Sieber was leading an Apache work crew that was building the Tonto road to the new Roosevelt Dam site on the confluence of the Salt River and Tonto Creek on the border of Gila County and Maricopa County in Gila County.
19.
Al Sieber was killed when a boulder rolled on him during construction.
20.
Al Sieber was buried with military honors at the cemetery in Globe, Arizona.
21.
Al Sieber has been portrayed in a number of Hollywood productions and releases of Western feature films, plus television series.