He is one half of one of the truly great American legends.  His friendship with Cochise, which arose during the height of conflict between the Apaches and the Americans, was one of those one in a million ironies that rise to the level of myth -- a historical gem so perfect in its true telling that it needs no embellishment.

     But the absolue truth remains somewhat shrouded in conflict, due in part to the fact that Jeffords himself told at least two dissimilar versions of it during his lifetime.   The conflict centers over the nature of Jeffords' first meeting with Cochise.  The version most popular has Jeffords, a brave and headstrong man, riding alone and unarmed into Cochise's camp for the purpose of making a personal appeal to the mighty Apache that mailriders going to and from Tucson might be allowed to pass unmolested - regardless of the fact that war had been raging for seven years.  In this version, Jeffords was acting through his role as mail supervisor, and his motivation was anything but personal gain.  The story comes from Jeffords' own lips, when he was interviewed near the end of his life by a writer named Farish.  This initial meeting occurred supposedly in 1867.

     Yet according to Jeffords' reliable assistant Fred Hughes, Jeffords and Cochise met at Cañada Alamosa in 1870.  On the other hand, Jeffords, in 1872, told Arizona Governor Anson Safford that his friendship with Cochise began "three years ago" -- putting the first meeting sometime in 1869.

     It is of course the most romantic version -- the one given to Farish -- that forms the backbone of this enduring true life legend, thanks in no small part to the Elliott Arnold novel, "Blood Brother", and the popular 1950 motion picture that it spawned ("Broken Arrow"). 
 
 

THOMAS JEFFORDS - The only American who was ever able to win Cochise's trust and close friendship.  Born in 1832 in Lake Chautauqua, New York.   For a time he was a sailor on the Great Lakes, thus the common appellation "Captain Jeffords".  He came west before the Civil War and worked as a prospector, mail supervisor, trader, Army Scout, and eventually the agent for Cochise's Reservation.