The photo is authentic, it was taken by C.S. Fly, and indeed shows Jimmy 'Santiago' McKinn. In September, 1885, a handful of Chiricahua Apaches led by Geronimo raided the McKinn Ranch in the Mimbres Valley, southwestern New Mexico. They were in dire need of horses, food, and ammunition. Raiding was entirely different from warfare; the objective was to resupply themselves with what they could fetch whitout alarming anyone of their presence. The Chiricahuas found 11-year-old Jimmy and his 6 years older brother Martin tending cattle; their mother and sister were in the ranch house which was quite some distance away, while Mr. McKinn had left for Las Cruces earlier that day. The Apaches approached the two boys who, of course, were front of the two boys who were shorttaken and heavily frightened. They asked Jimmy about the number of men in the house (Jimmy answered he didn't know) and how many good horses they have. Not much later they made a away with a string of horses, taking the two boys with them, since they probably would have run back to the house, alarming the others about whose number they didn't know. It would take hours until Mrs. McComas was to miss her sons. Meanwhile, the Chiricahuas were heading for Mexico and the relative safety of the Sierra Madre. When Mr. McKinn finally returned home, his wife and daughter, tearful and in deep sorrow, told him about the crushing news, he immediately gathered a bunch of men from neighbouring ranches, following the Apaches' trail. The next day they found Martin's body and buried him, fearing the worst for Jimmy. They pursued Geronimo's band for eight days but eventually had to realize they stood no chance to intercept them. Shattered they returned home...
Late in March, 1886, young chief Naiche, the shaman Geronimo, chief Chihuahua, and their bands met with general George Crook at Cañon de los Embudos, Sonora, Mexico, to negotiate surrender. Besides some of his most-trusted officers, a large number of Apache scouts, interpreters, civilian packers, and captain robert's 12-year-old son charlie, Crook was accompanied by C.S. Fly, a photographer from Tombstone (Crook took no regular troops with him; they would have been more of a hindrance than anything else). Over the next few days, he took some of the most fascinating, most famous, and today highly valuable and coveted photographs ever made of Native Americans, and one of them is the one showing Jimmy McKinn besides some Apache boys and men in the Chiricahuas' camp. McKinn, now with Chihuahua's band who had agreed to surrender and return with Crook, was reunited with his father once they reached Fort Bowie AZ. Remarkably, though, Jimmy - after having spent 7 months with the Chiricahuas - was not so eager to be taken away from them, and his new Apache family. Reporter John Lummis, who was present at the reunion at Fort Bowie, wrote:
"When told that he was to be taken back to his father and mother, Santiago began boo-hooing with great vigor. He said in Apache—for the little rascal has already become quite fluent in that language—that he didn't want to go back—he wanted to always stay with the Indians.
"Santiago McKinn, their 11-year-old white captive, was sent home today. He would not leave the camp with a white man, and had to be brought into the fort by Chiricahuas. He bawled badly when told that he was to be taken back to his parents, and said he always wanted to stay with the Indians."
An especially remarkable story, IMO :)
For even more elaborate info on Jimmy's astonishing journey, follow this link -> http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-jimmymckinn2.html
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