On This Date in Minnesota History: October 20

October 20, 1869 – Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1848, Henry G. Nabers later immigrated to “the United States and, under the alias John Tracy, enlisted as a private in the United States Army in St. Paul, Minnesota.”^1,3 “Tracy was one of thirty-two members of the 1st and 8th Cavalry cited for [‘Bravery in action with Indians’] in [a] major battle in the Chiricahua Mountains [on this date].”²

“On October 5, 1868, a band of Apache Indians attacked a stage coach en-route to Tucson under escort by four soldiers, killing the driver, passenger, and all four soldiers. Within hours of this attack, Cochise and his Indian band encountered a group of cowboys in the Sulphur Springs Valley. The Apaches attacked, killing one of the men and stealing the cattle. One man of that group managed to escape and fled to Ft. Bowie to ask for help. Lt. William H. Winters took a troop of Cavalry in pursuit of Cochise, and was joined en-route by additional soldiers under Capt. Reuben Bernard while Cochise fled into his stronghold between Red Rock and Turtle Mountain, above Rucker Canyon. There the Cavalry encountered Cochise's warriors on October 20, 1869, in what became known as ‘The Campaign of the Rocky Mesa.’”²

Tracy received his Medal of Honor on February 14, 1870.<sup>1

1</sup>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tracy_(Medal_of_Honor)
²http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/states/pages_pz/tracy_henry.html
³http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/indianwars.html

John Tracy is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo.²
http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/states/pages_pz/tracy_henry.html

Minnesota Medal of Honor Recipients Registered in Minnesota Memorial;
Minnesota State Capitol grounds; St. Paul, Minn.

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Oct. 20, 2014,
as long as acknowledgement included.