John C. Cremony

Who was John C. Cremony?

Major John C. Cremony was an American newspaperman who enrolled in the Massachusetts Volunteers in 1846, serving as a lieutenant.

He served as a Spanish language interpreter for the U.S. Boundary Commission which laid out the Mexican and United States Border between 1849–1852. He went on to serve as Captain in Company B, 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry a unit of California Volunteers, with the California Column in New Mexico Territory. He eventually achieved the rank of Major in 1864 and commanded the 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers until 1866. He was the first editor of San Francisco's Weekly Sunday Times newspaper.

Cremony served most of his military career in the Southwest and personally knew Apache Chiefs Mangas Coloradas and Cochise. He was the first white man to become fluent in the Apache language, learning it in his role as an interpreter, and publishing the first written compilation of their language as a glossary for the army. As a result, Cremony was often able to resolve numerous issues between the military, reservation authorities and the Apaches. Not all of Cremony's discourses with the Apache were peaceful, however.