Charles Poston was several years away from being “The Father of Arizona” when he met with Apache leader Mangas Coloradas in southeast New Mexico in July 1855. A big party ensued, and Poston made friends with the Indians, and to cement the new relationship, he gave out some tintype photos of himself.
Years later, he found out those photos saved his life. Apache were about to ambush a group Poston was in—but the leader had one of the tintypes and decided not to attack.