Arizona State University's Hayden Library has acquired a rare collection of papers which tell the poignant story of the Arizona Apache during the late 1800s and early 1900s from an Indian's viewpoint.

Carlos Montezuma, M.D., was six years old when he was captured by Pima Indians and eventually "sold" to an itinerant Chicago photographer in 1871. The photographer named him Carlos, after his own given name, and Montezuma after the Aztec emperor.

Young Carlos was a prodigy: In 1884, at age 19, he received his degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois. Five years later, he had his M.D. from the University of Chicago, and served for seven years as a BIA physician in several locations.

It was during this last period in which most of the library's new collection was produced. Charles Colley, University archivist and director of special collections, said the ten-box assortment includes about 2,000 letters and a small number of photographs and pamphlets.

The collection was purchased from Frank Novak, a Chicagoan who discovered it in an old trunk he bought 11 years ago.

The Montezuma collection is valuable because it contains exchanges with other Indians, notations on the back of his medical stationery concerning his feelings about the needs of his people and his dissatisfaction with the BIA, and the possible connection with Senator Carl Hayden (whose papers are also at ASU).

The sorting should be completed this fall and available to students of Arizona and Indian history.