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"The Apaches were once a great nation; they are now but few, and because of this they want to die and so carry their lives on their fingernails." . . . . Cochise        The Apaches.  The very word still conjures up vivid images of unbridled ferocity and unspeakable atrocity.      A reputation foisted on this proud and vital people by bad Hollywood movies, dime novels, and originally by early settlers of New Mexico and Arizona who somehow overlooked the fact that they were the invaders and therefore, at least in the eyes of the Indians, the villains.      It was the same story all over the continent, of course, with a growing nation bound and determined to claim every inch of land from sea to shining sea in spite of the fact that it had already been claimed centuries before by the people living upon it.  Because the Indians lived a more simple life -- "primitive" was the word eagerly adopted by most Anglos -- they could be discounted.  More than that, they were detested and distrusted and villified.  They were savages, no more.  In some cases half-hearted attempts were made to purchase their lands, nearly always for value a fraction of the lands' real worth.  In most cases it was simply taken from them, and the Indians who managed to survive the onslaught were treated not much better than so much livestock.  In fact, livestock was always treated much better.      The tragedy was probably unavoidable, it has to be acknowledged.  There simply wasn't enough room for the hordes of Americans flooding into new lands and the "primitive" natives already living there.  Whether or not it all had to happen the way it did is another matter, and it is a topic that will likely never be resolved.  No matter, most of us in these so-called enlightened times agree that the Indians got a raw deal.   -         -