Cochise was not just a character in western movies and tv shows. He was actually a real Apache Chief of the Chokenen-Chiricahua Apache band located around the area of what is now Sonoma, New Mexico and Arizona.
This true legend of the old west is one of the better known names of the Apaches along with Geronimo and Mangas Colorades. All three men fought very hard during their lifetimes to stop the invasion of white settlers and Mexican and American soldiers into the land that their people had lived in since around 1600.
I could not find an actual photo of Cochise to share in this post. Let me correct that, I found enough to get a campfire started with but none of the photos were truly the Apache Chief Cochise. That became apparent when I noticed that the different pictures were not the same man. Maybe one of the reasons that there were no photographs taken of him was because photography was relatively new during the time that he lived and even though there were photographers, getting that equipment safely into Apache territory would have been a feat into itself.
TV Series Cochise
So, I decided to share a video here that is about the friendship of Cochise and Tom Jeffords that actually existed. Jeffords was the only white friend of Cochise and ended up being the agent of the reservation where Cochise spent his last years. The movie Broken Arrow which starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler actually was the first film that showed some sympathy towards Native Americans and their fight to keep the European settlers off of their lands. The movie has been credited to changing popular opinion of Americans from negative to positive towards the Indigenous Peoples of the North American continent. So, even though the actor playing Cochise was not himself from any tribal tradition, his role caused a better respect of the people who lost their homelands and fought hard battles for what was rightfully theirs.
To read some very interesting history of the Apache Chief Cochise, I would recommend the wiki article Cochise. I could write a summation of it but I think you would have more interest in reading the article first hand.