The White Mountain Apache consisted of three major groups that were made up of sub-groups called bands and clans, within which were families.

These names in indigenous White Mountain Apache dialect predate relations with the United States.

Some contemporary White Mountain Apache have urged the adoption and use of these terms for the three major groups.

After warfare, the U.S. forced the Navajo and Mescalero Apache on the Long March to relocate to Fort Sumner further east in the New Mexico Territory in 1863–1864, where they were held nearby at Bosque Redondo for years.

Four decades later in 1922, four years after the end of the First World War (1914/1917-1918), the United States Army left Fort Apache, which was surrounded by the reservation.

It was transferred to the jurisdiction of the civilian United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1923 for further use.

The White Mountain Apache now operate the Roosevelt Indian School as a tribally controlled middle-school facility.

Kinishba Ruins, an ancient archeological site (1150–1350 CE) of the western Pueblo culture, is a National Historic Landmark.

According to the US Census Bureau, the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, which is located in Navajo County, is developed with small communities.