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= Geronimo =
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Introduction
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Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 - February 17, 1909) was a military leader
and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache
people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other
Central Apache bands the Tchihende, the Tsokanende (called Chiricahua
by Americans) and the Nednhito carry out numerous raids, as well as
fight against Mexican and U.S. military campaigns in the northern
Mexico states of Chihuahua and Sonora and in the southwestern American
territories of New Mexico and Arizona.
Geronimo's raids and related combat actions were a part of the
prolonged period of the Apache-United States conflict, which started
with the Americans continuing to take land, including Apache lands,
following the end of the war with Mexico in 1848. Reservation life was
confining to the free-moving Apache people, and they resented
restrictions on their customary way of life. Geronimo led breakouts
from the reservations in attempts to return his people to their
previous nomadic lifestyle. During Geronimo's final period of conflict
from 1876 to 1909, he surrendered three times and eventually accepted
life on the Apache reservations. While well-known, Geronimo was not a
chief of the Bedonkohe band of the Central Apache but a shaman, as was
Nokay-doklini among the Western Apache. However, since he was a superb
leader in raiding and warfare, he frequently led large parties of 30
to 50 Apache warriors.
In 1886, after an intense pursuit in northern Mexico by American
forces that followed Geronimo's third 1885 reservation breakout,
Geronimo surrendered for the last time to Lt. Charles Bare Gatewood.
Geronimo and 27 other Apaches were later sent to join the rest of the
Chiricahua tribe, which had been previously exiled to Florida. While
holding him as a prisoner, the United States capitalized on Geronimo's
fame among non-Indians by displaying him at various fairs and
exhibitions. In 1898, for example, Geronimo was exhibited at the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska; seven years later,
the Indian Office provided Geronimo for use in a parade at the second
inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt. He died at the Fort Sill
hospital in 1909, as a prisoner of war, and was buried at the Fort
Sill Indian Agency Cemetery, among the graves of relatives and other
Apache prisoners of war.
Background
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Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of
Native Americans resident in the Southwest United States. The current
division of Apachean groups includes the Western Apache, Yavapai,
Coyotero, Aravaipa, Mojaves, Chiricahua, Tontos, Bylas, San Carlos,
Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Plains Apache (formerly Kiowa-Apache).
The first Apache raids on Sonora and Chihuahua took place in the late
17th century. To counter the early Apache raids on Spanish
settlements, presidios were established at Janos (1685) in Chihuahua
and at Fronteras (1690) in what is now northeastern Sonora, then Opata
country. In 1835, Mexico had placed a bounty on Apache scalps. Two
years later, Mangas Coloradas became principal chief and war leader
and began a series of raids against the Mexicans. Apache raids on
Mexican villages were so numerous and brutal that no area was safe.
Between 1820 and 1835 alone, some 5,000 Mexicans died in Apache raids,
and 100 settlements were destroyed.
During the decades of Apache-Mexican and Apache-United States
conflicts, raiding had become embedded in the Apache way of life, used
for strategic purposes as well as economic enterprise. Speaking of the
start of the Spanish/Mexican Apache conflict, Debo states, "Thus the
Apaches were driven into the mountains and raiding the settled
communities became a way of life for them, an economic enterprise as
legitimate as gathering berries or hunting deer" and often there was
overlap between raids for economic need and warfare. Raids ranged from
stealing livestock and other plunder, to the capture and/or killing of
victims, sometimes by torture. Mexicans and Americans responded with
retaliatory attacks against the Apache which were no less violent and
were very seldom limited to identified individual adult enemies, much
like the Apache raids. The raiding and retaliation fed the fires of a
virulent revenge warfare that reverberated back and forth between
Apaches and Mexicans and later, Apaches and Americans. From 1850 to
1886, Geronimo, as well as other Apache leaders, conducted attacks,
but Geronimo was driven by a desire to take revenge for the murder of
his family by Mexican soldiers and accumulated a record of brutality
during this time that was unmatched by any of his contemporaries. His
fighting ability extending over 30 years forms a major characteristic
of his persona.
Within Geronimo's own Chiricahua tribe, many had mixed feelings about
him. While respected as a skilled and effective leader of raids or
warfare, he emerges as not very likable, and he was not widely popular
among the other Apaches. This was primarily because he refused to give
in to American government demands, causing some Apaches to fear the
American response. Nevertheless, the Apache people stood in awe of
Geronimo's powers, which he demonstrated to them on a series of
occasions. These powers indicated to other Apaches that Geronimo had
supernatural gifts that he could use for good or ill. In eyewitness
accounts by other Apaches, Geronimo was able to become aware of
distant events as they happened, and he was able to anticipate future
events. He also demonstrated powers to heal other Apaches.
Biography
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Geronimo was born to the Bedonkohe band of the Apache near Turkey
Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in the modern-day state of New
Mexico, then part of Mexico, though the Apache disputed Mexico's
claim. His grandfather, Mahko, had been chief of the Bedonkohe Apache.
He had three brothers and four sisters.
His parents raised him according to Apache traditions. After the death
of his father, his mother took him to live with the Tchihende, and he
grew up with them. Geronimo married a woman named Alope, from the
Nedni-Chiricahua band of Apache, when he was 17; they had three
children. She was the first of nine wives.
Massacre at Janos
===================
On March 5, 1851, a company of 400 Mexican soldiers from Sonora led by
Colonel José María Carrasco attacked Geronimo's camp outside Janos,
Chihuahua (Kas-Ki-Yeh in Apache) while the men were in town trading.
Carrasco claimed he had followed the Apaches to Janos, after they had
conducted a raid in Sonora, taken livestock and other plunder, and
badly defeated the Mexican militia. Among those killed in Carrasco's
attack were Geronimo's wife, children and mother. The loss of his
family led Geronimo to hate all Mexicans for the rest of his life; he
and his followers would frequently attack and kill any group of
Mexicans that they encountered. Throughout Geronimo's adult life his
antipathy toward, suspicion of, and dislike for Mexicans was
demonstrably greater than for Americans.
Recalling that at the time his band was at peace with the Mexicans,
Geronimo remembered the incident as follows: Late one afternoon when
returning from town we were met by a few women and children who told
us that Mexican troops from some other town had attacked our camp,
killed all the warriors of the guard, captured all our ponies, secured
our arms, destroyed our supplies, and killed many of our women and
children. Quickly we separated, concealing ourselves as best we could
until nightfall, when we assembled at our appointed place of
rendezvous - a thicket by the river. Silently we stole in one by one,
sentinels were placed, and when all were counted, I found that my aged
mother, my young wife, and my three small children were among the
slain.
War with Mexico
=================
Geronimo's chief, Mangas Coloradas (Spanish for "red sleeves"), sent
him to Cochise's band for help in his revenge against the Mexicans. It
was during this incident that the name 'Geronimo' came about. This
appellation stemmed from a battle in which, ignoring a deadly hail of
bullets, he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife. The
origin of the name is a source of controversy with historians, some
writing that it was appeals by the soldiers to Saint Jerome
("Jerónimo!") for help. Debo repeats this, speculating also an
alternative unlikely in terms of phonetics, that it may have been "as
close as they [Mexican soldiers] could come to the choking sounds that
composed his name."
Attacks and counterattacks with Mexicans were common. In December
1860, 30 miners began a surprise attack on an encampment of Bedonkohes
Apaches on the west bank of the Mimbres River. According to historian
Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "killed four Indians, wounded others, and
captured thirteen women and children." Attacks by the Apache again
followed, with raids against U.S. citizens and property.
In 1873 the Mexicans once again attacked the Apache. After months of
fighting in the mountains, the Apaches and Mexicans decided on a peace
treaty at Casas Grandes. After terms were agreed, the Mexican troops
gave mezcal to the Apaches, and while they were intoxicated, they
attacked and killed 20 Apaches and captured some. The Apache were
forced to retreat into the mountains once again.
Though outnumbered, Geronimo fought against both Mexican and United
States troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous
escapes from incarceration from 1858 to 1886. One such escape, as
legend has it, took place in the Robledo Mountains of southwest New
Mexico. The legend states that Geronimo and his followers entered a
cave, and the U.S. soldiers waited outside the entrance for him, but
he never came out. Later, it was heard that Geronimo was spotted
outside, nearby. The second entrance through which he escaped has yet
to be found, and the cave is called Geronimo's Cave, even though no
reference to this event or this cave has been found in the historic or
oral record. Moreover, there are many stories of this type with other
caves referenced that state that Geronimo or other Apaches entered to
escape troops but were not seen exiting. These stories are in all
likelihood apocryphal.
Geronimo campaign
===================
The Apache-United States conflict was a direct outgrowth of the much
older Apache-Mexican conflict which had been ongoing in the same
general area since the beginning of Mexican/Spanish settlement during
the 17th century.Geronimo (Goyaałé), a Bedonkohe Apache, kneeling with
rifle, 1887
While Apaches were shielded from the violence of warfare on the
reservation, disability and death from diseases like malaria were much
more prevalent. On the other hand, rations were provided by the
government, though at times the corruption of Indian agents caused
rationing to become perilously scarce. The people, who had lived as
semi-nomads for generations, disliked the restrictive reservation
system. Rebelling against reservation life, other Apache leaders had
led their bands in "breakouts" from the reservations.
On three occasions - April or August 1878; September 1881; and May
1885 - Geronimo led his band of followers in breakouts from the
reservation to return to their former nomadic life associated with
raiding and warfare. Following each breakout, Geronimo and his band
would flee across Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico, killing and
plundering as they went, and establish a new base in the rugged and
remote Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. In Mexico, they were
insulated from pursuit by U.S. armed forces. The Apache knew the rough
terrain of the Sierras intimately, which helped them elude pursuit and
protected them from attack. The Sierra Madre mountains lie on the
border between the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, which
allowed the Apache access to raid and plunder the small villages,
haciendas, wagon trains, worker camps and travelers in both states.
From Mexico, Apache bands also staged surprise raids back into the
United States, often seeking to replenish their supply of guns and
ammunition. Utley refers to a specific raid in March 1883, in which
Geronimo's people split up with Geronimo and Chihuahua raiding in the
Sonora River valley to collect livestock and provisions, while Chatto
and Bonito raided through southern Arizona to gather weapons and
cartridges. In these raids into the United States, the Apaches moved
swiftly and attacked isolated ranches, wagon trains, prospectors and
travelers. They often killed all the persons they encountered in order
to avoid detection and pursuit as long as possible before they slipped
back over the border into Mexico.
The "breakouts" and the subsequent resumption of Apache raiding and
warfare caused the Mexican Army and militia as well as United States
forces to pursue and attempt to kill or apprehend off-reservation
"renegade" Apache bands, including Geronimo's, wherever they could be
found. Because the Mexican army and militia units of Sonora and
Chihuahua were unable to suppress the several Chiricahua bands based
in the Sierra Madre mountains, in 1883 Mexico allowed the United
States to send troops into Mexico to continue their pursuit of
Geronimo's band and the bands of other Apache leaders.
On May 17, 1885, a number of Apache including Nana, Mangus (son of
Mangas Coloradas), Chihuahua, Naiche, Geronimo, and their followers
fled the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona after a show of force
against the reservation's commanding officer Britton Davis. Department
of Arizona General George Crook dispatched two columns of troops into
Mexico, the first commanded by Captain Emmet Crawford and the second
by Captain Wirt Davis. Each was composed of a troop of cavalry
(usually about forty men) and about 100 Apache Scouts recruited from
among the Apache people. These Apache units proved effective in
finding the mountain strongholds of the Apache bands and killing or
capturing them. It was highly unsettling for Geronimo's band to
realize their own tribesmen had helped find their hiding places. They
pursued the Apache through the summer and autumn through Mexican
Chihuahua and back across the border into the United States. The
Apache continually raided settlements, murdering other innocent Native
Americans and civilians and stealing horses. Over time this persistent
pursuit by both Mexican and American forces discouraged Geronimo and
other similar Apache leaders, and caused a steady and irreplaceable
attrition of the members of their bands, which taken all together
eroded their will to resist and led to their ultimate capitulation.
Crook was under increased pressure from the government in Washington.
He launched a second expedition into Mexico, and on January 9, 1886,
Crawford located Geronimo and his band. His Apache Scouts attacked the
next morning and captured the Apache's herd of horses and their camp
equipment. The Apaches were demoralized and agreed to negotiate for
surrender. Before the negotiations could be concluded, Mexican troops
arrived and mistook the Apache Scouts for the enemy Apache. The
Mexican government had accused the scouts of taking advantage of their
position to conduct theft, robbery, and murder in Mexico. They
attacked and killed Captain Crawford. Lt. Maus, the senior officer,
met with Geronimo, who agreed to meet with General Crook. Geronimo
named as the meeting place the Cañon de los Embudos (Canyon of the
Funnels), in the Sierra Madre Mountains about 86 mi from Fort Bowie
and about 20 mi south of the international border, near the
Sonora/Chihuahua border.
During the three days of negotiations in March 1886, photographer C.
S. Fly took about 15 exposures of the Apache on 8 by glass negatives.
One of the pictures of Geronimo with two of his sons standing
alongside was made at Geronimo's request. Fly's images are the only
existing photographs of Geronimo's surrender. His photos of Geronimo
and the other free Apaches, taken on March 25 and 26, are the only
known photographs taken of an American Indian while still at war with
the United States. Among the Indians was a white boy Jimmy McKinn,
also photographed by Fly, who had been abducted from his ranch in New
Mexico in September 1885.
Geronimo, camped on the Mexican side of the border, agreed to Crook's
surrender terms. That night, a soldier who sold them whiskey said that
his band would be murdered as soon as they crossed the border.
Geronimo, Nachite, and 39 of his followers slipped away during the
night. Crook exchanged a series of heated telegrams with General
Philip Sheridan defending his men's actions, until on April 1, 1886,
when he sent a telegram asking Sheridan to relieve him of command, to
which Sheridan agreed.
Sheridan replaced Crook with General Nelson A. Miles. In 1886, Miles
selected Captain Henry Lawton to command B Troop, 4th Cavalry, at Fort
Huachuca, and First Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood, to lead the
expedition that brought Geronimo and his followers back to the
reservation system for a final time. Lawton was given orders to head
up actions south of the U.S.-Mexico boundary, where it was thought
that Geronimo and a small band of his followers would take refuge from
U.S. authorities. Lawton was to pursue, subdue, and return Geronimo,
dead or alive, to the United States.
Lawton's official report dated September 9, 1886, sums up the actions
of his unit and gives credit to a number of his troops for their
efforts. Geronimo gave Gatewood credit for his decision to surrender
as Gatewood was well known to Geronimo, spoke some Apache, and was
familiar with and honored their traditions and values. He acknowledged
Lawton's tenacity for wearing the Apaches down with constant pursuit.
Geronimo and his followers had little or no time to rest or stay in
one place. Completely worn out, the small band of Apaches returned to
the U.S. with Lawton and officially surrendered to General Miles on
September 4, 1886, at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.
When Geronimo surrendered, he had in his possession a Winchester Model
1876 lever-action rifle with a silver-washed barrel and receiver,
bearing Serial Number 109450. It is on display at the United States
Military Academy, West Point, New York. Additionally, he had a Colt
Single Action Army revolver with a nickel finish and ivory stocks
bearing Serial Number 89524, and a Sheffield Bowie knife with a dagger
type blade and a stag handle made by George Wostenholm in an elaborate
silver-studded holster and cartridge belt. The revolver, rig, and
knife are on display at the Fort Sill museum.
The debate remains as to whether Geronimo surrendered unconditionally.
He repeatedly insisted in his memoirs that his people who surrendered
had been misled, and that his surrender as a war prisoner in front of
uncontested witnesses (especially General Stanley) was conditional.
General Oliver O. Howard, chief of US Army Division of the Pacific,
said on his part that Geronimo's surrender was accepted as that of a
dangerous outlaw without condition. Howard's account was contested in
front of the US Senate.
According to 'National Geographic', "the governor of Sonora claimed in
1886 that in the last five months of Geronimo's wild career, his band
of 16 warriors slaughtered some 500 to 600 Mexicans." At the end of
his military career, he led a small band of 38 men, women and
children. They evaded thousands of Mexican and American troops for
more than a year, making him the most famous Native American of the
time and earning him the title of the "worst Indian who ever lived"
among white settlers. According to James L. Haley, "About two weeks
after the escape there was a report of a family massacred near Silver
City; one girl was taken alive and hanged from a meat hook jammed
under the base of her skull." His band was one of the last major
forces of independent Native American warriors who refused to accept
the United States occupation of the American West.
Prisoner of war
=================
Geronimo and other Apaches, including the Apache Scouts who had helped
the Army track him down, were sent as prisoners to Fort Sam Houston in
San Antonio, Texas. The Army held them there for about six weeks
before they were sent to Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida. This
prompt action prevented the Arizona civil authorities from intervening
to arrest and try Geronimo for the death of the many Americans who had
been killed during the previous decades of raiding.
"In that alien climate," 'The Washington Post' reported, "the Apache
died 'like flies at frost time.' Businessmen there soon had the idea
to have Geronimo serve as a tourist attraction, and hundreds of
visitors daily were let into the fort to lay eyes on the
'bloodthirsty' Indian in his cell." While the prisoners of war were in
Florida, the government relocated hundreds of their children from
their Arizona reservation to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in
Pennsylvania. More than a third of the students quickly perished from
tuberculosis, "died as though smitten with the plague", the 'Post'
reported.
The Chiricahuas remained at Fort Pickens until 1888 when they were
relocated to Mt. Vernon Barracks in Alabama, where they were reunited
with their families. After 1/4 of the population died of tuberculosis,
the Chiricahuas, including Geronimo, were relocated to Fort Sill,
Oklahoma, in 1894; they built villages scattered around the post based
on kindred groups. Geronimo, like other Apaches, was given a plot of
land on which he took up farming activities. On the train ride to Fort
Sill, many tourists wanted a memento of Geronimo, so they paid 25
cents for a button that he cut off his shirt or a hat he took off his
head. As the train would pull into depots along the way, Geronimo
would buy more buttons to sew on and more hats to sell.
In 1898 Geronimo was part of a Chiricahua delegation from Fort Sill to
the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska.
Previous newspaper accounts of the Apache Wars had impressed the
public with Geronimo's name and exploits, and in Omaha he became a
major attraction. The Omaha Exposition gave Geronimo celebrity status,
and for the rest of his life he was in demand as an attraction in
fairs large and small. The two largest were the Pan-American
Exposition at Buffalo, New York, in 1901, and the St. Louis World's
Fair in 1904. Under Army guard, Geronimo dressed in traditional
clothing and posed for photographs and sold his crafts.
After the fair, Pawnee Bill's Wild West shows brokered an agreement
with the government to have Geronimo join the show, again under Army
guard. The Indians in Pawnee Bill's shows were depicted as "lying,
thieving, treacherous, murderous" monsters who had killed hundreds of
men, women and children and would think nothing of taking a scalp from
any member of the audience, given the chance. Visitors came to see how
the "savage" had been "tamed," and they paid Geronimo to take a button
from the coat of the vicious Apache "chief." (Geronimo was not a
chief.) The shows put a good deal of money in his pockets and allowed
him to travel, though never without government guards.
In President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 Inaugural Parade, Geronimo rode
horseback down Pennsylvania Avenue with five Indian chiefs who wore
full headgear and painted faces. The intent, one newspaper stated, was
to show Americans "that they have buried the hatchet forever." They
created a sensation and brought the crowds to their feet along the
parade route. Later that same week Geronimo met with Roosevelt and
made a request for the Chiricahuas at Fort Sill to be relieved of
their status as prisoners of war and allowed to return to their
homeland in Arizona. President Roosevelt refused, referring to the
continuing animosity in Arizona for the deaths of civilian men, women,
and children associated with Geronimo's raids during the prolonged
Apache Wars. Through an interpreter, Roosevelt told Geronimo that the
Indian had a "bad heart". "You killed many of my people; you burned
villages…and were not good Indians." Roosevelt responded that he
would "see how you and your people act" on the reservation.
In 1905, Geronimo agreed to tell his story to S. M. Barrett,
Superintendent of Education in Lawton, Oklahoma. Barrett had to appeal
to President Roosevelt to gain permission to publish the book.
Geronimo came to each interview knowing exactly what he wanted to say.
He refused to answer questions or alter his narrative. He expressed
himself in Spanish. Barrett did not seem to take many liberties with
Geronimo's story as translated into English by Asa Daklugie. Frederick
Turner re-edited this autobiography by removing some of Barrett's
footnotes and writing an introduction for the non-Apache readers.
Turner notes the book is in the style of an Apache reciting part of
his oral history.
When I was at first asked to attend the St. Louis World's Fair I did
not wish to go. Later, when I was told that I would receive good
attention and protection, and that the President of the United States
said that it would be all right, I consented ... Every Sunday the
President of the Fair sent for me to go to a wild west show. I took
part in the roping contests before the audience. There were many other
Indian tribes there, and strange people of whom I had never heard ...
I am glad I went to the Fair. I saw many interesting things and
learned much of the white people. They are a very kind and peaceful
people. During all the time I was at the Fair no one tried to harm me
in any way. Had this been among the Mexicans I am sure I should have
been compelled to defend myself often.
Later that year, the Indian Office took him to Texas, where he shot a
buffalo in a roundup staged by 101 Ranch Real Wild West for the
National Editorial Association. Geronimo was escorted to the event by
soldiers, as he was still a prisoner. The teachers who witnessed the
staged buffalo hunt were unaware that Geronimo's people were not
buffalo hunters.
Death
=======
In February 1909, Geronimo was thrown from his horse while riding home
and lay in the cold all night until a friend found him extremely ill.
He died of pneumonia on February 17, 1909, as a prisoner of the United
States at Fort Sill. On his deathbed, he confessed to his nephew that
he regretted his decision to surrender. His last words were reported
to be said to his nephew, "I should have never surrendered. I should
have fought until I was the last man alive." He was buried at Fort
Sill in the Beef Creek Apache Cemetery.
Family
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One of Geronimo's daughters, likely Dohn-say, was married to Zebina
Streeter. Although Streeter was well respected by Geronimo's band and
referred to as "White Apache", it was shameful to acknowledge the
relationship, as intermarriage with whites was considered
dishonorable.
The great-great-grandson of Geronimo, Harlyn Geronimo, taught Apache
language lessons at the Mescalero Apache Reservation until his death
in 2020.
Religion
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Geronimo was raised with the traditional religion of the Bedonkohe.
When questioned about his opinions concerning life after death, he
wrote in his 1905 autobiography: As to the future state, the
teachings of our tribe were not specific, that is, we had no definite
idea of our relations and surroundings in after life. We believed that
there is a life after this one, but no one ever told me as to what
part of man lived after death ... We held that the discharge of one's
duty would make his future life more pleasant, but whether that future
life was worse than this life or better, we did not know, and no one
was able to tell us. We hoped that in the future life, family and
tribal relations would be resumed. In a way we believed this, but we
did not know it.
In his later years Geronimo endorsed Christianity and stated:
Since my life as a prisoner has begun, I have heard the teachings of
the white man's religion, and in many respects believe it to be better
than the religion of my fathers ... Believing that in a wise way it is
good to go to church, and that associating with Christians would
improve my character, I have adopted the Christian religion. I believe
that the church has helped me much during the short time I have been a
member. I am not ashamed to be a Christian, and I am glad to know that
the President of the United States is a Christian, for without the
help of the Almighty I do not think he could rightly judge in ruling
so many people. I have advised all of my people who are not
Christians, to study that religion, because it seems to me the best
religion in enabling one to live right.
He joined the Dutch Reformed Church in 1903 but four years later was
expelled for gambling. To the end of his life, he seemed to harbor
ambivalent religious feelings, telling the Christian missionaries at a
summer camp meeting in 1908 that he wanted to start over, while at the
same time telling his tribesmen that he held to the old Apache
religion.
Alleged theft of Geronimo's skull
======================================================================
Six members of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones, including
Prescott Bush, served as Army volunteers at Fort Sill during World War
I. In 1986, former San Carlos Apache chairman Ned Anderson received an
anonymous letter with a photograph and a copy of a log book claiming
that Skull and Bones held the skull of Geronimo. He met with Skull and
Bones representatives about the rumor. The group's attorney, Endicott
P. Davidson, denied that the group held the skull and said that the
1918 ledger saying otherwise was a hoax. The group offered Anderson a
glass case like the one in the photograph containing what appeared to
be the skull of a child, but Anderson refused it.
In 2006, Marc Wortman discovered a 1918 letter from Skull and Bones
member Winter Mead to F. Trubee Davison that claimed the theft:
The second "Tomb" refers to the building of Yale University's Skull
and Bones society. The revelation led Harlyn Geronimo to write to
President George W. Bush (the grandson of Prescott Bush) requesting
his help in returning the remains:
However, the implications of the letter are debatable. Mead was not at
Fort Sill, so he could not have personally witnessed the robbery, and
Cameron University history professor David H. Miller notes that
Geronimo's grave was unmarked at the time.
In 2009, Ramsey Clark filed a lawsuit on behalf of people claiming
descent from Geronimo, against several parties including Robert Gates
and Skull and Bones, asking for the return of Geronimo's bones. An
article in 'The New York Times' states that Clark "acknowledged he had
no hard proof that the story was true." Investigators, including Bush
family biographer Kitty Kelley and the pseudonymous Cecil Adams, say
the story is untrue. A military spokesman from Fort Sill told Adams,
"There is no evidence to indicate the bones are anywhere but in the
grave site." Jeff Houser, chairman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe of
Oklahoma, calls the story a hoax. In 1928, the Army covered Geronimo's
grave with concrete and provided a stone monument, making any possible
examination of remains difficult. In 2010, the court dismissed the
case, deciding that Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA) only applies to events that occurred after 1990. The
court did not rule about the claim concerning Skull and Bones perhaps
because NAGPRA does not apply to private organizations.
Paratroopers
==============
Inspired by the 1939 film 'Geronimo', U.S. Army paratroopers testing
the practice of parachuting from planes began a tradition of shouting
"Geronimo!" to show they had no fear of jumping out of an airplane.
Other Native American-based traditions were also adopted in WWII, such
as "Mohawk" haircuts, face paint, and sporting spears on their unit
patches. The paratrooper unit 1/509th PIR at Fort Johnson, LA, uses
Geronimo as their moniker.
Code name
===========
The United States military used the code name "Geronimo" for the raid
that killed Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011, but its use
outraged some Native Americans. It was subsequently reported to be
named or renamed "Operation Neptune Spear".
Harlyn Geronimo, known to be Geronimo's great-grandson, said to the
Senate Commission on Indian Affairs:
Commemorations
======================================================================
Three towns in the U.S. are named after Geronimo: one each in Arizona,
Oklahoma, and Texas. Also named after him was the SS 'Geronimo', a
WWII Liberty ship. In the U.S. Postal Service's serial "Legends of the
West", a 29¢ postage stamp showing Geronimo was issued on October 18,
1994.
Music
=======
'Geronimo' is a track recorded by Les Elgart and his orchestra on
their 'Sophisticated Swing' album (Columbia CL-536; 1953). The British
instrumental rock group The Shadows released a single “Geronimo” in
1963, written by group member Hank Marvin. It stalled at number 11 in
the British charts, their lowest since breaking through in 1960 with
the charttopping Apache. In 1972, Michael Martin Murphey's song
'Geronimo's Cadillac' was inspired by Walter Ferguson's photo of
Geronimo sitting in a luxury Locomobile. The song hit number 37 on the
'Billboard' Hot 100, and it was later covered by Cher and Hoyt Axton.
The German duo Modern Talking released a different song with the same
title (but with a less explicit lyrical connection to Geronimo) in
1986. In 2014, the indie pop band Sheppard released 'Geronimo', which
reached number one on the Australian Singles Chart in April that year.
Film
======
Geronimo has been featured in many western movies; for example, in
John Ford's 'Stagecoach' (1939), it is Geronimo's band that chases the
stagecoach across Monument Valley. There are four films in which he is
the title character. In 'Geronimo!' (also 1939), directed by Paul
Sloane, he is played by Chief Thundercloud but only in a supporting
role as the film is essentially about the U.S. Army's attempts to
capture him. However, in the similarly titled 'Geronimo!' (1962),
directed by Arnold Laven, Geronimo as played by Chuck Connors is the
main character.
In 1993, two films about Geronimo were released within a few days of
each other. 'Geronimo: An American Legend' is about his surrender, and
he is played by Native American actor Wes Studi. The biopic 'Geronimo'
has a wider scope, and he is played by Native American actor Joseph
Runningfox.
Literature
============
In Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel 'How Few Remain',
Geronimo forms an uneasy alliance with J. E. B. Stuart and the
Confederate States, working against the United States and Mexico.
Television and radio
======================
On June 29, 1938, a fictionalized Geronimo appeared in a radio episode
of 'The Lone Ranger', titled "Three Against Geronimo". In the episode,
Tonto acts as a spy to discover Geronimo's plan to take Fort Custer
under a false flag of peace. Tonto strips Geronimo of his concealed
knife before the Lone Ranger and a cavalryman named Peterson lure
Geronimo's troops into the emptied fort one at a time.
In the TV series 'Stories of the Century', the episode "Geronimo" was
aired on February 14, 1954. “Geronimo” was the title of episode 21 of
the ABC western series 'Tombstone Territory'. The episode was first
broadcast on March 5, 1958, with John Doucette playing the part of
Geronimo. Geronimo, played by Enrique Lucero, features prominently in
the 1979 miniseries 'Mr. Horn', starring David Carradine as Tom Horn.
In the British television series 'Doctor Who', the Eleventh Doctor
(played by Matt Smith) often exclaimed "Geronimo!" as a catchphrase
during his 2010-2013 tenure, beginning with his debut in "The Eleventh
Hour".
In the third episode of the second season of 'The Politician' TV
series, a photo of the protagonist costumed as Geronimo results in the
protagonist being accused of cultural appropriation.
Video games
=============
Geronimo was a character featured in the mobile game 'Fate/Grand
Order'.
Further reading
======================================================================
* Bigelow, John Lt. 'On the Bloody Trail of Geronimo' New York: Tower
Books, 1958.
* Brands, H.W. 'The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and the War for
America' Doubleday, 2022.
* Brown, Dee. 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee'. New York: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
* Carter, Forrest. 'Watch for Me on the Mountain'. Delta. 1990. - Also
published as 'Cry Geronimo'.
* Davis, Britton. "The 'Truth about Geronimo'" New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1929.
* Faulk, Odie B. 'The Geronimo Campaign'. Oxford University Press: New
York, 1969.
* Killblane, Richard E. "Arizona Tiger Hunt", 'Wild West', December
1993.
* Killblane, Richard E. "Geronimo's Final Surrender", 'Wild West',
February 1994.
* Opler, Morris E. & French, David H. 'Myths and tales of the
Chiricahua Apache Indians'. [1941] Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1994.
* Reilly, Edward.
[
http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/29/geronimo-the-warrior/
"Geronimo: The Warrior"], 'Public Domain Review', 2011.
External links
======================================================================
;Electronic collections
*
*
;Biographic information
* [
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/geronimo.htm Biography of Geronimo]
hosted by the [
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/ Indigenous People
Portal]
* [
http://www.indians.org/welker/geronimo.htm Geronimo] at Indians.org
*
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20141229175813/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/G/GE009.html
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Geronimo (Apache
leader)]
;Other links
* Adams, Guy.
[
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-big-question-who-was-geronimo-and-why-is--there-controversy-over-his-remains-1714167.html
Who Was Geronimo, and Why is There Controversy Over His Remains?],
'The Independent', June 23, 2009
* [
http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/29/geronimo-the-warrior/
Germonimo: The Warrior] article by Edward Rielly on the personal
tragedy which underpinned Geronimo's warrior life.
License
=========
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo
