Geronimo (1829–1909)

The Chiricahua Apache war chief Geronimo is one of the most famous Indian figures of the 19th century and certainly one of the most elusive. Born most probably in Arizona in 1829, Geronimo was trained like all young boys to be an accomplished raider and warrior. He was also brought up to believe that the place he was born into was sacred to his people, a belief he ardently fought for throughout his life. In his defense of his people's land and traditional way of life, he was an uncompromising leader.

Although considered to be threats by the Spanish and Mexican governments, the Apaches remained at peace with the United States until the American Civil War, when relations deteriorated. In 1860, the accusation of kidnapping against Apache chief Cochise deteriorated into hostage-taking and 10 years of reprisals on both sides. In 1871, a group of assassins fell upon a sleeping camp of Apaches, killing 8 Apache men and 100 women and children. In the war of vengeance that followed, Geronimo was so successful in raiding and warring that he rose to prominence as a war leader nearly equal in prestige to hereditary chiefs.

When the Americans decided to move the Apaches onto a reservation at San Carlos in 1876, half of the tribe instead followed Geronimo into Mexico where they continued to raid and war against their enemies. The following year, he was captured and brought back to the reservation, where the people frequently deserted in order to take part in raiding parties. In September 1881, Geronimo led his people off the reservation to the Sierra Madres. An agreement between the United States and Mexico allowing for the pursuit of the Apaches across the border led to the capture of Geronimo's base camp in 1883 and his eventual surrender in 1884.

In 1885, Geronimo tricked two other chiefs, Naiche and Chihuahua, and their people into leaving the reservation for Mexico by telling them they were to be accused of the murder of an army lieutenant and a friendly chief. General George Crook's campaign to bring them back seemed to have ended with a famous conference in which the two chiefs and the warrior surrendered at El Canon de los Embudos in March 1886. After Crook departed, however, the Apache bought whiskey from a trader who convinced them that they would be shot by the troops when they returned to U.S. soil. As the soldiers led the caravan back to the United States the next day, Geronimo, Naiche, and 38 of the Apaches slipped away.

It took 5 months of pursuit before Geronimo, his people exhausted and starving, asked for peace. A few days later, they were put on a train for Florida. The people remained imprisoned at Fort Marion, Florida, and Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, where they suffered from tuberculosis, malaria, and homesickness. In 1894, the Comanche and Kiowa offered part of their reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to Geronimo. There he took up farming, embraced the Christian faith, and profited from his celebrity by selling his autograph and bows and arrows to enthralled whites. He attended the national expositions in St. Louis and Omaha, as well as the inaugural parade of President Theodore Roosevelt, to whom he dedicated his memoirs, Geronimo's Story of His People, which was published in 1905. He died of pneumonia at Fort Sill in 1909.

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