GERONIMO

Geronimo was one of the best known Apache Chiefs. But just how much truth is there in the stories of Geronimo. Some show him to be a ruthless killer of white settlers. Some say he was a renegade. Some even say that he used his tribe to settle a personal vandetta with the white man and the Mexicans. To truly understand the man behind the stories, you would have to be able to grasp what it was that Geronimo was fighting for. Geronimo was fighting for the preservation of the Apache nation. The beliefs of the Apache are very strong. They believed that being forced off their land would spell doom for the Apaches' way of life. After all they were here long before the white settlers came and forced them off their land. Like many other tribes the Apache lived as one with nature. A strong people with a strong sense of pride and a bond to one another that was uncanny.

Geronimo was born in 1829, his name at birth was Goyathlay (One Who Yawns), in what is now Clifton, Arizona. His father died at an early age and the young Goyathlay took on the responsibility of taking care of his mother. At the age of 17, he was admitted to the Council of the Warriors. He then married Alope and had three children. In 1858 while trading in a Mexican village called Kas-Ki-Yeh, the Mexican army attacked the village killing the warriors left behind and most of the women and children, among the dead were Goyathlay's mother, his wife , and his children. A year later the Apache tribes converged on the Mexican army and extracted revenge for the massacre. Goyathlay was allowed the honor of leading the attack because of the great loss he had suffered at the hands of the Mexicans. Many years of fighting with the Mexican army followed. The War with the Mexican army ended in 1883.

About the time of the massacre at Kas-Ki-Yeh, white settlers had started to move into the Arizona territory. For years the settlers and the Apache lived peacefully, side by side. That is until the white soldiers came. The officers in charge of the soldiers never hesitated to wrong the Indians but their reports back to Washington only told of the Indians resistance.

The Apache leaders were invited to Apache Pass where they were told a conference was to be held. Upon their arrival they were led into a tent where the soldiers promised them they would be fed. Instead they were attacked once inside the tent. Mangus Colorado, Chief of Geronimo's tribe, and a few other warriors escaped by cutting thru the tent and fleeing into the mountains. This was but one in a series of treacheries committed by the white soldiers on the Apache.

In 1863, once again under a promise of peace, Mangus Colorado once again was invited to meet with the white man to discuss terms of trade and peace with the white man. Mangus took up about half of the tribe and went into, what had been promised to be their new home, and was never heard from again. It was rumored that they had been killed by the white soldiers.

In the absence of Mangus and the Apache people not knowing whether or not Mangus had been killed, Geronimo was elected as Tribal Chief. For about a year after Geronimo was elected Chief there were no problems with the whites. Until the white soldiers pulled a surprise attack on their village killing seven children, five women and four warriors. The soldiers captured all of the Apaches supplies and took their horses and destroyed their homes.

About a year after the surprise attack on the Indian village, Geronimo went to Apache Pass where he made a treaty with General Howard. A peace that would stand for sometime between the Apache and the white soldiers. After Gen. Howard left the area, a band of outlawed Indians killed a man that ran a store on the prarie out away from Apache Pass. After this incident Geronimo took his people to New Mexico, knowing that more than likely he would be held to blame for this.

Soon after their arrival in New Mexico, two companies of scouts arrived and sent word for Geronimo and Chief Victoria to come to town. Upon their arrival in town they were disarmed by the soldiers and put on trail. Victoria was released and Geronimo was sentenced to the guardhouse, where he was put in chains. When Geronimo asked why he was being imprisoned, they replied it was because he had left Apache Pass. Geronimo did not belong to the white soldiers. He was not their property. So what right did they have in arresting him?

About four months later Geronimo was taken to San Carlos. All went well for about two years until Geronimo heard rumors that the white soldiers intended to once again take the Indian leaders captive. The soldiers told the Apache that they were to meet them up the river at Fort Thomas to hold a council with them. The Apache's remembering the past treacheries of the white soldiers held their own council and decided to leave the reservation. There were approximately 250 Apache that followed Geronimo as he left the reservation, for it was more honorable for an Apache to die in battle than it was for them to die in a prison.

The Apaches fled into the mountains of Northern Mexico. After about a year in exile in the mountains, Geronimo returned to San Carlos with a herd of cattle and horses that were taken from them upon their arrival by the Officer in Charge, Gen. Crook, who then issued orders to his officers, soldiers, and scouts to see to it that Geronimo was arrested and if he offered any resistance he was to be killed.

Upon learning of these orders Geronimo once again left San Carlos with approximately 400 Apaches with him and headed back to Mexico. Along the way there were many skirmishes with the soldiers and almost all of the women and children were captured. Gen. Crook himself went into the Mountains and sent word for Geronimo to meet with him. Geronimo agreed and went to Gen. Crook's camp. Geronimo asked the General why he had issued such an order and the General quickly denied it and offered a treaty of peace if Geronimo would return to San Carlos with him. Geronimo agreed to return to San Carlos. While on the way back to San Carlos, Geronimo sensed some form of treachery and decided to stay in Mexico. While the soldiers marched in front of the Apache, Geronimo and several warriors broke the ranks and fled to the sanctuary of the mountains.

In 1883, The Mexican Army and the Apache made a treaty that would end the fighting between the Mexicans and the Apache people. The Mexicans told the Apache that the American soldiers were the cause of most of the fighting anyway and that the war between the Mexicans and Apache was over, providing that the Apache return to the United States.

Soon afterwards the scouts of Captain Lawton's sent word to Geronimo that he wished to make a treaty with him. Geronimo agreed with the treaty and continued his trek northward toward the United States, with the soldiers just in front of them. The soldiers were keeping their distance but not attacking. Upon arrival at Fort Bowie, Geronimo met with General Miles. General Miles brought with him greetings from The President Of the United States and more promises of a better life for the Apache people. He promised Geronimo a house with much land. He promised Geronimo cattle, horses, farm implements and people to work the land. He assured Geronimo that he would never have to work again. He told Geronimo that if he agreed to the treaty within five days he would be allowed to live with his family and his tribe. Geronimo seeing no other recourse agreed to this treaty.

But alas it was just more lies to get him to give up his fight for his people and their land. Geronimo was sent to San Antonio where he was tried by the white courts according to their laws. And then sent to Pensacola, Florida where Geronimo and other warriors from his tribe were then sentenced to do hard labor. After two years of being in Pensacola, the Apache were sent to Vermont, Alabama with their families. They were there for about five years in which time they worked for the government. Thereafter Geronimo was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he remained a prisoner of war until his death from pnuemonia on February 17, 1909.

Where was the land he was promised? Where were all the other things that the white man offered him as terms of his surrender? They were all lies to trick him into giving up what rightfully belonged to the Apache Nation. And why was Geronimo tried and convicted of the same crimes that were committed against his people by the white soldiers? Why were the soldiers who committed the acts of treachery against the Indians never brought to trial? These are questions that will be forever asked, but alas will never be answered.