Editing Geronimo (section)

== 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&nbsp;I.<ref>{{cite news|last=Reitz|first=Stephanie|date=February 18, 2009|title=Geronimo's kin sue Skull and Bones over remains|website=Huffington Post|agency=Associated Press|location=Hartford, Connecticut|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090218/geronimo-s-bones/|url-status=dead|access-date=April 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105060931/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090218/geronimo-s-bones/|archive-date=January 5, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="abq">{{cite web |url=http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10846:635am-geronimo-died-100-years-ago-today&catid=1:latest&Itemid=39 |title=Geronimo Lawsuit Sparks Family Feud |last=Daniels |first=Bruce |date=February 27, 2009 |work=[[Albuquerque Journal]] |access-date=February 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228230912/http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10846%3A635am-geronimo-died-100-years-ago-today&catid=1%3Alatest&Itemid=39 |archive-date=February 28, 2009 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="pember">{{cite news |url=http://diverseeducation.com/article/8259/ |title=Tomb Raiders |last=Pember |first=Mary Annette |date=July 9, 2007 |work=Diverse Issues in Higher Education |access-date=February 28, 2009 |archive-date=August 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815200408/http://diverseeducation.com/article/8259/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Geronimo's grave taken in 2005.jpg|thumb|Geronimo's grave at [[Fort Sill]], [[Oklahoma]], in 2005]]

In 2006, Marc Wortman discovered a 1918 letter from Skull and Bones member Winter Mead to [[F. Trubee Davison]] that claimed the theft:<ref name="schiff">{{cite web |last1=Lassila |first1=Kathrin Day |last2=Branch |first2=Mark Alden |date=May–June 2006 |title=Whose Skull and Bones? |url=http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2006_05/notebook.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302112900/http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2006_05/notebook.html |archive-date=March 2, 2009 |access-date=February 28, 2009 |work=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club ... is now safe inside the [Tomb], and bone together with his well worn femurs, bit and saddle horn.|source=<ref name=schiff/>}}

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:

{{blockquote|text=According to our traditions the remains of this sort, especially in this state when the grave was desecrated ... need to be reburied with the proper rituals ... to return the dignity and let his spirits rest in peace.|source=<ref name=buncombe>{{cite news |title=Geronimo's family call on Bush to help return his skeleton |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article622744.ece |first=Andrew |last=Buncombe |access-date=December 5, 2006 |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=June 1, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026000018/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article622744.ece |archive-date=October 26, 2006 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

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.<ref name=schiff/>

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.<ref name=abq/> An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' states that Clark "acknowledged he had no hard proof that the story was true."<ref name="McKinley">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/20geronimo.html|title=Geronimo's Heirs Sue Secret Yale Society Over His Skull|work=www.nytimes.com|first=James C.|last=McKinley Jr.|date=February 19, 2009|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121185944/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/20geronimo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Investigators, including [[Bush family]] biographer [[Kitty Kelley]] and the pseudonymous [[Cecil Adams]], say the story is untrue.<ref name=CAdams>{{cite web |first=Cecil |last=Adams |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2623/is-geronimos-skull-residing-at-yales-skull-and-bones |title=Is Geronimo's skull residing at Yale's Skull and Bones? Was it stolen from the grave by Prescott Bush? |publisher=The Straight Dope |date=November 11, 2005 |access-date=April 19, 2012 |archive-date=April 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416051106/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2623/is-geronimos-skull-residing-at-yales-skull-and-bones |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="kelley">{{cite book |last=[[Kitty Kelley|Kelley, Kitty]] |title=[[The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty]] |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/familyrealstoryo00kell/page/17 17–20] |isbn=0-385-50324-5 }}</ref> A military spokesman from Fort Sill told Adams, "There is no evidence to indicate the bones are anywhere but in the grave site."<ref name=CAdams/> Jeff Houser, chairman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe of Oklahoma, calls the story a hoax.<ref name="pember"/> In 1928, the Army covered Geronimo's grave with concrete and provided a stone monument, making any possible examination of remains difficult.<ref name="McKinley"/>  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.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Geronimo v. Obama |vol=725 |reporter=F. Supp |opinion=2d 182 |court=D.D.C |date=2010 |url=https://casetext.com/case/geronimo-v-obama}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Judge dismisses Apache suit against Skull and Bones |first=Nora |last=Caplan-Bricker |date=August 9, 2010 |url=https://yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2010/08/09/judge-dismisses-apache-suit-against-skull-and-bone/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817193203/https://yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2010/08/09/judge-dismisses-apache-suit-against-skull-and-bone/ |archive-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Alix |last=Rogers |title=Owning Geronimo but Not Elmer McCurdy: The Unique Property Status of Native American Remains |journal=[[Boston College Law Review]] |volume=60 |number=8 |pages=2347–2408 |date=December 2, 2019 |url=https://bclawreview.bc.edu/articles/322 |access-date=December 25, 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Geronimo, biographer, and translator.png|left|thumb|300x300px|Geronimo, biographer, and translator]]