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==Biography== 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.<ref name=story>{{cite book |author=Geronimo |editor1-first=S. M. |editor1-last=Barrett |editor2-first=Frederick W. |editor2-last=Turner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUPsbhM5wCYC&pg=PT11 |title=Geronimo: his own story |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-452-01155-7 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-date=January 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105120945/https://books.google.com/books?id=jUPsbhM5wCYC&pg=PT11 |url-status=live }}</ref> His grandfather, Mahko, had been chief of the Bedonkohe Apache. He had three brothers and four sisters.<ref name="Adams">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Alexander B. |title=Geronimo: a Biography |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=1990 |page=[https://archive.org/details/geronimobiograph0000adam/page/n387 391] |isbn=978-0-306-80394-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/geronimobiograph0000adam |url-access=registration }}</ref> His parents raised him according to Apache traditions. After the death of his father, his mother took him to live with the [[Chiricahua#Bands|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Enss |first=Chris |title=Wild Women Of The West: The Wives of Geronimo |url=https://www.cowgirlmagazine.com/wives-geronimo/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=COWGIRL Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> === 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haugen |first=Brenda |title=Geronimo: Apache Warrior |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cGqKcWIlTIC&pg=PA9 |year=2005 |publisher=Capstone |pages=9–12 |isbn=978-0756518455 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-date=September 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915143908/https://books.google.com/books?id=0cGqKcWIlTIC&pg=PA9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Geronimo His own story |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/geronimo/kas-ki-yeh.php |website=American History – From Revolution to Reconstruction and what happened afterwards |access-date=May 12, 2016 |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216035748/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/geronimo/kas-ki-yeh.php |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 Mexican militia.{{sfn|Debo|1996|p=34}}{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=26–27}} Among those killed in Carrasco's attack were Geronimo's wife, children and mother.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=27}}{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=27, 28}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=130}} Throughout Geronimo's adult life his antipathy toward, suspicion of, and dislike for Mexicans was demonstrably greater than for Americans.{{sfn|Debo|1996|pp=37–39}} Recalling that at the time his band was at peace with the Mexicans, Geronimo remembered the incident as follows:<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sweeney |first=Edwin R. |editor-first=Charles Leland |editor-last=Sonnichsen |title=Geronimo and the End of the Apache Wars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcM0JnSsHcEC&pg=PA36 |year=1986 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=36 |isbn=0803291981 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105060931/https://books.google.com/books?id=HcM0JnSsHcEC&pg=PA36 |url-status=live }}</ref> </blockquote> === 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.<ref name="GeronimoStory" /> 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 [[Jerome|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."{{sfn|Debo|1996|p=13}} 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.<ref name="GeronimoStory2" /> In 1873 the Mexicans once again attacked the Apache.<ref name="GeronimoCasaGrande">{{Cite book |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni10.htm |title=Geronimo's story of his life |access-date=May 10, 2011 |chapter=Heavy Fighting |editor-first=S. M. |editor-last=Barrett |orig-year=1909 |year=1915 |publisher=New York: Duffield & Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404072258/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni10.htm |archive-date=April 4, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After months of fighting in the mountains, the Apaches and Mexicans decided on a peace treaty at [[Casas Grandes Municipality|Casas Grandes]].<ref name="GeronimoCasaGrande" /> 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.<ref name="GeronimoCasaGrande" /> The Apache were forced to retreat into the mountains once again.<ref name="GeronimoCasaGrande" /> {{Quote box |align=right |width=35% |quote=I have killed many Mexicans; I do not know how many, for frequently I did not count them. Some of them were not worth counting. It has been a long time since then, but still I have no love for the Mexicans. With me they were always treacherous and malicious. |source=''My Life: The Autobiography of Geronimo'', 1905. |}} 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.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/05/movies/film-geronimo-still-with-a-few-rough-edges.html?pagewanted=4&src=pm FILM; Geronimo, Still With a Few Rough Edges] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217143658/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/05/movies/film-geronimo-still-with-a-few-rough-edges.html?pagewanted=4&src=pm |date=February 17, 2017 }}." ''The New York Times''. December 5, 1993</ref> 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.<ref name="GeronimoStory2">{{Cite book |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni12.htm |title=Geronimo's story of his life |access-date=May 10, 2011 |chapter=Coming of the White Men |editor-first=S. M. |editor-last=Barrett |orig-year=1909 |year=1915 |publisher=New York: Duffield & Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224092901/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni12.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Geronimo campaign=== The [[Apache Wars|Apache–United States]] conflict was a direct outgrowth of the much older [[Apache–Mexico Wars|Apache–Mexican]] conflict which had been ongoing in the same general area since the beginning of Mexican/Spanish settlement during the 17th century.[[File:Goyaale.jpg|thumb|upright|Geronimo (Goyaałé), a Bedonkohe Apache, kneeling with rifle, 1887]] [[File:Apache chieff Geronimo (right) and his warriors in 1886.jpg|thumb|From right to left, Apache leader Geronimo, Yanozha (Geronimo's brother-in-law), Chappo (Geronimo's son by his second wife), and Fun (Yanozha's half brother) in 1886. Taken by [[C. S. Fly]].]] While Apaches were shielded from the violence of warfare on the reservation, disability and death from diseases like malaria were much more prevalent.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=96, 108}} On the other hand, rations were provided by the government, though at times the corruption of [[Indian agent]]s caused rationing to become perilously scarce.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=1, 2, 96}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} On three occasions – April or August 1878;{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=92–97}}{{sfn|Debo|1996|p=117}} September 1881;{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=104–112}} and May 1885{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=149–159}}{{sfn|Debo|1996|pp=236, 237}} – Geronimo led his band of followers in breakouts from the reservation to return to their former nomadic life associated with raiding and warfare.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=1, 2}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=2}} In Mexico, they were insulated from pursuit by U.S. armed forces. The Apache knew the rough terrain of the Sierras intimately,{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=160}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=160}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=133}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=133}} 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=136}} {{Quote box |align=left |width=35% |quote=The Indians always tried to live peaceably with the white soldiers and settlers. One day during the time that the soldiers were stationed at Apache Pass I made a treaty with the post. This was done by shaking hands and promising to be brothers. Cochise and Mangus-Colorado did likewise. I do not know the name of the officer in command, but this was the first regiment that ever came to Apache Pass. This treaty was made about a year before we were attacked in a tent, as above related. In a few days after the attack at Apache Pass we organized in the mountains and returned to fight the soldiers. |source=''Geronimo's Story of His Life, Coming of the White Men'', 1909. |}} {{Quote box |align=left |width=35% |quote=General Crook said to me, "Why did you leave the reservation?" I said: "You told me that I might live in the reservation the same as white people lived. One year I raised a crop of corn, and gathered and stored it, and the next year I put in a crop of oats, and when the crop was almost ready to harvest, you told your soldiers to put me in prison, and if I resisted, to kill me. If I had been let alone I would now have been in good circumstances, but instead of that you and the Mexicans are hunting me with soldiers. |source=''Geronimo's Story of His Life, in Prison and on the War Path'', 1909. |}} On May 17, 1885, a number of Apache including [[Nana (chief)|Nana]], Mangus (son of Mangas Coloradas), [[Chihuahua (chief)|Chihuahua]], [[Naiche]], Geronimo, and their followers fled the [[San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation|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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=135}} These Apache units proved effective in finding the mountain strongholds of the Apache bands and killing or capturing them.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=130, 179, 200}} It was highly unsettling for Geronimo's band to realize their own tribesmen had helped find their hiding places.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=178, 179}} 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.<ref name="hurst">{{cite web |last1=Hurst |first1=James |title=Geronimo's surrender – Skeleton Canyon, 1886 |url=http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/People/Geronimossurrender-Skelet.html |access-date=September 18, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826013352/http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/People/Geronimossurrender-Skelet.html |archive-date=August 26, 2015 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geronimo at Work |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96060682/1886-04-16/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1873&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Geronimo&sequence=0&lccn=&index=1&state=&rows=20&ortext=geronimo&proxtext=geronimo&year=&phrasetext=&andtext=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=101 |website=Library of Congress, Chronicling America |date=April 16, 1886 |publisher=Daily Tombstone epitaph., April 16, 1886, Image 3 |access-date=September 2, 2016 |archive-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218143138/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96060682/1886-04-16/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1873&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Geronimo&sequence=0&lccn=&index=1&state=&rows=20&ortext=geronimo&proxtext=geronimo&year=&phrasetext=&andtext=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=101 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 {{convert|86|mi}} from [[Fort Bowie]] and about {{convert|20|mi}} south of the international border, near the Sonora/Chihuahua border.<ref name="hurst" /> [[File:Geronimo and his warriors.jpg|thumb|left|Photo by [[C. S. Fly]] of Geronimo and his warriors, taken before the surrender to Gen. Crook, March 27, 1886, in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. Fly's photographs are the only known images of Indian combatants still in the field who had not yet surrendered to the United States.<ref name="molliefly">{{cite web |title=Mary "Mollie" E. Fly (1847–1925) |url=https://www.azwhf.org/mary-mollie-e-fly-1847-1925/ |access-date=October 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023033330/https://www.azwhf.org/mary-mollie-e-fly-1847-1925/ |archive-date=October 23, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]] During the three days of negotiations in March 1886, photographer [[C. S. Fly]] took about 15 exposures of the Apache on {{convert|8|by|10|in}} glass negatives.<ref name="vaughan">{{cite journal|last=Vaughan |first=Thomas |title=C.S. Fly Pioneer Photojournalist |jstor=41695766 |journal=The Journal of Arizona History |year=1989 |pages=303–318 |volume=30 |number=3 |edition=Autumn, 1989}}</ref> 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.<ref name="molliefly" /> 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.<ref name="molliefly" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Captive White boy, Santiago McKinn|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/pohrt/x-552/bou029_001|publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref> 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.<ref name="vaughan" /> [[File:Charles Bare Gatewood.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles B. Gatewood]], known to the Apache as Bay-chen-daysen, "Long Nose"]] Sheridan replaced Crook with General [[Nelson A. Miles]]. In 1886, Miles selected Captain [[Henry Ware Lawton|Henry Lawton]] to command B Troop, [[4th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|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.<ref name="Chiefs">{{cite book |last=Capps |first=Benjamin |title=The Great Chiefs |publisher=Time-Life Education |year=1975 |page=240 |isbn=978-0-316-84785-8}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Chiefs" /> Lawton was to pursue, subdue, and return Geronimo, dead or alive, to the United States.<ref name="Chiefs" /> 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.<ref name="GeronimoStory">{{Cite book |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni15.htm |title=Geronimo's Story of His Life |access-date=May 12, 2011 |chapter=In Prison and on the war path |editor-first=S. M. |editor-last=Barrett |orig-year=1909 |year=1915 |location=New York |publisher=Duffield & Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211234958/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni15.htm |archive-date=December 11, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Chiefs" /> When Geronimo surrendered, he had in his possession a [[Winchester Model 1876]] [[Lever action|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.<ref name="GeronimoStory2" /><ref name="FamousFirearms">{{cite book |last=Herring |first=Hal |title=Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History |publisher=TwoDot |year=2008 |page=224 |isbn=978-0-7627-4508-1}}</ref> 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]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} 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."<ref name="autobio">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pt3ys6DmI1cC |title=My Life: The Autobiography of Geronimo |publisher=Fireship Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-935585-25-1 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407191054/https://books.google.com/books?id=Pt3ys6DmI1cC |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' Vol 182 1992</ref> 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.<ref name="The American Experience, We Shall Remain: Geronimo">{{cite web |title=The American Experience, We Shall Remain: Geronimo |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/weshallremain/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216153318/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/weshallremain/ |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |access-date=November 12, 2009 |website=[[PBS]]}}</ref> According to James L. Haley, "About two weeks after the escape there was a report of a family massacred near [[Silver City, New Mexico|Silver City]]; one girl was taken alive and hanged from a meat hook jammed under the base of her skull."<ref>{{cite book |last=Haley |first=James L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAfJwmMeq5IC&pg=PA381 |title=Apaches: a history and culture portrait |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-8061-2978-6 |page=381 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105060931/https://books.google.com/books?id=RAfJwmMeq5IC&pg=PA381 |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} ===Prisoner of war=== [[File:Geronimo departing for Florida from Fort Bowie, Arizona (1895).jpg|thumb|Geronimo departing for Florida from Fort Bowie, Arizona]] [[File:Apache prisoners.jpg|thumb|Band of Apache Indian [[Prisoner of war|prisoners]] at rest stop beside Southern Pacific Railway, near Nueces River, Texas, September 10, 1886. (Geronimo is third from the right, in front)]] 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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Gulf Islands National Seashore – The Apache (U.S. National Park Service)|url=http://www.nps.gov/guis/historyculture/the-apache.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905004519/http://www.nps.gov/guis/historyculture/the-apache.htm|archive-date=September 5, 2010|access-date=May 24, 2009|work=nps.gov}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=214–220}}{{sfn|Debo|1996|pp=295, 296, 298}} "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."<ref name="smithsonian">{{cite news|last=King|first=Gilbert|date=November 9, 2012|title=Geronimo's Appeal to Theodore Roosevelt|newspaper=[[Smithsonian Magazine]]|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/geronimos-appeal-to-theodore-roosevelt-117859516/|access-date=November 4, 2017|quote=Held captive far longer than his surrender agreement called for, the Apache warrior made his case directly to the president|archive-date=October 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031080306/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/geronimos-appeal-to-theodore-roosevelt-117859516/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="smithsonian" /> The Chiricahuas remained at Fort Pickens until 1888 when they were relocated to [[Mount Vernon Arsenal|Mt. Vernon Barracks]] in [[Alabama]],{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=221–254}} where they were reunited with their families. After 1/4 of the population died of [[tuberculosis]],<ref name="smithsonian" /> the Chiricahuas, including Geronimo, were relocated to [[Fort Sill]], Oklahoma, in 1894; they built villages scattered around the post based on kindred groups.{{sfn|Debo|1996|p=372}} Geronimo, like other Apaches, was given a plot of land on which he took up farming activities.{{sfn|Debo|1996|pp=374, 376}} 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.<ref>''In Geronimo's Footsteps'' by Corine Sombrun & Haiyln Geronimo, Skyhorse publishing, Inc., 2014</ref> [[File:Geronimo agn 1913.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Geronimo with traditional Apache bow and arrow.]] In 1898 Geronimo was part of a Chiricahua delegation from Fort Sill to the [[Trans-Mississippi Exposition|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 [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition|St. Louis World's Fair]] in 1904. Under Army guard, Geronimo dressed in traditional clothing and posed for photographs and sold his crafts.{{sfn|Utley|2012|p=256}} 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.<ref name="smithsonian" /> [[File:Edward S. Curtis Geronimo Apache cp01002v.jpg|thumb|upright|''Portrait of Geronimo'' by [[Edward S. Curtis]], 1905]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2014/06/20/geronimo-participates-roosevelts-inaugural-parade/|title=Geronimo and Five Other Indian Chiefs in Teddy Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade in 1905|last=|date=June 20, 2014|website=Ghosts of DC|language=en-US|access-date=|archive-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043524/https://ghostsofdc.org/2014/06/20/geronimo-participates-roosevelts-inaugural-parade/|url-status= live}}</ref> The intent, one newspaper stated, was to show Americans "that they have [[Burying the hatchet|buried the hatchet]] forever."<ref name="smithsonian" /> They created a sensation and brought the crowds to their feet along the parade route.{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=257–258}} 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.{{sfn|Debo|1996|p=421}}{{sfn|Utley|2012|pp=254–259}} 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.<ref name="smithsonian" /> 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 language|Spanish]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Delgado |first1= Juan Carlos |title=Gerónimo hablaba español |url=https://www.abc.es/20090823/cultura-libros/geronimo-hablaba-espanol-20090823.html |access-date=January 7, 2019 |issue=August 23, 2009 |publisher=ABC |archive-date= January 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107124652/https://www.abc.es/20090823/cultura-libros/geronimo-hablaba-espanol-20090823.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="story" />{{Failed verification|date=November 2010}} <blockquote>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.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni19.htm |title=Geronimo's story of his life |access-date=May 10, 2011 |chapter=At the World's Fair |editor-first=S. M. |editor-last=Barrett |orig-year=1909 |year=1915 |publisher=Duffield & Company |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404072302/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geroni19.htm |archive-date=April 4, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote> Later that year, the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|Indian Office]] took him to Texas, where he shot a buffalo in a roundup staged by [[Miller Brothers 101 Ranch|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.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} ===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.<ref name="The American Experience, We Shall Remain: Geronimo" /> He died of [[pneumonia]] on February 17, 1909, as a prisoner of the United States at Fort Sill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/death-geronimo |title=Death of Geronimo|work= History Today |access-date= |archive-date=April 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428035131/http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/death-geronimo |url-status=live |first = Richard|last = Cavendish|date = 2 February 2009}}</ref> On his deathbed, he confessed to his nephew that he regretted his decision to surrender.<ref name="The American Experience, We Shall Remain: Geronimo" /> 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."<ref>{{cite web|title=American Experience We Shall Remain: Geronimo|url=https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/pdf/transcript/WeShallRemain_4_transcript.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404102418/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/files/transcripts/WeShallRemain_4_transcript.pdf|archive-date=April 4, 2013|publisher=PBS}}</ref> He was buried at Fort Sill in the Beef Creek Apache Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google maps location|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Beef+Creek+Apache+Cemetery,+Fort+Sill,+OK+73503/@34.6931781,-98.3758767,2128m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x87ad1ba325c315f5:0xc33e2807e8d4f296!8m2!3d34.6968876!4d-98.3702908?hl=en|publisher=[[Google Maps]]|access-date=May 14, 2020|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407013040/https://www.google.com/maps/place/Beef+Creek+Apache+Cemetery,+Fort+Sill,+OK+73503/@34.6931781,-98.3758767,2128m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x87ad1ba325c315f5:0xc33e2807e8d4f296!8m2!3d34.6968876!4d-98.3702908?hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>
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