Editing Geronimo (section)

===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&nbsp;– 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}}