Geronimo

Geronimo was born about 1823 in southern Arizona. His real name was Goyahkla, which meant “He Who Yawns.” When a boy he learned the typical skills: running long distances on foot, staying awake and alert for long periods, getting by on little food and water, hunting, riding, and using a bow and arrow, skinning knife, lance, and club.

The summer of 1851 was the first time he saw a white men. It was when he and Mangas and some other Apaches met a company of Mexican and American officials near the copper mining village of Santa Rita, New Mexico territory. They were surveying the U.S.-Mexico border. The party explained to Mangas what they were doing. They explained that the Apaches were living in the U.S. territory now. A year later Mangas and others signed a treaty in Santa Fe agreeing to give unmolested passage to Americans through their territory.

In 1851, Geronimo was leading a party from the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico into Mexico to trade at Casas Grandes in Chihuahua. His mother, wife, and three children were with him. His band set up a village with other members of his band on the outskirts of Casas Grandes.

One day he and some others were returning from town and found that their village had been attacked by Mexican troops. The sentinels had been killed, the ponies stolen, weapons taken, supplies destroyed, and many women and children had been killed. Among them were his mother, wife, and children. He burned his wife’s possessions according to custom. It is said that this is when his personality changed. He became bitter and quarrelsome and was feared even by his own people.

Over the next few months he met with Mangas Coloradas, Cochise the chief of the Chiricahuas, and Juh of the Nednais. Within four months of the massacre, these four men prepared for revenge. In January 1852, near Arizpe, Sonora, Mexico, Geronimo battled about a hundred Mexican irregular soldiers. This is about the time he started being known as Geronimo. The name is said to come from Mexican soldiers shouting the name of St. Jerome, Geronimo in Spanish.

In 1861, the soldiers left the area to fight in the Civil War. But in 1862, Union Colonel James Carleton bought 1,800 men to Tucson. The Chiricahuas, Mimbrenos, and others gathered, about 500, to fight for Apache Pass. Geronimo was there, when Apaches and 126 Union soldiers fought. The battle ended when the Americans fired their howitzers and loosened rock that fell down into the Apache’s hiding spots.

Mangas Coloradas was killed by a jail guard in January 1863 at Fort McLane. Geronimo vowed to avenge his death. During the Civil War years he partnered with Victorio of the Ojo Caliente (Warm Spring) band, Loco, Nana, Cochise, and Juh. Geronimo was not a chief but sat in council with chiefs. He was a respected fighting man and believed to have mystical gifts.

Geronimo and the Chiricahuas retreated into the Dragoon Mountains west of Fort Bowie. They continued to raid both Mexicans and American settlements. In 1871, the government sent an army to conquer the Apache.

In 1872, General O. O. Howard met with Cochise in the Dragoon Mountain stronghold. After 11 days, Howard concluded that the Apache would have to be allowed to live in the Chiricahuas to ensure peace. Geronimo took part in the negotiations. Howard established a reservation, a desolate tract on both banks of the Gila River in eastern Arizona territory. This was called the San Carlos Reservation.

Geronimo and Juh and a few others refused to go to the reservation and rode across the border. In 1877, Geronimo and about 450 other renegades were camped on the Alamosa River near the Warm Spring agency. The San Carlos agent, John Clum, and 100 men, came to force Geronimo and his followers to San Carlos. He was honest and generally sympathetic to the Apaches. Except this one time. He deployed most of his force around an abandoned adobe building a few miles from the Apache camp, then set a messenger to invite Geronimo to talk. Geronimo refused to go with him. Clum signaled his men to surround Geronimo. He surrendered and they shackled him with 12 others. They rode to San Carlos. The other Indians followed.

After spending several months in a guardhouse Geronimo lived on the reservation for almost a year. Clum left in July and conditions at the reservation actually got worse under several corrupt officials. A smallpox epidemic broke out and killed many. Malaria also swept in from the Gila River flats. There was almost no medical attention, little game, and scarce rations. The Indians were eating rabbits and rats. On April 4, 1878, Geronimo and his family and several others escaped into Mexico. The army gave chase, but Geronimo got away.

He returned voluntarily and then escaped the reservation in 1880 with 74 followers. He escaped again in 1884 with 144 followers, 100 of them women and children. He escaped again in 1886 for the last time. Each time he got free he led raids on pack trains stealing supplies, arms, and ammo. They attacked stagecoaches and killed settlers on both sides of the border. He raided Mexican villages and stole livestock.

On August 23, 1886, Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, led 25 men and two Apache scouts into the Sierra Madre and found the Apache camp on the Bavispe River. Geronimo and only 20 men and 14 women and children agreed to talk to General Miles and joined Gatewood on the journey north. At Skeleton Canyon near Fort Bowie in the Peloncillo Mountains, he shook hands with Miles. This was his final surrender. Geronimo learned that some of his band had been sent to a reservation in Florida. He asked Miles to send him there. Miles agreed and sent him there.

In October, 1886 he arrived in Florida. In 1894 the Kiowas and Comanches offered the Apaches part of their reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Geronimo and the other Apaches at Florida accepted the offer. Geronimo grew watermelons at the fort. He also made money by selling his signature, bows, arrows, old hats, and other possessions. In 1905, S.M. Barrett asked the old warrior to dictate his life story. He agreed as long as he was paid. In Washington he sold his autograph, photos, even the buttons off his coat to the crowds.

When he got older he was allowed to attend various expos, fairs, and rodeos, always accompanied by a guard. On a cold winter night in 1909 he was riding back to the reservation drunk. He fell from his horse near a creek. He lay helpless for several hours. He developed pneumonia and died on February 17. He was buried in the Apache Cemetery at Fort Sill.

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Last updated: 10/13/99