How Native American Leader Geronimo 'Defied Death'

It’s Arizona in 1886: the United States has all but tamed the Wild West, but one Native American rebel stubbornly refuses to surrender. Geronimo, the last insurgent, rides across the desert with his wily band of renegades. Some 5,000 U.S. soldiers have been dispatched to apprehend him, but still he evades capture. Few people know his life story, but according to his followers, he is an extraordinary man with supernatural gifts...

Resistance Fighters

The Apaches were a people defined by their ferocious resistance to Mexican colonists and, after the westward expansion of the U.S. border, American settlers too. Geronimo was the most famous and ruthless of Apache warriors – the last in a long line of spirited freedom fighters. He was also a medicine man, a malcontent and a fearless leader of outlaws.

Free To Come And Go

Indeed, few things were as important to an Apache as freedom – especially freedom from laws, governments and hierarchies. Apache society had no central leadership, no class system and no overarching political structure. Every Apache was free to go wherever he chose and to follow whoever he wished. Wild and free, they were a people characterized by rugged individuality.

Untamed Lands

Of course, the Apache heartlands were themselves as untamed as their indigenous inhabitants. Spanning northern Mexico and the Southwest United States, the patchwork of lands collectively known as Apacheria included rambling mountain ranges, lush valleys, evergreen forests, plains, vertiginous canyons and mile upon mile of flat, scorching, wide open desert.

Distant Relatives

However, the ancestral homeland of the Apaches was most likely in the far north of the continent. Indigenous peoples in Canada and Alaska, for example, speak forms of Athabaskan – the same linguistic family as Apache languages. As such, the Apaches are thought to have migrated to the Southwest between 500 and 800 years ago and settled into several distinct but related tribes.

Loosely Structured

However, the basic unit of Apache society was not the tribe but the band. The Apache band was a fluid structure that could form, re-form or disperse at will. It was, in fact, the ideal type of organization for guerrilla warfare. The changeability of the band, its loose structure and roving mobility lent the Apaches a distinct advantage over their enemies – especially when those opponents were hampered by slow-moving bureaucracy, such as the Spanish Empire.

The Wild Frontier

For centuries, Apacheria marked the northern borderlands of the Hispanic New World. And after Mexico gained independence in 1821, it marked the outer limits of two fledgling nations – the U.S. and Mexico. It was a lawless, volatile, far-flung place that defied easy colonization. White settlements were common targets for Apache raids. And elsewhere, Apaches clashed with neighboring Navajo and Comanche groups, their sworn enemies.

The Birth Of Geronimo

A son of the Chiricahua tribe, Geronimo was born in No-Doyohn Canyon on the Gila River in Mexico in June 1829. His original name was “Goyahkla” meaning “yawner”. However, Geronimo soon proved anything but sleepy. During his first hunt as a boy, he ate the raw heart of his prey. And according to Apache tradition, this act guaranteed his future success as a killer.

Getting His Name

By the time he was 17, Goyahkla had led four raids, fulfilling the necessary requirements to become an Apache warrior. It is said that he earned the moniker “Geronimo” during one such raid. According to some historians, a Mexican soldier may have unwittingly provided the new name while screaming out for the divine assistance of Saint Jerome, or San Jeronimo.

Acts Of Revenge

Raiding was a way of life for the Apache, but not all incursions were violent. Sometimes a foray could involve quietly rustling a few cows. Other times, assaults were undertaken as acts of revenge. Such raids could be brutal and merciless. At worst, they culminated in the wholesale slaughter of entire settlements or military outposts.

War And Peace

Nonetheless, Apacheria was not always steeped in blood. Episodes of peace punctuated periods of war, particularly during the last days of the Spanish Empire. The young Mexican republic was less successful at placating the Apaches, however, as the struggle for independence had left the country fractured and volatile. Ultimately, Mexico did not have the economic or military resources to control its northern frontier.

Falling Into Chaos

As Apacheria descended into chaos, the government in Chihuahua City resolved to hire mercenaries – gangs of immigrant Anglo-Americans among them – to quell the troublesome Apaches. The government paid a fee for each dead Apache, contingent on the presentation of his or her severed scalp. Naturally, the cycle of revenge intensified. And attacks by both sides became increasingly barbaric.

Building Racial Tensions

In 1846, however, the Mexico-Apache war was interrupted by seismic geopolitical shifts. To the east, Anglo-American lawmakers were gripped by a momentous political fever. On the one hand, “manifest destiny” beckoned the U.S. to expand westward over the continent. On the other, the idea of “American exceptionalism” fomented discourses of cultural and racial supremacy.

Declaring War

On April 25 Mexican troops attacked a U.S. military contingent occupying a disputed zone on the southern border of Texas, itself a former territory of Mexico. In response, the U.S. declared war on Mexico on May 13. The two sides were poorly matched and the U.S. easily prevailed over its ill-prepared and politically unstable neighbor.

Re-Drawing The Map

The war concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The terms included a radical re-drawing of international boundaries. In effect, Mexico relinquished nearly half of its national territory. The U.S. gained the entire Southwest, including vast swathes of Apacheria. Six years later, the U.S acquired even more Mexican land with the so-called Gasden Purchase.

Shifting Social Dynamics

Of course, the region’s social dynamics were completely transformed by the westward expansion of the United States. With a new international border now running through its heart, Apacheria was effectively destroyed. Anglo-American settlers started pouring in, closely followed by gold prospectors. In response, the Apaches intensified their raids and ambushed westbound wagon trains.

Resistance Is Futile

War with the Americans raged for ten years, but in the end, Chief Cochise, who was Geronimo’s father-in-law, sensed the futility of resistance. He brokered for peace and negotiated a reservation on traditional Apache lands. However, shortly after Cochise died, the U.S. government tore up their agreement and relocated the Chiricahuas to San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.

Not Backing Down

Naturally, Geronimo refused to accept such a bitter humiliation. He escaped from the reservation, ran wild across the countryside and terrorized settlers. But the U.S. Army invariably caught up with him and, after years of cat-and-mouse drama, returned him to his appointed place at San Carlos Reservation. Of course, that was hardly the end of it.

Third Time's The Charm

Geronimo made his third and final escape from the reservation on May 17, 1885. Accompanied by 135 faithful followers, he rode up to 70 miles per day to evade capture by the U.S. cavalry – and the turncoat Apache scouts who served them. It was the last of the Indian wars and neither Mexican nor American civilians were spared Geronimo’s fury.

Thirst For Vengeance

For Geronimo was not merely driven by a love of freedom, but also by an insatiable lust for revenge. Back in 1851 he had left his camp to conduct some trade in the settlement of Casas Grandes. When he returned, he found his wife Alope and their three children dead. They had been murdered in a Mexican military strike conducted by Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco.

No Purpose Left

Geronimo subsequently described the moment when he found them. He said, “I stood until all had passed, hardly knowing what I would do. I had no weapon, nor did I hardly wish to fight, neither did I contemplate recovering the bodies of my loved ones, for that was forbidden. I did not pray, nor did I resolve to do anything in particular, for I had no purpose left… I was never again contented in our quiet home.”

His Darkest Moment

Apache custom requires that the possessions of dead people are burned, lest their ghosts linger in the world of the living. Geronimo torched his family’s belongings, then took off into the wilderness to grieve. It was there, at his darkest moment, that the Apache fighter apparently experienced an unearthly epiphany.

Hearing Voices

According to popular legend, he heard a voice which he identified as a spiritual protector. The voice said that special powers had been bestowed upon him, including the power of invulnerability. It said, “No gun will ever kill you. I will take the bullets from the guns of the Mexicans… and I will guide your arrows.”

Supernatural Powers

Spiritual power played an important role in Apache culture. The Apaches believed that a host of abilities could be bestowed upon individuals or entire tribes for the purposes of healing, protection or success in hunting and warfare. Geronimo was believed to possess the supernatural capacity to see far-away events, create storms and heal the sick, as well as dodge bullets.

On The Prowl

Naturally, Geronimo and his followers derived great courage from the belief that no gun could ever kill him. In his first act of revenge, he gathered a band of 200 men and slaughtered his family’s killers. He then embarked on an unprecedented murder spree. Over the years, he was shot and wounded several times, but his “special powers” never let him down: no gun ever did kill him.

Impossible To Catch

Of course, Geronimo’s rampage across the Wild West earned him a fearsome reputation. The newspapers covered his antics closely, elevating his notoriety to a national level. As such, he was a persistent source of embarrassment to the federal authorities. As a son of the land, he knew the region’s complicated terrain inside-out. He was near-impossible to catch.

Sent Into Exile

Nonetheless, after a five-month pursuit involving 5,000 U.S. soldiers and 3,000 miles of rugged terrain, General Nelson Miles trapped Geronimo in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona and forced him to surrender his Winchester rifle for the last time. Miraculously, Geronimo and his band avoided being hanged. Instead, they were sent into exile.

Put On Display

Bundled into a heavily-armored boxcar, Geronimo and his followers were transported hundreds of miles to Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida. Their sentence included hard labor, but the Apaches were ill-suited to the Floridian climate. According to The Washington Post newspaper, they died “like flies at frost time.” Furthermore, Geronimo was forced to suffer the indignity of serving as a tourist attraction. Hundreds came to gawk at him in his prison cell.

Sent For Conditioning

Meanwhile, the children of Geronimo’s followers were rounded up and dispatched to Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania for “re-education.” At the time, racial discourses suggested that Native American children could be “de-cultured” and thus delivered from a state of “savagery” to “civilization”. Sadly, however, a significant proportion of the school’s pupils died in a tuberculosis outbreak.

Confined To A Reservation

After a stint in Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama, Geronimo and his 300 followers were then confined to the Comanche and Kiowa reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1894. He remained there for more than 14 years, although he was permitted to travel outside on special occasions such as 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

Posing For Autographs

Among the fair exhibits was a reconstructed “Apache Village” with Geronimo as its centerpiece. The exhibit was an opportunity for Americans to witness cultural activities performed by women from the Pueblos, including pottery production and corn-grinding. They could also pose for photos with Geronimo and request his autograph.

A Living Museum

Geronimo did not seem to be particularly offended by his role as a living museum. In fact, he seemed to be fascinated by many of the fair’s exhibits, including a magic show where a woman was stabbed with multiple swords and did not die. Smithsonian magazine quoted him as saying to a writer, “I would like to know how she was so quickly healed and why the wounds did not kill her.”

Changing His Opinions

Furthermore, Geronimo’s experiences at the fair apparently caused him to revise his opinion of white people. According to his dictated memoirs, he now considered them “a kind and peaceful people.” He said, “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.”

Playing The Villain

Following the fair, Geronimo took a job with Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show. Under the supervision of federal guards, he played the role of a “savage” chief who had slaughtered countless innocent civilians. He was, according to the line-up, “The Worst Indian That Ever Lived.” Of course, the show would be considered politically incorrect by today’s standards, but Geronimo was happy to participate. It earned him good money.

Burying The Hatchet

Geronimo’s most high-profile public engagement was the presidential inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt in March 1905. Along with five Native American chiefs clad in headdresses and face-paint, he participated in a horse parade on Pennsylvania Avenue. According to one journalist at the time, the event was staged to demonstrate that the U.S. and Native America had “buried the hatchet forever.”

Making An Appeal

Geronimo subsequently met Roosevelt in person.According to the New York Tribune newspaper’s uncharitable account of the event, Geronimo made a “pathetic appeal” to return to the Southwest, tears “running down his bullet-scarred cheeks.” However, the old rebel was not well-received. Roosevelt reportedly told him, “You killed many of my people; you burned villages…[you] were not good Indians.”

Never To Return

According to the New York Tribune, Geronimo reacted by gesturing “wildly”. A staff member intervened and told him, “The Great Father is very busy.” He was then escorted from the room. Predictably, Geronimo was never allowed to return to Arizona. Of course, he had so many enemies there, he may have been murdered if he had ever gone back.

Meeting His End

In February 1909, Geronimo was riding towards his house when his horse threw him. Unable to get up, he spent the night on the cold ground. The next day, a friend rescued him, but he was sick and frail. Six days later he died. “I should never have surrendered,” he said before he passed away. “I should have fought until I was the last man alive.”

A Controversial Legacy

Although Geronimo was widely feared in his day, some applauded him as a wily freedom fighter, a rebel, a hero and a protector of Native American ways. That said, others viewed him as a stubborn old fool, an abuser, a drunk, a gambler and a murderer. But modern historical analyses rarely pigeonhole him as either a hero or a villain, but rather as a complex figure who did both good and evil.

Truly Immortal

One thing is certain: Geronimo’s acts of resistance have earned him immortality. He will forever be remembered as a fearsome warrior – a wily rebel who dared to defy the United States. Few other folk heroes are so emblematic of freedom. Geronimo lived it, breathed it and fought for it. His spirit lives on.