Geronimo, Freedom Fighter of the Apache
The Story of Goyaale, World-Famous Indian Shaman and Warrior
Sep 11, 2009
Geronimo was an Apache freedom fighter, the last to be captured in the ongoing struggle between the Indians and invasive settlers. Just outside Geromino, Arizona on US-70, an Arizona historical marker tells the story of Geronimo and his capture. Nearby stood Camp Thomas, set up to keep the Apaches in check.
Geronimo was born into the Chiricahua Apache tribe in 1829 in what was still Mexican territory. His given name was Goyaalé—"one who yawns." (This name is sometimes anglicized to "Goyathlay" and "Goyahkla.")
The Murder of his Family Turned Geronimo into a Rebel
Geronimo lived in a time of conflict between the native Apache and the Spanish settlers. In 1858, returning from a trading excursion, he found that his wife, mother and children had been murdered in a raid.
While never a chief, Geronimo became from that point onwards a military leader, which in the tradition of his people gave him the role of spiritual leader also.
By 1875, all the Apache had been forced into the San Carlos reservation; a traveler along US-70 will drive right through the reservation. Though the land is now plowed and tamed, in the late 19th century this was barren terrain where the Indians could not sustain themselves.
Geronimo's Exile and Escape From Captors
Geronimo escaped three times and eventually led a band of his family into exile, avoiding capture for over a decade. At the height of the campaign, thousands of soldiers from the United States and Mexican deployed to hunt him and his band down.
In May 1882, Geronimo's hunters surprised him in his mountain sanctuary. He agreed to return his people to the reservation. But after hearing rumors of hangings and trials, he ran away again, this time with 35 warriors and over a hundred women and children.
Geronimo's Capture and Life as Prisoner-of-War
Even so, the end of the fight was coming. Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles on September 4th, 1886; his group had dwindled to a mere 16 warriors and 18 women and children. Geronimo's surrender signaled the end of the last guerrilla action of the Indians.
The government broke its promise of sanctuary and sent 450 Apache people to be imprisoned in Florida, then later Alabama and finally Oklahoma. Geronimo became a rancher, appearing in the parade for Roosevelt's inauguration in 1905 and making other appearances; in his latter years, he became a kind of celebrity.
Geronimo died in 1909, still a prisoner of war, and was buried far from home at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
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