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 Goyahkla,
a.k.a. Geronimo, was a Native American chief of the Chiricahua Apache
tribe, born in present-day Clifton, Arizona in 1829. 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 Geronimo's 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 100 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.
He participated in a number of raids against Mexican and American
settlers, but eventually settled on a reservation. In 1876 the U.S.
government attempted to move the Chiricahua from their traditional home to
the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo then began ten years of intermittent
raids against white settlements, alternating with periods of peaceful
farming on the San Carlos reservation.
In March of 1886, the American general George Crook captured Geronimo and
forced a treaty under which the Chiricahua would be relocated in Florida.
Two days later Geronimo escaped and continued his raids. General Nelson
Miles then took over the pursuit of Geronimo, who was chased into Mexico
and was captured the following September. The Native Americans were sent
to Florida and Alabama.
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 Geronimo 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.
Geronimo eventually converted to Christianity. When he got older he was
allowed to attend various expos, fairs, and rodeos, always accompanied by
a guard. He took part in the inaugural procession of President Theodore
Roosevelt in 1905. On a cold winter night in 1909 he was riding back to
the reservation drunk and he fell from his horse near a creek. He laid
helpless there 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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