Word Celebrity Blog

Colonel  Jack A. Sims



Jack Ahren Sims was born on February 23rd, 1919, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Colonel Sims was called "Kalamazoo's first flying hero"' in the 1940s for being among the pilots who conducted the Tokyo raid under the direction of General Jimmy Doolittle on April 18, 1942. The exploits of the Doolittle Raiders, who flew many missions over Europe during World War II, served as a morale booster for the United States.

As one of 80 volunteers for an unknown and dangerous mission, Colonel Jack Sims (then a 2nd Lieut.) co-piloted one of the sixteen B-25 Mitchell medium bombers that were launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet, on the morning of April 18, 1942.



















Jack Sims was 23, at the time of the he took off for the Tokyo raid.

Major John Hilger, second in command to Lt. Col. “Jimmy” Doolittle, chose 2nd Lieut.Jack Sims as his co-pilot for the first bombing of the Japanese Home Islands. They were part of crew 14 (the 14th plane to take off from the ship). This was four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United State's entry into WWII.























The co-pilot, 2nd Lieut. Jack Sims is the 2nd from the right.


In 1942, a Kalamazoo Gazette article reported that, following a visit home to Kalamazoo, "Major Sims was sent to the African European theater, where he completed 40 bombing missions, again under General Doolittle's command. On his 40th and last mission, his B-26 bomber was struck by enemy fire in the right motor, and he barely managed to make a safe landing behind the Allied lines."

The Doolittle Raid raised the morale of the American people and our Allies. It showed the Japanese people and their military leaders that their homeland was no longer impregnable.  It has said that the Doolittle Raid eventually triggered the Battle of Midway, which ended Japan’s dominance in the Pacific War.





















The Raid, which was memorialized in the book and movie "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo", and more recently, re-lived in significant part in the movie "Pearl Harbor", was an early defining moment in Jack Sims' military career. The action of flying a fully loaded B-25 bomber off the deck of an aircraft carrier, in choppy seas and into enemy territory thousands of miles from home, had never been attempted before.

The bombers Had to fly some 400 nautical miles further from the target than was planned, because of an early sighting by several Japanese trawlers. This meant that Jack Sims and the rest of the Doolittle Raiders took off with almost certain knowledge that they did not have sufficient fuel to reach their intended destinations in unoccupied China. A crash landing in unknown territory was inevitable. Of the original men on the raid, 10% of them never returned. Four other men survived 40 months of solitary confinement in Japanese internment camps.

Co-pilot Jack Sims and his crew flew practically at sea level at an altitude of 50 to 75 feet, and then along the coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. They then rose to a bombing altitude of 1,500 feet as they approached the city of Nagoya, to avoid being hit by heavy flak and Japanese fighters. They successfully bombed their four military targets, including the Mitsubishi Aircraft Works. The amount of damage was not very sinificant, but the psycologigal damage was very important. For the first time, the Japanese homeland was bombed. Because of this, the Japanese Government kept significant military forces out of the war, in order to protect the homeland

After heading across the East China Sea, Jack Sims and the rest of the 5 man crew were forced to bail out of the plane, empty of fuel, as it crashed into unoccupied China. Jack Sims landed on the side of a mountain, causing him to be temporarily "knocked senseless". The pilot, Jack Hilger, suffered broken ribs.
























The members of crew 14 were hidden in a Chinese village. From left to right are; Lt. James H. Macia (Navigator) Lt. Jack A. Sims (Co-Pilot) SSGT Jacob Eierman (Engineer) Major John A. Hilger (Pilot)


They were fortunate to be discovered by Chinese villagers, who at great risk to themselves, tended to them and eventually aided them to find their way to safe haven in Chungking.  There they rendezvoused with Jimmy Doolittle and other Raiders.  They received personal decorations from Madame Chaing Kai-shek.

Jack Sims stayed in the area of India, flying submarine patrol.  Major Sims was reassigned to North Africa, where he flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers.  As Squadron Commander of the 444th Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Group, attached to the United States 12th Air Force under the command of his former Raider commander, now Brig. General "Jimmy" Doolittle,  Major Sims flew 40 bombing missions. On more than a few of those missions, a successful return was uncertain until the very moment of landing, since having encountered direct hits from enemy fire and mechanical problems along the way. Major Jack Sims was shot down over Salerno, Italy on his 40th mission.

Upon his return to the United States, Major Sims continued to serve in the Air Force in various capacities. During that time he earned his MBA at the University of Chicago.  He spent 4 years at the Air Command and Staff School Air Force Base as a student, and later as a faculty member. He then attended the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Major Jack Sims held several unique and high profile assignments. One of them was being named to the position of Chief United States Air Force Liaison Officer in the United States House of Representatives. He held that position for 6 years. Later, Major Sims was assigned to the United States Embassy in London as, Chief of the United States Air Force - Royal Air Force exchange program. After that, he was back in Washington DC as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, United States Air Force Headquarters.





















After 28 years of serving his country, Jack A.Sims retired from the Air Force with a rank of full Colonel with a Command Pilot rating.


Col. Jack A.Sims '  awards for valor and service include:

• Legion of Merit (2)
• Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
• Bronze Star
• Air Medal (8)
• Order of Celestial Cloud (Chinese award for the Doolittle-Tokyo Raid)
• European-African-Mideast Campaign
• Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with three Battle Stars
• WWII Victory Medal
• Air Force Longevity Service Award (2)
• Army Commendation Medal
• National Defense Service Medal (2)
• Army Occupation Medal (Japan)
• United Nations Service Medal (Korea)
• Korean Service Medal
• American Defense Service Medal
• Air Force Good Conduct Medal

Various war uniforms, parachutes, weapons, diaries, and personal belongings related to Col. Jack Sims' wartime service are on display at the Wright-Patterson U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio; the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Michigan; and the Military and Space Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

In 1968, Jack Sims and his wife, Lee Adams Sims, moved to Naples, Florida, where they raised their youngest daughter, Kimberly, and became active members of their community. Jack Sims was a successful businessman and eventually became involved in real estate. His vision, dedication and hard work - skills all honed during his long military life - contributed to his success.

Col. Jack Sims was recently enshrined in the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame as "an outstanding air and space pioneer", taking his place along side Henry Ford, Charles A. Lindbergh, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, and other aviation pioneers. He also held officer- military pilot membership in the Order of Daedalians, an organization dedicated to ensuring America's preeminent position in air and space.

In Nov. 2006, at the opening of the WWII Memorial Center in Washington, he received the Audie Murphy Award for distinguished service to the United States military.


























Col. Jack A. Sims, a decorated World War II veteran, died Saturday, June 9, 2007, in Naples, Florida, after a long illness. He was 88 years old.

















Jack Sims was a member of the Naples Community Church. The Funeral Services were held on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 10 a.m. at the Bower Chapel, Moorings Park, with Dr. Kirt Anderson officiating.




















Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery


The body of Col. Jack A. Sims was interned at the Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Naples, Florida.

A eulegy was given by a friend, Al Cook.

Jack Sims is survived by Lee, his wife of more than 42 years and his children, Mrs. Kimberly Staley of Atlanta, Georgia,  Mrs. Brigid Hansen of Portage, Michigan,  Mr. John Sims of Richmond, Virginia  and Mr. Michael Sims of Kansas City, Missouri.  Grandchildren are Quincy, Kal, Erica, Emily, Sara and Michael and one great grandson, Gavin.  Special friends Dottie Freeland and Stella Oreschnick.

"I think that pretty much made him who he was. It was a defining time in his life," his daughter, Brigid Hansen, said of Col. Jack Sims' role as one of the Doolittle Raiders.

"I'm not sure he would have continued a military career if that actually hadn't happened, because he spent the rest of his career in the military," serving 28 years, said Hansen, who lives in Portage, Michigan

Brigid Hansen said her father, who graduated from Western Michigan University and spent the last 39 years in Florida, was often interviewed or asked to speak about his time as a combat pilot, including why he took part in what she said some considered `"basically a suicide mission."

She said that and her siblings urged their father, for years, to publish his memoirs, but it was military historian Al Cook who finally convinced her father to write "First Over Japan".






















In a 2002 book by Col. Jack Sims, "First Over Japan", he wrote: "There was nothing routine about any bombing raid. Sometimes we experienced heavy flak from the ground batteries and sometimes the sky around us was `quiet. ... Sometimes it was a `milk run' with no opposition and no casualties; other times, lots of guys got killed, hurt or bailed out and became prisoners of war."

Al Cook, a veteran who lives in Fort Myers, Florida, said that he sat down with Sims for 39 interviews that resulted in a 105-page, spiral-bound work about Sims' life and career.

When Mr.Cook read a paragraph from the epilogue, Jack Sims "lost it completely," said Cook, who delivered the eulogy at Col. Sims' funeral.

"On the way out of the house - I'll never forget it - Jack was in a wheelchair. He grabbed my arm and said, "Well, we beat old father time." I said, "Yeah, we beat him.""

"Now, he's a man of the ages. A man of American history,"  Mr. Cook said of Col. Jack Sims.





















Since the end of WWII, the Doolittle raiders have gathered yearly at reunions around the country. "Their numbers have dwindled. and at their 65th reunion in April, only seven or eight were present", said Brigid Hansen, who attended the gathering with her husband.  Her father was too ill to attend.



















Retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole turns over the goblet of Lt. Col. Chase Nielson.


With the passing of Col. Sims, this left only 13 survivors of the Doolittle Raiders.:

William M. Bower

Richard E. Cole

Jacob D. DeShazer

Thomas C. Griffin

Nolan Herndon

Robert L. Hite

Edwin W. Horton, Jr.

David M. Jones

Frank A. Kappeler

James H. Macia

Charles J. Ozuk

Edward J. Saylor


























“I’ve often thought about my wartime buddies (those still around and those long gone), the good times, the bad times, the 'adventure' and the lasting impact they had on me. It was the norm then for a 22-year-old kid to go off to the wars and come back a man, old beyond his years and somewhat wiser…it was a time when we matured quickly. The post-war Doolittle reunions recalled past experiences and the nostalgia was often painful and hard to take. Still, we met and we continue to meet and enjoy our camaraderie. Life has been good! I have been blessed with a wonderful wife who has always looked after me. Also have four children, six grand- children and one great grandson – I’ve had an extraordinary life. How could one ask for more?”















Col. Jack Sims Leaves A Legacy For All Americans To Remember.

JOHN FANCY






















Vicarage at Lund.



John Fancy was born in 1913, in the vicarage at Lund near Driffield in the Yorkshire Wolds.


















The Yorkshire Wolds.





















John Fred Fancy


He was delivered into this world by his grandmother, who was the local midwife. His father, John Fred Fancy was the manager of a nearby estate.

















Hymers College in Hull.


After attending the village school John was educated at Hymers College in Hull. He studied land management,as he looked foward to follow his father, into a career in estate management.





















Scarborough Gardens.


John then worked in the parks and gardens department at Scarborough, before deciding, in late 1935, to join the Royal Air Force.



















John Fancy is the last man on the right with a pipe in the first row.


John Fancy trained as an aircraft fitter, but when it became clear that a war was imminent he volunteered to be a pilot.
















Due to his slight color-blindness, he was instead selected as an air observer (navigator) and completed his training in December 1939.

In 1937, John Fancy had married Elsie Parker, with whom he had two daughters and a son.


















In January 1940, John Fancy joined No 110 Squadron, based in Suffolk and equipped with the Blenheim bomber. In late February, 12 Blenheims were gifted to Finland. John Fancy and his crew were detailed to ferry one of the aircraft. The crews wore civilian clothes, and the aircraft were decked in the blue swastika markings of the Finnish Air Force. After refuelling stops in Scotland and neutral Norway, they landed on a frozen lake at Juva, where the aircraft were handed over. After a few days instructing the Finnish crews, they were flown to Stockholm in a Finnish Airlines Junkers transport. Two weeks later they were back in Suffolk.

In the spring of 1940, John Fancy flew sweeps over the North Sea, and in April he attacked the Norwegian
airfield at Stavangar.

His service record also indicates operations over the North Sea including the raid on Stavanger.  His squadron was then moved to operations over Northern Europe in support of the British Expeditionary Force rearguard actions which culminated in Operation Dynamo.

 
























John Fancy heard that Elsie was expecting their first child in May 1940, the same day that his Blenheim bomber plane was shot down.

His daughter said: "He found out that mother was expecting me on that very day. She always said it was the fact that he knew he was going to be a father that gave him the strength to survive and the will to keep trying to escape."

Following the German Blitzkrieg into the Low Countries and France on May 10 1940, the RAF's light bombers based in France suffered crippling losses; so the Blenheim squadrons based in England were thrown into the battle.





















The key targets were the bridges over the river Meuse at Maastricht and Sedan, and 12 aircraft of No 110 Squadron were sent to attack the bridge at Sedan, France on May 14.

The force encountered intense anti-aircraft fire and came under attack from German fighters, but John Fancy and his crew bombed the bridge successfully.

Five of the Twelve aircraft were shot down.



















The Blenheim in which John Fancy was serving as air observer/navigator was hit as it left the target and crash-landed in the grounds of a chateau.

















He was sent to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Poland, in 1942.  There his expertise was used to help plot the break-out of 76 men that became known as the "Great Escape".

The plan was to dig three tunnels - Tom, Dick and Harry; the first of which, Tom, was built by Mr Fancy and others in the corner of a hall.  In order to keep the tunnels from being detected,  they were 30 feet below the surface and were only 2 feet square.

Although John Fancy was transferred away from the camp and Tom was later discovered,  76 men did escape through Dick the following year.

Of these, only three evaded capture - 50 men were killed and the rest were sent back to the camp.  Two decades later, the escape attempt caught the imagination of movie bosses and inspired the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster "The Great Escape", which starred Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough.

Airman John Fancy was one of the RAF's most prolific escape artists of World War 2.   He acquired the Nickname of  "the Mole" John Fancy dug eight tunnels at the various peison camps in which he was held, in East Prussia, Poland and Germany. Some of the tunnels were 40 feet below the surface and only 2 feet square.

In all Fancy escaped from custody some sixteen times,only to be recaptured.

While he was at large, John Fancy tramped over Lithuania, Latvia and Germany. e experienced many adventures and difficult moments. During one escape, John Fancy even obtained directions from a German soldier.  There was the time he was recaptured by an extermination squad and was subjected to three mock executions.

John Fancy was full of praise for the spontaneous generosity of the poor people of the two Baltic countries who, at great personal risk, gave him some of their meager food supplies.

On his final escape attempt John Fancy and two comrades made their way to the Baltic coast, where they stole a boat. They were well out to sea when they were recaptured.


He constructed eight separate tunnels from various camps, using a German issued steel table knife as his principal tool. The knife became one of his prized possessions after the war.

John Fancy's long period of imprisonment came to an end in the last days of April 1945, when his prison camp was liberated by allied forces. He was flown back to England, touching down at an RAF airfield. John later observed: "After four years, 10 months and four days I landed back in England after taking off on what should have been a four-hour flight."

John Fancy's health had suffered considerably during his time as a POW, and he spent three months recovering in Royal Air Force hospitals before being discharged from the service in August 1945 as a warrant officer. While in the hospital in Lancashire John met his five-year-old daughter for the first time.  For his conduct as a POW and his persistent attempts to escape, he was mentioned in dispatches.


























After the war, John Fancy returned to the Yorkshire Wolds. He established a market garden near Driffield and three greengrocer shops at Scarborough.

John was a keen fisherman, a fairly good tennis-player and he enjoyed painting.  John Fancy also took great pride in his garden.

After the death of his wife Elsie in 1983, John moved to Slapton, in south Devon, in order to be near to his
daughter. 



























In 1992, John Fancy was invited to a ceremony in London to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Finnish Air Force. The Finnish ambassador took the opportunity to present him with the country's Winter War Medal.

In 1993, on his 90th birthday, John Fancy's family took him back to the chateau, now an upmarket hotel and golf course. He was given a hero's welcome by the Mayor and local people.






















A Picture of four Fancy generations.


























John with his Great Grandchild. 94 years difference in Fancys


John Fancy, who was 95, passed on September 16, 2008. He is survived by two daughters - Janet and Kay, a son, Graham, eight grandchildren.  and 10 great grandchildren.



















Enterior of the Church of Saint James the Great in Slapton



















Church of Saint James the Great in Slapton


The church of Saint James the Great was packed for the funeral service of John Fancy. This was testimony to his popularity.





Flight of Jackdaws.


"As his coffin was brought out of the church after the service a large flight of jackdaws suddenly  appeared directly over it," Janet, the daughter of John Fancy,said. "It was just as if he was being given a farewell fly past."



















Slapton, Devon.


A Devon community mourned the death of a man whose exploits to escape the prison camps where he was held during WWII, earned him the nickname "The Mole". . John Fancy had lived in Slapton for 23 years.























John Fancy riding down to the local pubs.


He was revered in Slapton and both local pubs had a special seat at the bar reserved for him. He was still riding down to the pub on his electric buggy complete with extra battery to get him back up the hill, right up to the time of his death.






















Queens Arms in Slapton.


Clive Hain said "I only knew John for the last 5 years of his life. But it was an honour never the less.John was often in the Queens Arms in Slapton sipping his double whisky, followed by a few more and lastly a coffee served by my wife Mo.  John has his own seat and whoever was sat in it would always get up as soon as John came in.

I think he was such a charming man, always calling my wife wench, nobody could ever fall out with him. Never heard him say an ill word about anyone. I have read his book "Flight of Fancy".  What a hero, but so quiet about what happened,  I for one will really miss John."





















Tower Inn in Slapton 


The Tower Inn in Slapton has his portrait displayed on the wall. John Fancy's grand-daughter said: "There's a portait of him above his favourite seat which was revealed on the day of his funeral and it captures him perfectly".

Denis Howard & Margaret Boon remarked "Our first recollection of John was seeing him in his mobility scooter, hurtling down Prospect Hill on his way to the Tower Inn."

"We weren't sure if he'd negotiate the sharp turn in to the car park, but he managed it with no reduction in speed!"

"As visitors we didn't know John very well, but he was always friendly and a real Gentleman. We have many good memories of John's lively Friday lunchtime banter. He always had the perfect answer for everything and a wonderful sense of humour."

"In early July, John kindly signed my copy of his book "Tunnelling to Freedom". I asked if he'd like a drink, adding are you allowed another? He said "no, but I will".


His daughter Janet Fancy, a 68 year old divorcee from Kingsbridge, Devon, described him as "irrepressible".

"He was a real charmer, but above all, he had patience, he was quite irrepressible."

"He was wonderful,and above all else he was a doer,"

"He never left anything to anyone else, if he could do it himself then he got stuck in."

"My father took a lot of risks during the war trying to do his bit to get soldiers out of the camps. He dug at least eight very deep and long tunnels".





















She still has the butter knife, inscribed with the German eagle emblem.  "How he got it home, we've no idea," she said.


"During his long stint as a prisoner-of-war, he acquired the reputation as the most determined escaper  the Germans had ever encountered."



























"After surviving a plane crash and five years of imprisonment, the family rather felt he was indestructible."


Brydgette Bryon-Edmond

























Brydgette Bryon-Edmond


David Elstone of Hymers College in Hull, welcomed Brydgette Bryon-Edmond, who is the grand-aughter of John Fancy, a former pupil from the years 1926 to 1929.  He was a serial escaper from the Nazi POW camps, author of the book 'Tunnelling to Freedom" and was part of the planning team for 'The Great Escape".  Brydette gave an assembly to the whole Senior School and a presentation to Year 9 as part of their History lesson.  She also went to the Junior School to inform pupils about her grandfather's exploits.

Matthew Cowan, a Year 12 pupil, also gave a presentation about John Fancy, which he had given for a national history competition, and reached the national finals - his subject was 'My Local Hero.' 




























 John Fancy, a navigator in the RAF, who was shot down during a bombing raid in Northern France in May 1940. He was captured and held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, during which time he made 16 attempts to gain his freedom. He escaped 3 times but was recaptured on each occasion. His book 'Tunnelling to Freedom' was a best seller in 1957 and has recently been reprinted in 2008, following his death, aged 95.




























David Elstone, Headmaster at Hymers, comments, "We welcome a lot of visitors throughout the year, who add value and provide great insight into the subjects being taught. The fact that Brydgette is the granddaughter of one of our former pupils, an Old Hymerian, makes this even more special and interesting for our pupils. We are really pleased to have welcomed her back to her grand-father's old school."


Books

After the war John Fancy wrote a book about his adventures. "Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World's Most Persistent Escaper", was published in 1957, by Panther Books, and became an instant bestseller. Aurum Press has now acquired the rights to publish this classic work in a new edition, which will reveal John Fancy's amazing exploits to a new generation of readers. His gripping and dryly humorous account reveals the fascinating details of life in the prison camps and the determination, heroism and madness of the escapers. We also see the incredible ingenuity and patience which John brought to bear on his escape attempts, often digging his tunnels with no more than a 10-inch butter knife.

In addition to his tunnelling John Fancy also recounts his attempts to abscond from outside working parties, cutting through the camp's perimeter wire and jumping from moving trains. With a new Introduction that sets John's activities in a historical context, and Illustrations including photos of John and his fellow prisones in the camps, plus his original plans of tunnels and artefacts including his German butter knife, this is essential reading for the WW2 historian and anyone who enjoys a good adventure story.





















"Tunnelling to Freedom" (Panther, 1957, ASIN B0007JJ9IS)


























"Flights of Fancy" (Navigator, 1986, ISBN 0902830651)


























John Fancy felt at home in the pub!


One of John Fancy's many admirers wrote: "He survived,  millions didn’t.....  He was enjoying his whiskey and family and whatnot right up until he died, slipping away in his sleep mid-conversation.  What a great way to go!"

Geronimo - A Boy's Hero

Some time ago I wrote about "A Boy's Childhood Heroes"

A Boy's Childhood Heroes

To better understand Geronimo, we need to better understand the Apache Indians and the the circumstances of the time period in which the uprisings took place.

The Apache Indians were basically nomadic, meaning they moved frequently, following the buffalo herds.

They lived almost completely off the buffalo, including using buffalo skins for clothing and tent covers.

The Apache Indians were among the first Indian tribe to learn to ride and train horses.
















The Apache Native American Indian resistance happened in the Southwestern United States around the 1860s. The western states and territories were very important for the North during the Civil War period. Gold from California and Silver from Nevada helped finance the war against the South.  The Native American Indians were in the path of the expanding valuable mineral hunt and many new settlements.  They United States along with the expanding railroad companiess plotted to have the huge herds of Bison, destroyed so that the Native Americans would starve or move.

One Native American tribe that fought this expansion of the settlers were the Apaches. In the struggle for survival,first the Mescalero and then the Chiricahua bands fought back. The Mescalero Apache bands were led by Cochise, and Victorio.  The Chiricahua band was led by Cochise and Geronimo.





















The Story Teller


Apache is a collective name given to several culturally related tribes that speak variations of the Athapascan language and are of the Southwest cultural area. The Apache separated from the Athapascan in western Canada centuries ago, migrating to the southwestern United States. Although there is some evidence Southern Athapascan peoples may have visited the Southwest as early as the 13th century AD, most scientists believe they arrived permanently only a few decades before the Spanish.



















The Zuni, a Pueblo people, gave them the name Apachu, meaning "enemy.” In their dialects, the Apache call themselves Tinneh, Tinde, Dini, or one of several other variations, all meaning "the people.”

The word "Apache" comes from the Yuma word for "fighting-men" and from the Zuni word meaning "enemy."

The Apache tribe consists of six sub-tribes: the Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Kiowa.

Each subtribe is from a different geographical region. They are composed of six regional groups: Western Apache - Coyotero - most of eastern Arizona which include the White Mountain, Cibuecue, San Carlos, and Northern and Southern Tonto bands.

It is possible, due to their nomadic nature, that several names were used to identify the same tribe. The Anglo theory is the Apache Indian migrated to the Southwest from Northern Canada in the 1500's.

The Apache Indian history says it was the other way around, that most of the Athapaskan speaking people migrated to the North and a few stayed in their homeland. In any event, it is generally agreed that about 5,000 Apaches lived in the Southwest at the end of the 1600's.

Apaches belong to the Southern Athapascan linguistic family.




















The Apache tribe occupied the mountains and plains of southern Arizona and New Mexico, and also in Mexico.

The primitive dress of the men was deerskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins. They were never without a loin-cloth. A deerskin cap with attractive symbolic ornamentation was worn. The women wore short deerskin skirts and high boot top moccasins.

Chiricahua - southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and adjacent Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora - The band was the informal political unit, consisting of followers and a headman. They had no formal leader such as a tribal chief, or council, nor a decision making process. The core of the band was a "relative group," predominantly, but not nessarily, kinsmen. Named by the Spanish for the mescal cactus the Apaches used for food, drink, and fiber. The basic shelter of the Chiricahua was the domeshaped wickiup made of brush. Similar the Navajo, they also regarded coyotes, insects, and birds as having been human beings; the human race, then, but following in the tracks of those who have gone before.


























Mescalero - Faraon - live east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, with the Pecos River as their eastern border

Jicarilla - Tinde - southeastern Colorado, northern New Mexico, and northwest Texas - During their zenith in the SouthWest, two divisions of the Jicarilla Apache were known: the Llanero, or "plains people," and the Hoyero, the "mountain people." They roamed from central and eastern Colorado into western Oklahoma, and as far south as Estancia, New Mexico. As a result of their eastern contacts, the Jicarilla adopted certain cultural traits of the Plains Indians, as did the Mescalero who also ranged the eastern plains. From an estimated population of 800 Jicarilla in 1845, the tribe today numbers about 1,800.

The Jicarilla (little basketmakers) are of the Athabascan language group and anthropologists say that these people came from Canada down the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains about 1300-1500 AD.























All tribes deny the migration theories and say that they have always been here.

Though limited to using dogs as pack animals, the Jicarilla were the most successful raiders. When the Spaniards brought horses once again to North America the Jicarilla took full advantage of the horses. (the previous horses had been eaten by The Jicarilla long ago).

The Jicarilla were not recognized as being distinctive from the other southern Athabascans: Chiricahuas, Navajos, Western Apaches, Mescaleros, Kiowa Apaches, and Lipans, until about 1700. Jicarilla are further identified as the plains people (Llaneros), and the mountain-valley people (Olleros) or Hoyero.

Their name for themselves is Tinde.

 




















Early Apache were a nomadic people, ranging over a wide area of the United States, with the Mescalero Apache roaming as far south as Mexico. They were primarily hunter-gatherers, with some bands hunting buffalo and some practicing limited farming. The Men participated in hunting and raiding activities, while women gathered food, wood, and water.

Western Apache tribes were matrilineal, tracing descent through the mother; other groups traced their descent through both parents. Polygamy was practiced when economic circumstances permitted and marriage could be terminated easily by either party.

















Their dwellings were shelters of a dome shaped frame of cottonwood or other pole brush and were thatched with grass. They were called wickiups, which were easily erected by the women and were well adapted to their arid environment and constant moving of the tribes. The house itself was termed, "Kowa" and the grass thatch, "Pi". Some families lived in buffalo- hide teepees, especially among the Kiowa-Apache and Jicarilla. The Apache made very little pottery, and were known instead for their fine basketwork.





















FOOD

All Apache rely primarily on hunting of wild game and gathering of cactus fruits and other wild plant foods.

Hunting is a part of daily life - for food, clothing, shelter, blankets. Apache hunted deer, wild turkeys, jackrabbits, coyote, javelin, fox, beavers, buffalo, bears, mountain lions. There was no fishing. Eagles were hunted for their feathers.  Two or three feathers were plucked from a bald eagle instead of being hunted for food.

Food was important to the Apache. Prairie dogs, snakes, turkeys, and fish in the Apache tribe were believed to be unclean so they didn't eat them.  Apache boys were taught to move quickly and quietly through the forest to catch food for their family.  Every Apache male hunted . The first thing an Apache male did before hunting was greased his body with animal fat to keep out the smell of a person and make the person smell like an animal so the animals wouldn't smell the person and run away.

They exchanged buffalo hides, tallow and meat, bones that could be worked into needles and scrapers for hides, and salt from the desert with the Pueblos for pottery, cotton, blankets, turquoise, corn and other goods. But at times they simply saw what they wanted and took it. They became known among the Pueblo villages by another name, Apachu, "the enemy".

In traditional Apache culture, each band was made up of extended families with a headman chosen for leadership abilities and exploits in war.  For centuries they were fierce warriors, adept in wilderness survival, who carried out raids on those who encroached on their territory.

The first intruders were the Spanish, who penetrated Apache territory in the late 1500s. The Spanish drive northward disrupted ancient Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes.

When New Mexico became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between Spaniards and Apaches. An influx of Comanche into traditional Apache territory in the early 1700s forced the Lipan and other Apaches to move south of their main food source, the buffalo. These displaced Apaches began raiding for food.


RELIGION

Religion was also a fundamental part of Apache life. Their pantheon of supernatural beings included Ussen (or Yusn), the Giver of Life, and the ga’ns, or mountain spirits, who were represented in religious rites such as healing and puberty ceremonies. Men dressed elaborately to impersonate the ga’ns, wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat headdresses, and body paint, and carrying wooden swords.


SUNRISE DANCE:  Women

























From early spring to late fall, Apache girls reaching maturity are honored by their tribe with the Sunrise Dance. This ancient ritual is a test of a girl's endurance and discipline, and a celebration of her womanhood. The Sunrise Dance typically lasts four days. During this time, the girl being honored is dancing almost constantly, to the accompaniment of over 100 songs. Although she is assisted by her godparents and friends, it's a difficult task. Each stage of the ceremony is precisely choreographed, and the girl is not permitted to falter.

The Indian dancers used ankle wraps to accompany their dances. There are bells atatched to a strap of leather. When you move your leg the ankle wrap rattles and jingles. They also placed these on their knees, elbows, or ankles.

For most of the four days and nights, to songs and prayers, they dance, as well as run toward the four directions. During this time, they also participate in and conduct sacred rituals, receiving and giving both gifts and blessings, and experiencing their own capacity to heal.

Usually the women are the main ones that are the teachers, and they are the stronghold for the family. The children claim their mom's side of the clan, and the father's clan is just like the distant family clan. It's the woman that holds the family together.


APACHE SYMBOLS

The importance of the circle is depicted by the shape of the four sacred hoop symbols. The shape of many traditional homes is round, such as the Apache wickiup, the Navajo hogan, and the tipi of the Lakota. Religious ceremonies are performed in circular structures, such as in the hogan and the tipi. Traditional dances are also performed in a circle. The motion of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky is circular. The life paths of all creatures, including humans, are also circular.

The Apache hoop is used in traditional ceremonies and the type of ceremony determines whether a single hoop or four hoops are used. The hoop represents the cycle of life from birth to death. It possesses special powers, which could be used, for example, to bless an individual when the hoop completely encircles the body. The hoop also has healing and protective powers.

The single Apache hoop has one of the four sacred colors of the tribe: black, green, (blue), yellow and white. These colors represent the four directions, the four seasons, and the four major divisions of the day. An eagle feather is tied at four locations on the hoop. To the Apache, and almost all tribes, the eagle is a sacred bird and its feathers are believed to have special powers.




















The basket symbolizes one’s realm of existence with the center opening representing one’s birth into this world and the various designs representing the plains and sacred mountains among which one dwells.


TRADE

Trade was established between the long established Pueblo peoples and the Southern Athabaskans by the mid 16th century, exchanging maize and woven goods for bison meat, hides and material for stone tools.

















The Apache and the Pueblos managed to maintain generally peaceful relations; however this changed with the appearance of the Spaniards. Arriving in the mid 1500s, the first Spanish intruders drove northward into Apache territory disrupting the Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes.

In April 1541, while traveling on the plains east of the Pueblo region, Francisco Coronado wrote: "After seventeen days of travel, I came upon a rancheria of the Indians who follow these cattle [bison.] These natives are called Querechos. They do not cultivate the land, but eat raw meat and drink the blood of the cattle they kill. They dress in the skins of the cattle, with which all the people in this land clothe themselves, and they have very well-constructed tents, made with tanned and greased cowhides, in which they live and which they take along as they follow the cattle. They have dogs which they load to carry their tents, poles, and belongings."

When New Mexico became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between Spaniards and Apache. One source of the friction with the Spaniards was with the slave traders, who hunted down captives to serve as labor in the silver mines of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. In return the Apache raided Spanish settlements to seize cattle, horses, firearms, and captives of their own. 

Before long, the prowess of the Apache warrior in battle became legend. The Apache were not so numerous at the beginning of the 17th century; however, their numbers were increased by captives from other tribes, particularly the Pueblo, Pima, Papago, and other peaceful Indians, as well as white and Spanish peoples. Extending their raids as far southward as Jalisco, Mexico, the Apache quickly became known for their warlike disposition.

An influx of Comanche into traditional Apache territory in the early 1700s forced the Lipan and other Apache to move south of their main food source, the buffalo. These displaced Apache then increased their raiding on the Pueblo Indians and non-Indian settlers for food and livestock.


























Geronimo and his band returning from Mexico through Skeleton Canyon - by Remington.


Apache raids on settlers and migrants crossing their lands continued into the period of American westward expansion and the United States acquisition of New Mexico in 1848. Some Apache bands and the United States military authorities engaged in fierce wars until the Apache were pacified and moved to reservations.

The Mescalero were subdued by 1868 and and a reservation was established for them in 1873. The Western Apache and their Yavapai allies were subdued in the United States military’s Tonto Basin Campaign of 1872-1873.

The Chiricahua Chief Cochise signed a treaty with the United States government in 1872 and moved with his band to an Apache reservation in Arizona. But Apache resistance continued under the Mimbreno Chief Victorio from 1877 to 1880.

The last band of Apache raiders, active in ensuing years under the Chiricahua Warrior Geronimo, was hunted down in 1886 and sent first to Florida, then to Alabama, and finally to the Oklahoma Territory, where they settled among the Kiowa-Apache.

The major Apache groups, each speaking a different dialect, include the Jicarilla and Mescalero of New Mexico, the Chiricahua of the Arizona-New Mexico border area, and the Western Apache of Arizona. The Yavapai Apache Nation Reservation is southwest of Flagstaff, Arizona. Other groups were the Lipan Apache of southwestern Texas and the Plains Apache of Oklahoma.








































Mangas Coloradas
(In Spanish means `red sleeves') .

Mangas Coloradas was a Mimbreno Apache chief.  He pledged friendship to the Americans when General S. W. Kearny took possession of New Mexico in 1846. The chief stronghold of the Mimbrefios at that time was at the Santa Rita copper mines, south west New Mexico, where they had killed the miners in 1837 to avenge a massacre committed by white trappers who invited a number of Mimbrenos to a feast and murdered them to obtain the bounty of $100 offered by the state of Chihuahua for every Apache scalp.

When the boundary commission made its headquarters at Santa Rita trouble arose over the taking from the Mimbreno Apache of some Mexican captives and over the murder of an Indian by a Mexican whom the Americans refused to hang on the spot: The Mimbrenos retaliated by stealing some horses and mules belonging to the commission.

As a result of indignities received at the hands of miners at the Pinos Altos gold mines, who boundMangas Coloradas and whipped him, Mangas Coloradas collected a large band of Apache warriors and became the scourge of the white settlements for many years. He formed an alliance with Cochise to resist the Californian volunteers who reoccupied the country when it was abandoned by troops at the beginning of the Civil War. He was wounded in a fight at Apache pass, in south east Arizona, that grew out of a misunderstanding regarding a theft of cattle.

His men took Mangas Coloradas to Janos, in Chihuahua, and left him in the care of a surgeon with a warning that the town would be destroyed if he wwas not cured.

According to one account, soon after his recovery he was taken prisoner in January 1863, by the Californians and was killed while attempting to escape. He was goaded with a red-hot bayonet.

Another account states that in 1862, he was induced to enter Fort McLane, New Mexico, on the plea of making a treaty and receiving presents. The soldiers imprisoned him in a hut, and at night a sentry shot him under the pretext that he feared the Indian would escape. 


Chiricahua Apache

























The Chiricahua Apache are a section of the Apache tribe known as eastern Apache. The Chiricahua Apache tribe had about 2,500 members at its largest. That number has been reduced to around 600 members of full Chiricahua descendant today. The tribe is divided into about 3 bands which include between 10-30 families each. Today, the Chiricahua Apache are located mostly in large communities.

Location:
The Chiricahua Apache were first located in the Dragoon Mountains. The Chiricahua moved west of the Rio Grande into Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico in the next years to expand their territory. In 1861, the Chiricahua Apache and the U.S. military began a war which came to an end with the tribe being held prisoners for 27 years in Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma. The tribe was then released to settlements in Oklahoma and the Mescalero Reservation in New Mexico where the majority of the tribe live today.

Landmarks:

















The Chiricahua National Monument is a gathering of volcanic rock formations for 19 square miles. These formations lie in the heart of the land the tribe used as hiding ground form the military in the days of colonization.

Language:
English and Apache, which is part of the Athabascan family.


Cochise


























Cochise was a Chiricahua Apache chief, son and successor of Nachi.  Although constantly at feud with the Mexicans, he gave no trouble to the Americans until after 1861.  He went under a flag of truce, to the camp of a party of soldiers to deny that his tribe had abducted a white child. The commanding officer was angered by this and ordered the visiting chiefs seized and bound because they would not confess. One was killed and four were caught, but Cochise, cutting through the side of a tent, made his escape with three bullets in his body and immediately began hostilities to avenge his companions, who were hanged by the Federal troops. The troops were forced to retreat, and the white settlements in Arizona were attacked over and over again.

Soon afterward the military posts were abandoned, the troops being recalled to take part in the Civil war. This action by the army convinced the Apache bands that all they needed to do was to fight to prevent Americans from settling in their country. Cochise and Mangos Coloradas defended Apache pass in southeast Arizona against the Californians, who marched under General Carleton to reopen communication between the Pacific coast and the East.  The howitzers of the California volunteers put the Apache to flight . When United States troops returned to resume the occupancy of the country after the close of the Civil War, a war of extermination was carried on against the Apache nations.

Cochise did not surrender till Sept., 1871. When the orders came to transfer Cochise's people from Canada Alamosa to the new Tularosa reservation, in New Mexico, Cochise  escaped with a hand of 200 in the spring of 1872. 600 other Apaches followed his example. After the Chiricahua reservation was established in Arizona, in the summer of 1872, Cochise  came in.

Cochise died in 1874 of natural causes. His body was dress in his best war garments. He was decorated in war paint, and head feathers. His body was then wrapped in a brilliant red blanket, and place on his horse. The horse was guided to a remote place in the Dragoons. The horse was shot and lowered into the chasm along with Cochise's gun and other arms. Lastly Cochise was lowered into the rocky cavern by ropes. The location of this burial site remains a mystery to this day. 


























He was succeeded as chief by his son Taza.

The southeastern most county of Arizona bears Cochise's name.


Nahche

























Nahche (Na-ai-che, `mischievous,' `meddlesome).

Nahche was an Apache warrior, and a member of the Chiricahua band.  He wass the second son of the celebrated Cochise, and as hereditary chief succeeded his elder brother,  Tazi, on the death. His mother was a daughter of the notorious Mangas Coloradas.

As a child Nahche was meddlesome and mischievous, and because of this he was given his name. He was the leading force in the many raids that almost wiped out some of the smaller settlements of Arizona, New Mexico and of northern Chihuahua and Sonora between 1881 and 1886.Geronimo, a Medicine-man  rather than a warrior, received the most of the credit. What was known as Geronimo's band, had Nahche for its chief.

He was captured by General Miles and taken as prisoners of war, and sent to Florida, Alabama, and finally to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Nahche resided and was respected by his own people as well as by the whites until his death. Colonel H. L. Scott in charge of the Chiricahua prisoners in Oklahoma, said that Nahche was a "most forceful and reliable man, faithfully performing the duties assigned to him as a prisoner, whether watched or not." He was proud and self-respecting, and was regarded by the Chiricahua at Fort Sill as their leader.


Goyathlay





































Geronimo {jur-ahn'-i-moh}, or Goyathlay, was born in 1829 in what is today western New Mexico, but was then still Mexican territory. He was a Bedonkohe Apache (grandson of Mahko) by birth and a Net'na during his youth and early manhood.  The fourth in a family of four boys and four girls, he was called Goyathlay (One Who Yawns.)


The Apaches knew every land feature in the plains. Apache women built irrigation ditches and planted corn. The crops were not very good, so hunters searched the land for deers, gophers, wild turkeys and lizards. The women gathered cactus fruit and acorns. The Apache loved raiding and warfare, and boys were trained for warfare since they were born. They could walk for miles without any food or water . They learned to hunt, stand guard, keep silent,and send and read smoke signals. When the boys were 15 years old they were ready to go to war. Young girls were trained by their mothers to do the household chores. The girls married very young. The daughters husband was not aloud to talk to or see their mother-in-law.

As a child, Geronimo listened to the stories and heard the songs about his tribe's history and culture; his mother would have been responsible for conveying most of the information. She would have described tribal and personal standards that would eventually govern Geronimo's behavior and help him evaluate and draw conclusions about the world around him.

If oral tradition is accurate, Geronimo's mother told him about specific ancestors, described their strengths, their families, their philosophies, and their power in battles.

His mother also conveyed the old sacred rituals observed by his ancestors, ways that were rich in praise and thankfulness to Ussen, the supreme Apache God, for his many gifts to the Bedonkohe people.

Quite significant during his developmental years were the stories about his grandfather, Mahko, who had been a revered chief, beloved by tribesman because of his "great size, strength, and sagacity, . , , He was peace loving and generous . . . storing corn and dried beef and venison in caves, which he shared with the needy of his tribe."

In 1846, when he was seventeen, Grtonimo was admitted to the Council of the Warriors, which allowed him to marry. Soon, he received permission; married a woman named Alope, and the couple had three children.

In the early 1850s, there was a time of peace between the Apache and the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. Mangas Colmadas, the famous chief of Geronimo's people, led some of the men into thetown of Janos to trade; only a few guards remained behind in the village to keep the women and children safe.

A large group of Mexican troops, from Sonora, descended on the unsuspecting people and attacked and killed most of the Apaches. As Geronimo and the other men made their way from town to their encampment, survivors met them with the bad news. Among those lying mutilated and dead were Geronimo's beloved young wife, Alope, his three children, and his mother.

That shattering experience was disastrous for the twenty-one year old warrior as he stood helplessly beside the bodies of his family, Geronimo was changed forever. He simply said, "None have lost as I have, for I have lost all."







































He was reportedly given the name Geronimo by Mexican soldiers, although few agree as to why.  As leader of the Apaches at Arispe in Sonora, he performed such daring feats that the Mexicans singled him out with the name Geronimo (Spanish for "Jerome" - as in Saint Jerome) . Some even attributed his numerous raiding successes to special powers conferred by supernatural beings, some even reported an invulnerability to bullets.

Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to surrender to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all.

The pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, believed he was a murderer and this image endured until the second half of the 20th century.





































Reportedly, the slaying of his family caused Geronimo to have such a hatred of the Mexicans,s that he vowed to kill as many as he could.  From that day on, he took every opportunity he could to terrorize Mexican settlements and soon after this incident Geronimo claimed to have received his power,  which came to him in visions.  Geronimo was never a chief, but a medicine man,  a seer and a spiritual and intellectual leader both in and out of battle.  The Apache chiefs often depended on his wisdom.

Geronimo's war career was linked with that of his brother-in-law, Juh, a Chiricahua chief.  Although Geronimo was not a hereditary leader, he appeared so to outsiders because he often acted as spokesman for Juh, who had a speech impediment.

To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, aggressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico.  The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes.  Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.


























Revenge and Appeals to Saint Jerome.


Geronimo was said to have had magical powers. He could see into the future, walk without creating footprints and even hold off the dawn to protect his own. This Apache Indian warrior and his band of 37 followers defied federal authority for more than 25 years.

The Apache bands found on the San Carlos Reservation include the Aravaipa, Chiricahua, Coyotero, Mimbreno, Mogollon, Pinaleno, San Carlos, and Tonto. Their reservation was created in 1871 and reduced five separate times to accommodate white miners seeking copper and silver, and Mormons whose need for water led to the reduction of water around the Gila Valley.

It was from the San Carlos Reservation that Geronimo led his followers when they broke for freedom from the oppression of the United States military.

In 1866, Exhausted, and hopelessly out numbered, Geronimo surrendered on March 27, 1886 at Cañon de Los Embudos in Sonora, Mexico. His band consisted of a handful of warriors, women, and children.

Also found was a young white boy named Jimmy "Santiago" McKinn, that the Indians had kidnapped some six months earlier in September. The "rescued" boy had become so assimilated to the Apache lifestyle, he cried when he was forced to return to his parents.

The land at San Carlos was dry and arid arid, therefore Geronimo fled with a band of followers into Mexico.

























On April 21, 1877, San Carlos Reservation agent John Philip Clum coaxes Geronimo, other Apache leaders, and their families into a conference near the Warm Springs Agency in New Mexico Territory, only to arrest them. Mr.Clum was known as "White Chief of the Apaches" and worked well in keeping peace. He established the first Tribal Police and Tribal Court, on the Reservation and was the only man to capture Geronimo peacefully in 1877.

After Clum resigned his post, he was elected first Mayor of Tomstone Arizona in 1881, he and Wyatt Earp became best of friends. John Philip Clum also founded the "Tucson Citizen" and "Tombstone Epitaph" newspapers.

















Area is where Indian Agent John Philip Clum arrested Geronimo and his band of Apaches  in April 1877.

Geronimo and his band was escorted back to the San Carlos Reservation.


In 1878, Geronimo again breaks away with a group of Apache to seek refuge in the Sierra Madre Mountains. The fugitives again made violent raids on wagon trains and ranches.


In 1879, Geronimo was Weary from being pursuided by military forces on both sides of the border, Geronimo willingly returns to the San Carlos Reservation.


























In 1881, Geronimo is restless, when the slaying of an Apache prophet takes place, Geronimo and Juh again leave San Carlos, but, this time they leave with 76 warriors and their families. The United States Army officials are outraged as Geronimo and his followers resume their raids from a camp deep in the Sierra Madre Mountains.


In 1884, Geronimo again surrenders.  This time it is to General George Crook.

















Once again, Geronimo and his followers are  returned to the San Carlos Reservation.

In 1885, Unhappy with the new imposed regulations, Geronimo once again leads a group of more than 100 men, women, and children in an escape from the San Carlos Reservation.


























Pursuing Geronimo in the rugged wilds of Mexico's Sierra Madre region.


In January of 1886,  General Crook's Apache scouts penetrated Juh's seemingly impregnable hideout.



















After more than two months of conflict,  Geronimo is induced to surrender on March 25, 1886, to General George Crook.


















 Geronimo Negotiates His Surrender with General Crook.

Juh was a natural leader, but, he was a stutterer and had problems in talking. Geronimo often acted as a conduit for Juh's words. He was Geronimo's cousin.  He married Ishton,  who was Geronimo's sister, and had a son with her who was later known as "Asa" Daklugie.  He had also two sons called Delzhinne and Daklegon.

Historians believe that Juh planned and executed an 1871 attack in which  Lt. Howard Bass Cushing was killed,  in the Whetstone Mountains of southern Arizona. A noted United States Army Indian fighter, Cushing had made disparaging comments about Cochise that offended Apache  sensibilities,  and then he relentlessly pursued the Apaches (specifically Cochise) around southern Arizona and northern Sonora.

At the same time, Cushing became a focus of Juh's attention. The ambush and fight,  in which  Cushing was killed,  may have been intended to teach him a lesson. It was widely thought at the time that Cochise was himself responsible for the planning and execution of the battle, but a description of the Apache leader does not match eyewitness accounts,  including  the observation that the Apache leader didn't speak much, but directed his fighters with gestures and hand  signals  during  the  battle. The Apache leader most  closely matching the physical and behavioral description was Juh.




















Geronimo's brother in law, Yanzha, Chappo, second cousin, Juh and Geronimo by C. S. Fly


Also traveling with General Crook was the photographer, C. S. Fly of Tombstone fame. After the bands capture, he was able to take some of the most famous photographs in United States history.
















Chiricahua leaders Geronimo and Natchez (wearing hat) are on horseback Geronimo's son stands by his side..


General Crook's soldiers gathered the group of hostiles together and began the trek to Fort Bowie, Arizona. 









































Gen. George Crook, master tactician and military innovator.



However, when they neared the American border, Geronimo was fearful that they would be murdered once they crossed into United States territory. He bolted with Chief Naiche, 11 warriors, and a few women and boys, who were able to escape, and went back into the Sierra Madra.  As a result,  of what  transpired,  Brigadier  General Nelson A. Miles replaced General George Crook as commander on April 2, 1886.


























General Nelson A. Miles.


After the army replaced General Crook with General Nelson Miles, he committed 5,000 troops and 400 Apache scouts to the recapture of Geronimo. Even when confronted by a force of General Crook;s magnitude, Geronimo's band of 38 men, women, and children still eluded their pursuers for six more months. When the Apache scouts finally talked Geronimo into laying down their guns in early September 1886, the surrender was bloodless and strangely anticlimactic.

During this final campaign, at least 5,000 white and black soldiers and 500 Indian auxiliaries were employed at various times in the capture of Geronimo's small band.  Five months and some 1,645 miles later, Geronimo was tracked to his camp in the Sonora mountains.

The following was recounted Geronimo's cousin Jason Betzinex: "Kayitah, an Apache scout, delivered General Miles' message. The general wanted them to give themselves up without any guarantees. The Indians seemed stunned.  Finally Geronimo's half-brother, White Horse, spoke out."I am going to surrender. My wife and children have been captured. I love them, and want to be with them."  Then another brother said that if White Horse was going, he would go too. The third and youngest brother made a similar statement. Geronimo stood for a few moments without speaking. At last he said slowly, "I don't know what to do. I have been depending heavily on you three men. You have been great warriors in battle. If you are going to surrender, there is no use in my going without you. I will give up with you.'"


























On September 3, 1886, Geronimo and the Apache Chief Naiche, the son of the great Cochise, surrendered to Brig. General Nelson A. Miles in Arizona Territory's Skeleton Canyon near the Mexican border.  With them are 16 warriors, 14 women, and six children.  Their surrender marked the end of a massive manhunt that at one time encompassed 5,000 U.S. troops — which was a quarter of all American military forces.

Almost immediately General Miles had Geronimo's band taken into custody - along with the Apache scouts who had tracked Geronimo down.

In that conference at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona, General Miles promised Geronimo  that, after 2 years exile in Florida, he and his followers would be permitted to return to Arizona. The promise was never kept. Geronimo and his fellow prisoners were shipped by box-car to Florida for imprisonment and was put to hard labor.



















Guards taking a rest along the way.





















Naiche (seated in front - third from left), Geronimo (seated in front - third from right)


They were put on a train, for Florida.  Their destination was  Fort Marion,  the old Spanish fortress, in St.Augustine, where the army imprisoned its most dangerous Indians.  On October 25, 1886, Chief Naiche,  Geronimo,  and  13 other warriors, arrived  at Florida, as prisoners of war.

























The Entrance at Fort Marion.






















Prisoners at Fort Marion.

Geronimo and his men spent the next eight years there.





















Prisoners Fort Marion.

The Apaches were separated from their families,  who were held captive at the Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama.



















Apache Indians at Mount Vernon Alabama.


On May 13, 1888, Geronimo and other Apache prisoners of war are reunited with their families at Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama. Dohn-say,   Geronimo's  daughter,   emerged  from  a  building. Overwhelmed by emotion, she ran into the arms of her father and wept wildly. One  observer  noted,  how  Geronimo never flinched,  perhaps wanting to appear strong to all observers.

Released from confinement in 1894, Geronimo accepted an offer from the Kiowa and Comanche to share their reservation in Indian territory.




















On October 4, 1894,  Geronimo with his 296 fellow prisoners arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory,  They made the final 30 miles of their journey by wagon, from Rush Springs.  Geronimo attempted to "fit in.”  He did some farming.


























Geronimo did some farming  on a reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

























Geronimo Ready For Church.


Geronimo joined the Dutch Reformed church, where he taught Sunday school.  He was later told to leave the church because of his love of gambling!





































As years passed, stories of Geronimo's warrior ferocity as a fighter made him into a legend that fascinated both non-Indians and Indians alike.

Geronimo cast a towering shadow.  He routinely accommodates  historical scolars, authors, and even leaders of other tribal nations who desire to research Geronimo's life can find just hat they are looking for.  People tend to deal with Geronimo not as an actual person, but as an ideal.  There was an iconic Geronimo and there was the man.  Lost in the legend is the flesh-and-blood man that was called Geronomo.

Michael Darrow, the Fort Sill-Apache's tribal historian. "If you use that of our tribal perspective, then Geronimo wasn't a very important person.  Importance seems to have been assigned to him by people outside the tribe. That's why when people ask me about Geronimo, I ask them if they are talking about Geronimo the person or Geronimo the myth."  Michael Darrow marvels at what Geronimo has become.

When the commanding general of the People's Liberation Army of China visited Fort Sill, he knew all about Geronimo. He asked many questions about him. When someone asked him about Quanah Parker, he didn't know anything about Quanah Parker, but, he he knew a lot about Geronimo. Geronimo has that kind of name recognition.

Geronimo is often referred to as a chief..  Geronimo had followers, but, he never held the lofty position of chief.

Geronimo was a great warrior whose path of resistance wasn't always accepted by the majority of  his own people, nor the people who ruled his country..


























The early Western movie films depicted Geronimo as a blood-thirsty savage who went around killing whole families for no plausible reason. Slowly the movies began to picture him in a more friendly light, until  in the 1993, major motion picture "Geronimo: An American Legend," actor Wes Studi starred as an honorable and largely sympathetic Geronimo.  Historically, the truth about Geronimo is somewhere nearer the middle.

We need to be careful when we are seeking the truth. Whose truth do we want?  Do we want the Native American's Truth or do we want the Army's truth?

Geronimo was brutal.  He was unforgiving.  He would go down into Mexico and kill any Mexican he  met. In the book that he dictated,  Geronimo stated that if he was younger, he would go down to Mexico and kill more Mexicans. How many husbands and fathers might fill the same, if what happened to Geronomo's family, happened to theirs?  Could you EVER forget?  Could you EVER forgive?

A great part of Geronimo's enduring appeal is what he has been able to symbolize something to each generation. You can find just about everything you are looking for in Geronimo - Goyathlay the Chiricahua Apache.

You can use the image or or idea of Geronimo to make him whatever you want him to be, whether it's a hero or a villain.


























Geronimo, 1903.



























Geronimo, 1904, by H. W. Wyman



























Geronimo and his Two nieces.
























Geronimo (2nd from right) passing in review at Teddy Roosevelt Inauguration on March 4, 1905 - Washington DC.


On March 4, 1905, Geronimo he was quite the sensation when he appeared in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade.




















Liittle Plume (Piegan), Buckskin Charley (Southern Ute), Geronimo, Quanah Parker, Hollow Horn Bear and American Horse at Teddy Roosevelt's inaugural parade, 1905.


























Geronimo at Inaugral.


President Roosevelt permits a meeting with Geronimo, who makes a passionate plea for the return of his people to their native Arizona Territory. 



























Geronimo Meets Theodore Roosevelt.


President Theodore Roosevelt denies Geronimo's request, citing a fear of "more war and more bloodshed."



















Geronimo driving a car.


The photograph of Geronimo driving a car was taken on June 11, 1905, at the Miller brothers' 101 Ranch, located southwest of Ponca City, Okla. The car is a Locomobile, and the Indian in full headdress to Geronimo's left is Edward Le Clair Sr., a Ponca Indian. Geronimo so admired Le Clair's beaded vest that it was presented to him later in the day. When Geronimo died in 1909, he was buried in the vest. The photograph was taken during a special 101 Ranch show for the United States. press.  Thousands of newspaper editors and reporters flocked to it.




















Three other photographs of Geronimo from that day. One shows him with several mounted Army soldiers. At the time, Geronimo was still imprisoned at Fort Sill, Okla., and guards accompanied him to the show.

Another photo shows him standing beside a dead buffalo, which he had supposedly just killed, and the picture shows a number of arrows sticking out of the animal's side. The Millers advertised the event as the last buffalo Geronimo killed. Actually it was the first, as buffalo rarely ranged into the Southwest where Geronimo was born and lived - and he didn't kill this one either. Ranch hands had herded it up into bow and arrow range, and, since the arrows were not fatal, one of the cowboys finally shot it in the head with his gun.

The third photo supposedly shows Geronimo skinning the dead buffalo.


"Geronimo's Story of His Life."

In 1906, Lawton Superintendent S. M. Barrett receives permission from President Theodore Roosevelt to interview Geronimo about his life story. Geronimo's words are translated and published in the appropriately titled "Geronimo's Story of His Life."


The following are some remarks that S. M.Barrett.

"Early in October I secured the services of an educated Indian, Asa Deklugie, son of Whoa, chief of the Nedni Apaches, as interpreter, and the work of compiling the book began."

"Geronimo refused to talk when a stenographer was present, or to wait for corrections or questions when telling the story. Each day he had in mind what he would tell and told it in a very clear, brief manner. He might prefer to talk at his own tepee, at Asa Deklugie’s house, in some mountain dell, or as he rode in a swinging gallop across the prairie; wherever his fancy led him, there he told whatever he wished to tell and no more. On the day that he first gave any portion of his autobiography he would not be xxi questioned about any details, nor would he add another word, but simply said, “Write what I have spoken,” and left us to remember and write the story without one bit of assistance. He would agree, however, to come on another day to my study, or any place designated by me, and listen to the reproduction (in Apache) of what had been told, and at such times would answer all questions or add information wherever he could be convinced that it was necessary."

"He soon became so tired of book making that he would have abandoned the task but for the fact that he had agreed to tell the complete story. When he once gives his word, nothing will turn him from fulfilling his promise. A very striking illustration of this was furnished by him early in January, 1906. He had agreed to come to my study on a certain date, but at the appointed hour the interpreter came alone, and said that Geronimo was very sick with cold and fever. He had come to tell me that we must appoint xxii another date, as he feared the old warrior had an attack of pneumonia. It was a cold day and the interpreter drew a chair up to the grate to warm himself after the exposure of the long ride. Just as he was seating himself he looked out of the window, then rose quickly, and without speaking pointed to a rapidly moving object coming our way. In a moment I recognized the old chief riding furiously (evidently trying to arrive as soon as the interpreter did), his horse flecked with foam and reeling from exhaustion. Dismounting he came in and said in a hoarse whisper, “I promised to come. I am here.”

"I explained to him that I had not expected him to come on such a stormy day, and that in his physical condition he must not try to work. He stood for some time, and then without speaking left the room, remounted his tired pony, and with bowed head faced ten long miles of cold north wind—he had kept his promise."

"When xxiii he had finished his story I submitted the manuscript to Major Charles W. Taylor, Eighteenth Cavalry, commandant, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, who gave me some valuable suggestions as to additional related information which I asked Geronimo to give. In most cases the old chief gave the desired information, but in some instances he refused, stating his reasons for so doing."

"When the added information had been incorporated I submitted the manuscript to President Roosevelt, from whose letter I quote: “This is a very interesting volume which you have in manuscript, but I would advise that you disclaim responsibility in all cases where the reputation of an individual is assailed.”

"In accordance with that suggestion, I have appended notes throughout the book disclaiming responsibility for adverse criticisms of any persons mentioned by Geronimo."








































*****

"The initial idea of the compilation of this work was to give the reading public an authentic record of the private life of the Apache Indians, and to extend to Geronimo as a prisoner of war the courtesy due any captive, i.e., the right to state the causes which impelled him in his opposition to our civilization and laws."

"If the Indians’ cause has been properly presented, the captives’ defense clearly stated, and the general store of information regarding vanishing types increased, I shall be satisfied."

"I desire to acknowledge valuable suggestions from Maj. Charles Taylor, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Dr. J. M. Greenwood, Kansas City, Missouri, and President David R. Boyd, of the University of Oklahoma."

"I especially desire in this connection to say that without the kindly advice and assistance of President Theodore Roosevelt this book could not have been written."

"Respectfully,
S. M. Barrett

Lawton, Oklahoma.
August 14, 1906."


















Geronimo, and his interpreter Asa Deklugie





















How the Book was made.


Geronimo dictated his memoirs, published in 1906 as Geronimo's Story of His Life.  From Left to Right: S. M. Barrett, Geronimo, and interpreter Asa Deklugie, son of Whoa, chief of the Nedni Apaches.


The following are some excerpts from the book.

Unwritten Laws of the Apaches

Trials

When an Indian has been wronged by a member of his tribe he may, if he does not wish to settle the difficulty personally, make complaint to the Chieftain. If he is unable to meet the offending parties in a personal encounter, and disdains to make complaint, anyone may in his stead inform the chief of this conduct, and then it becomes necessary to have an investigation or trial. Both the accused and the accuser are entitled to witnesses, and their witnesses are not interrupted in any way by questions, but simply say what they wish to say in regard to the matter. The witnesses are not placed under oath, because it is not believed that they will give false testimony in a matter relating to their own people.

The chief of the tribe presides during these trials, but if it is a serious offense he asks two or three leaders to sit with him. These simply determine whether or not the man is guilty. If he is not guilty the matter is ended, and the complaining party has forfeited his right to take personal vengeance, for if he wishes to take vengeance himself, he must object to the trial which would prevent it. If the accused is found guilty the injured party fixes the penalty, which is generally confirmed by the chief and his associates.


Adoption of Children

If any children are left orphans by the usage of war or otherwise, that is, if both parents are dead, the chief of the tribe may adopt them or give them away as he desires. In the case of outlawed Indians, they may, if they wish, take their children with them, but if they leave the children with the tribe, the chief decides what will be done with them, but no disgrace attaches to the children.
Salt Lake

We obtained our salt from a little lake in the Gila Mountains. This is a very small lake of clear, shallow water, and in the center a small mound arises above the surface of the water. The water is too salty to drink, and the bottom of the lake is covered with a brown crust. When this crust is broken cakes of salt adhere to it. These cakes of salt may be washed clear in the water of this lake, but if washed in other water will dissolve.

When visiting this lake our people were not allowed to even kill game or attack an enemy. All creatures were free to go and come without molestation.
Preparation of a Warrior

To be admitted as a warrior a youth must have gone with the warriors of his tribe four separate times on the war path.

On the first trip he will be given only very inferior food. With this he must be contented without murmuring. On none of the four trips is he allowed to select his food as the warriors do, but must eat such food as he is permitted to have.

On each of these expeditions he acts as servant, cares for the horses, cooks the food, and does whatever duties he should do without being told. He knows what things are to be done, and without waiting to be told is to do them. He is not allowed to speak to any warrior except in answer to questions or when told to speak.

During these four wars he is expected to learn the sacred names of everything used in war, for after the tribe enters upon the war path no common names are used in referring to anything appertaining to war in any way. War is a solemn religious matter.

If, after four expeditions, all the warriors are satisfied that the youth has been industrious, has not spoken out of order, has been discreet in all things, has shown courage in battle, has borne all hardships uncomplainingly, and has exhibited no color of cowardice, or weakness of any kind, he may by vote of the council be admitted as a warrior; but if any warrior objects to him upon any account he will be subjected to further tests, and if he meets these courageously, his name may again be proposed. When he has proven beyond question that he can bear hardships without complaint, and that he is a stranger to fear, he is admitted to the council of the warriors in the lowest rank. After this there is no formal test for promotions, but by common consent he assumes a station on the battlefield, and if that position is maintained with honor, he is allowed to keep it, and may be asked, or may volunteer, to take a higher station, but no warrior would presume to take a higher station unless he had assurance from the leaders of the tribe that his conduct in the first position was worthy of commendation.

From this point upward the only election by the council in formal assembly is the election of the chief.

Old men are not allowed to lead in battle, but their advice is always respected. Old age means loss of physical power and is fatal to active leadership.


Dances

All dances are considered religious ceremonies and are presided over by a chief and medicine men. They are of a social or military nature, but never without some sacred characteristic.


A Dance Of Thanksgiving

Every summer we would gather the fruit of the yucca, grind and pulverize it and mold it into cakes; then the tribe would be assembled to feast, to sing, and to give praises to Usen. Prayers of Thanksgiving were said by all. When the dance began the leaders bore these cakes and added words of praise occasionally to the usual tone sounds of the music.


The War Dance

After a council of the warriors had deliberated, and had prepared for the war path, the dance would be started. In this dance there is the usual singing led by the warriors and accompanied with the beating of the "esadadene," but the dancing is more violent, and yells and war whoops sometimes almost drown the music. Only warriors participated in this dance.


Scalp Dance

After a war party has returned, a modification of the war dance is held. The warriors who have brought scalps from the battles exhibit them to the tribe, and when the dance begins these scalps, elevated on poles or spears, are carried around the camp fires while the dance is in progress. During this dance there is still some of the solemnity of the war dance. There are yells and war-whoops, frequently accompanied by discharge of firearms, but there is always more levity than would be permitted at a war dance. After the scalp dance is over the scalps are thrown away. No Apache would keep them, for they are considered defiling.


A Social Dance

In the early part of September, 1905, I announced among the Apaches that my daughter, Eva, having attained womanhood, should now put away childish things and assume her station as a young lady. At a dance of the tribe she would make her debut, and then, or thereafter, it would be proper for a warrior to seek her hand in marriage. Accordingly, invitations were issued to all Apaches, and many Comanches and Kiowas, to assemble for a grand dance on the green by the south bank of Medicine Creek, near the village of Naiche, former chief of the Chokonen Apaches, on the first night of full moon in September. The festivities were to continue for two days and nights. Nothing was omitted in the preparation that would contribute to the enjoyment of the guests or the perfection of the observance of the religious rite.

To make ready for the dancing the grass on a large circular space was closely mowed.

The singing was led by Chief Naiche, and I, assisted by our medicine men, directed the dance.

First Eva advanced from among the women and danced once around the camp fire; then, accompanied by another young woman, she again advanced and both danced twice around the camp fire; then she and two other young ladies advanced and danced three times around the camp fire; the next time she and three other young ladies advanced and danced four times around the camp fire; this ceremony lasted about one hour. Next the medicine men entered, stripped to the waist, their bodies painted fantastically, and danced the sacred dances. They were followed by clown dancers who amused the audience greatly.

Then the members of the tribe joined hands and danced in a circle around the camp fire for a long time. All the friends of the tribe were asked to take part in this dance, and when it was ended many of the old people retired, and the "lovers' dance" began.

The warriors stood in the middle of the circle and the ladies, two-and-two, danced forward and designated some warrior to dance with them. The dancing was back and forth on a line from the center to the outer edge of the circle. The warrior faced the two ladies, and when they danced forward to the center he danced backward: then they danced backward to the outer edge and he followed facing them. This lasted two or three hours and then the music changed. Immediately the warriors assembled again in the center of the circle, and this time each lady selected a warrior as a partner. The manner of dancing was as before, only two instead of three danced together. During this dance, which continued until daylight, the warrior (if dancing with a maiden) could propose marriage, and if the maiden agreed, he would consult her father soon afterward and make a bargain for her.

Upon all such occasions as this, when the dance is finished, each warrior gives a present to the lady who selected him for a partner and danced with him. If she is satisfied with the present he says good-by, if not, the matter is referred to someone in authority (medicine man or chief), who determines the question of what is a proper gift.

For a married lady the value of the present should be two or three dollars; for a maiden the present should have a value of not less than five dollars. Often, however, the maiden receives a very valuable present.

During the "lovers' dance" the medicine men mingle with the dancers to keep out evil spirits.

Perhaps I shall never again have cause to assemble our people to dance, but these social dances in the moonlight have been a large part of our enjoyment in the past, and I think they will not soon be discontinued, at least I hope not.

*****

Geronimo's Mightiest Battle

AFTER the treachery and massacre of Casa Grande we did not reassemble for a long while and when we did we returned to Arizona. We remained in Arizona for some time, living in San Carlos Reservation, at a place now called Geronimo. In 1883 we went into Mexico again. We remained in the mountain ranges of Mexico for about fourteen months, and during this time we had many skirmishes with Mexican troops. In 1884 we returned to Arizona to get other Apaches to come with us into Mexico. The Mexicans were gathering troops in the mountains where we had been ranging, and their numbers were so much greater than ours that we could not hope to fight them successfully, and we were tired of being chased about from place to place.

In Arizona we had trouble with the United States soldiers and returned to Mexico.

We had lost about fifteen warriors in Arizona, and had gained no recruits. With our reduced number we camped in the mountains north of Arispe. Mexican troops were seen by our scouts in several directions. The United States troops were coming down from the north. We were well armed with guns and supplied with ammunition, but we did not care to be surrounded by the troops of two governments, so we started to move our camp southward.

Geronimo One night we made camp some distance from the mountains by a stream. There was not much water in the stream, but a deep channel was worn through the prairie, and small trees were beginning to grow here and there along the bank of this stream.

In those days we never camped without placing scouts, for we knew that we were liable to be attacked at any time. The next morning just at daybreak our scouts came in, aroused the camp, and notified us that Mexican troops were approaching. Within five minutes the Mexicans began firing on us. We took to the ditches made by the stream, and had the women and children busy digging these deeper. I gave strict orders to waste no ammunition and keep under cover. We killed many Mexicans that day and in turn lost heavily, for the fight lasted all day. Frequently troops would charge at one point, be repulsed then rally and charge at another point.

About noon we began to hear them speaking my name with curses. In the afternoon the general came on the field and the fighting became more furious. I gave orders to my warriors to try to kill all the Mexican officers. About three o'clock the general called all the officers together at the right side of the field. The place where they assembled was not very far from the main stream and a little ditch ran out close to where the officers stood. Cautiously I crawled out this ditch very close to where the council was being held. The general was an old warrior. The wind was blowing in my direction, so that l could hear all he said, and I understood most of it. This is about what he told them:

    "Officers, yonder in those ditches is the red devil Geronimo and his hated band. This must be his last day. Ride on him from both sides of the ditches; kill men, women, and children; take no prisoners; dead Indians are what we want. Do not spare your own men; exterminate this band at any cost; I will post the wounded shoot all deserters; go back to your companies and advance."

Just as the command to go forward was given I took deliberate aim at the general and he fell. In an instant the ground around me was riddled with bullets; but I was untouched. The Apaches had seen. From all along the ditches arose the fierce war-cry of my people. The columns wavered an instant and then swept on; they did not retreat until our fire had destroyed the front ranks.

After this their fighting was not so fierce, yet they continued to rally and readvance until dark. They also continued to speak my name with threats and curses. That night before the firing had ceased a dozen Indians had crawled out of the ditches and set fire to the long prairie grass behind the Mexican troops. During the confusion that followed we escaped to the mountains.

This was the last battle that I ever fought with Mexicans. United States troops were trailing us continually from this time until the treaty was made with General Miles in Skeleton Canyon.

During my many wars with the Mexicans I received eight wounds, as follows: shot in the right leg above the knee, and still carry the bullet; shot through the left forearm; wounded in the right leg below the knee with a saber; wounded on top of the head with the butt of a musket; shot just below the outer corner of the left eye; shot in left side, shot in the back. I have killed many Mexicans; I do not know how many, for frequently I did not count them. Some of them were not worth counting.

It has been a long time since then, but still I have no love for the Mexicans. With me they were always treacherous and malicious. I am old now and shall never go on the warpath again, but if I were young, and followed the warpath, it would lead into Old Mexico


Hopes for the Future

I am thankful that the President Of the United States has given me permission to tell my story. I hope that he and those in authority under him will read my story and judge whether my people have been rightly treated.

There is a great question between the Apache and the Government. For twenty years we have been held prisoners of war under a treaty which was made with General Miles, on the part of the United States Government, and myself as the representative of the Apaches. That treaty has not at all times been properly observed by the Government, although at the present time it is being more nearly fulfilled on their part the heretofore. In the treaty with General Miles we agreed to go to a place outside of Arizona and learn to live as the white people do. I think that my people are now capable of living in accordance with the laws of the United States, and we would, of course, like to have the liberty to return to that land which is ours by divine right. We are reduced in numbers, and having learned how to cultivate the soil would not require so much ground as was formerly necessary. We do not ask all of the land which the Almighty gave us in the beginning, but that we may have sufficient lands there to cultivate. What we do not need we are glad for the white men to cultivate.

We are now held on Comanche and Kiowa lands, which are not suited to our needs- these lands and this climate are suited to the Indians who originally inhabited this country, of course, but our people are decreasing in numbers here, and will continue to decrease unless they are allowed to return to their native land. Such a result is inevitable.

There is no climate or soil which, to my mind, is equal to that of Arizona. We could have plenty of good cultivating land, plenty of grass, plenty of timber and plenty of minerals in that land which the Almighty created for the Apaches. It is my land, my home, my fathers' land, to which I now ask to be allowed to return. I want to spend my last days there, and be buried among those mountains. If this could be I might die in peace, feeling that my people, placed in their native homes, would increase in numbers, rather than diminish as at present, and that our name would not become extinct.

I know that if my people were placed in that mountainous region lying around the head waters of the Gila River they would live in peace and act according to the will of the President. They would be prosperous and happy in tilling the soil and learning the civilization of the white men, whom they now respect. Could I but see this accomplished, I think I could forget all the wrongs that I have ever received, and die a contented and happy old man. But we can do nothing in this matter ourselves- we must wait until those in authority choose to act. If this cannot be done during my lifetime- if I must die in bondage- I hope that the remnant of the Apache tribe may, when I am gone, be granted the one privilege which they request- to return to Arizona.


Religion

In our primitive worship only our relations to Usen and the members of our tribe were considered as appertaining to our religious responsibilities. As to the future state, the teachings of our tribe were not specific, that is, we had no definite idea of our relations and surroundings in after life. We believed that there is a life after this one, but no one ever told me as to what part of man lived after death. I have seen many men die; I have seen many human bodies decayed, but I have never seen that part which is called the spirit; I do not know what it is; nor have I yet been able to understand that part of the Christian religion. We held that the discharge of one's duty would make his future life more pleasant, but whether that future life was worse than this life or better, we did not know, and no one was able to tell us. We hoped that in the future life family and tribal relations would be resumed. In a way we believed this, but we did not know it.

Once when living in San Carlos Reservation an Indian told me that while lying unconscious on the battlefield he had actually been dead, and had passed into the spirit land.

First he came to a mulberry tree growing out from a cave in the ground. Before this cave a guard was stationed, but when he approached without fear the guard let him pass. He descended into the cave, and a little way back the path widened and terminated in a perpendicular rock many hundreds of feet wide and equal in height. There was not much light, but by peering directly beneath him he discovered a pile of sand reaching from the depths below to within twenty feet of the top of the rock where he stood. Holding to a bush, he swung off from the edge of the rock and dropped onto the sand, sliding rapidly down its steep side into the darkness. He landed in a narrow passage running due westward through a canyon which gradually grew lighter and lighter until he could see as well as if it had been daylight; but there was no sun. Finally he came to a section of this passage that was wider for a short distance, and then closing abruptly continued in a narrow path; just where this section narrowed two huge serpents were coiled, and rearing their heads, hissed at him as he approached, but he showed no fear, and as soon as he came close to them they withdrew quietly and let him pass. At the next place, where the passage opened into a wider section, were two grizzly bears prepared to attack him, but when he approached and spoke to them they stood aside and he passed unharmed. He continued to follow the narrow passage, and the third time it widened and two mountain lions crouched in the way, but when he had approached them without fear and had spoken to them they also withdrew. He again entered the narrow passage. For some time he followed this emerging into a fourth section beyond which he could see nothing: the further walls of this section were clashing together at regular intervals with tremendous sounds, but when he approached them they stood apart until he had passed. After this he seemed to be in a forest, and following the natural draws which led westward soon came into a green valley where there were many Indians camped and plenty of game. He said that he saw and recognized many whom he had known in this life, and that he was sorry when he was brought back to consciousness.

I told him if I knew this to be true I would not want to live another day, but by some means, if by my own hands, I would die in order to enjoy these pleasures. I myself have lain unconscious on the battlefield, and while in that condition have had some strange thoughts or experiences; but they are very dim and I cannot recall them well enough to relate them. Many Indians believed this warrior, and I cannot say that he did not tell the truth. I wish I knew that what he said is beyond question true. But perhaps it is as well that we are not certain.

Since my life as a prisoner has begun I have heard the teachings of the white man's religion, and in many respects believe it to be better than the religion of my fathers. However, I have always prayed, and I believe that the Almighty has always protected me.

Believing that in a wise way it is good to go to church, and that associating with Christians would improve my character, I have adopted the Christian religion. I believe that the church has helped me much during the short time I have been a member. I am not ashamed to be a Christian, and I am glad to know that the President of the United States is a Christian, for without the help of the Almighty I do not think he could rightly judge in ruling so many people. I have advised all of my people who are not Christians, to study that religion, because it seems to me the best religion in enabling one to live right.

*****



























Geronimo appeared at numerous fairs, selling souvenirs and photographs of himself. In 1904, Geronimo appears at the St. Louis World's Fair.





































Later, with the United States Government's approval, Geronimo spent a year with a Wild West show and appeared in Omaha, and Buffalo, New York.


























Never having seen his homeland of Arizona again, Geronimo died of pneumonia on February 17, 1909. Two days before, he had fallen from his horse, while he was drunk. He lay overnight in a puddle where he fell. He had reached the age of 89.


















Geronimo was buried in the Apache cemetery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.


To the day of Geronimo's death, in 1909, Arizona has never considered him safe enough to let him set foot in his homeland again. It made no difference to them, that the United States Government promised him if he surrendered, that after he served his prison sentence HE COULD RETURN TO ARIZONA.



























Geronimo by Lee Reedy.


Geronimo was one of my heroes when I was a young boy. Over the years I have done much reading about him, and the research that has been done on the Chiracahua Apache Medicine Man called Geronimo.  Now that I am an old man with a better understanding, he is still one of my heroes today


























"When a child my mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we ourselves took vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not care for the petty quarrels of men." - Geronimo [Goyathlay], Chiracahua Apache



Geronimo was one of the leaders in one of  the most famous Native American resistance in American History. It cost the United States Government over $40 Million dollars to kill 100 Native American Indians. After 10 years Geronimo was caught and forced to live in Florida where many of the Apaches died.

Geronimo died in captivity, in 1909, in Oklahoma. This was far away from his mountain home.  The United States Government NEVER Kept It's Promises that it made to Geronimo.








































Quotations From Geronimo

"When a child, my mother taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom and protection. Sometimes we prayed in silence, sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us... and to Usen."

"I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say."

"I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."


"I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes.  I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me.  Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling."

"The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other."


Some Observations From His Former Adversaries

General. Miles writes: "Every one at Washington had now become convinced that there was no good in the old chief, and he was, in fact, one of the lowest and most cruel of the savages of the American continent." The people of the West demanded that he be not allowed to go back to the reservation. He and his bucks were accordingly sent to Fort Pickens and the squaws and papooses to Fort Marion, Florida. It was finally decided to keep Geronimo confined as a prisoner of war. His desire to get back to the West was so pitiful, however, that he was transferred to Fort Sill, where he spent the remainder of his days.

General Wood tells an interesting anecdote of an incident which occurred one afternoon when he was guarding the old chief while Lawton went in search of his command, the location of which he had lost soon after the surrender: "About 2 o'clock in the afternoon the old Indian came to me and asked to see my rifle. It was a Hotchkiss, and he said he had never seen its mechanism. When he asked me for the gun and some ammunition I must confess I felt a little nervous, for I thought it might be a device to get hold of one of our weapons. I made no objection, however, and let him have it, showing him how to use it. He fired at a mark, just missing one of his own men who was passing. This he regarded as a great joke, rolling on the ground and laughing heartily and shouting, 'Good gun.'"

Geneneral. Miles, in his memoirs, describes his first impression of Geronimo when he was brought into camp by Lawton, thus: "He was one of the brightest, most resolute, determined- looking men that I have ever encountered. He had the clearest, sharpest dark eyes I think I have ever seen, unless it was that of General Sherman."


























Geronimo,Home Again!


With the heart piercing shout of "Geronimo", the United States paratroopers plummet from their troop-carrying aircraft.  The cry recalls the fiery spirit of the last and most feared of Apache war leaders. Geronimo fought beside Cochise, Victorio, and Mangas Coloradas,  but, long after these bold chieftains had passed from the scene, the very mention of Geronimo's name spread panic in the frontier settlements of the Southwest.




The Apache Today

Today the Apache occupy reservations in New Mexico and Arizona, with some Chiricahua, Lipan, and Kiowa Apache in Oklahoma. In 1680 the Apache population was estimated at 5,000, in 1989 it was estimated at about 30,000, of whom most lived on reservations. While accommodating to changed economic conditions, the Apache on reservations have maintained much of their traditional, social and ritual activities.