During the years of to raids and retaliation had become the normal way life between the Apaches and Mexicans and later Apaches and Americans. Raids consisted of stealing livestock for economic purposes, and the capture and killing of victims from all sides.
Geronimo established a strong resistance to his many enemies that lasted for over 30 years. His relentless fighting power earned him notoriety of the worst kind among some of his own people the Chiricahua tribe, and also Mexican and US military. Geronimo eventually did surrender in , and was held prisoner of war in camps located in Florida, Alabama and lastly Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
In his later years Geronimo converted to Christianity, because he thought it was a better religion than his own. At one point, Geronimo had one quarter of the entire United States Army chasing him — and when he was finally caught, he was the last Native leader to formally surrender to the federal government.
War was all he knew. Even as a child, Geronimo had a bounty on his scalp, which was worth 25 pesos to the Mexican government. Apache people of the Southwest were surrounded by colonial European invaders who wanted their land. They had to defend themselves from the Mexican army to the south and the U. He was also a medicine man and a good hunter who provided for his family.
Few ask why he fought so hard. The first great outrage came with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in at the end of the Mexican-American war. I will guide your arrows.
In the tradition of the Apache, he set fire to his family's belongings and then, in a show of grief, headed into the wilderness to bereave the deaths. There, it is said, alone and crying, a voice came to Geronimo that promised him: "No gun will ever kill you.
I will take the bullets from the guns of the Mexicans … and I will guide your arrows. Backed by this sudden knowledge of power, Geronimo rounded up a force of men and hunted down the Mexican soldiers who killed his family.
It went on like this for 10 years, as Geronimo exacted revenge against the Mexican government. Beginning in the s, the face of his enemy changed. Following the end of the Mexican-American War in , the United States took over large tracts of territory from Mexico, including areas belonging to the Apache.
Spurred by the discovery of gold in the Southwest, settlers and miners streamed into their lands. Naturally, tensions mounted and the Apaches stepped up their attacks, which included brutal ambushes on stagecoaches and wagon trains. But the Chiricahua leader, Geronimo's father-in-law, Cochise, could see where the future was headed. In an act that greatly disappointed his son-in-law, the revered chief called a halt to his decade-long war with the Americans and agreed to the establishment of a reservation for his people on a prized piece of Apache property.
But within just a few years, Cochise died, and the federal government reneged on its agreement, moving the Chiricahua north so that settlers could move into their former lands. This act only further incensed Geronimo, setting off a new round of fighting.
Geronimo proved to be as elusive as he was aggressive. However, authorities finally caught up with him in and sent him to the San Carlos Apache reservation. For four long years, he struggled with his new reservation life, finally escaping in September In one incident described by Apache Jason Betzinez, a few warriors were sitting around a campfire during a raiding expedition when Geronimo suddenly had a premonition that U.
On May 17, , Geronimo and some Apache men, women and children took flight from their reservation for the final time. The famed warrior was then in his 60s, but he remained as determined as ever, often pushing his group to cover as much as 70 miles per day to avoid the American cavalry and Apache scouts on their trail. They nearly surrendered in March , but Geronimo and 40 followers reneged on the agreement at the last minute and escaped under cover darkness. Soon, the Indians were being pursued by 5, U.
Geronimo was able elude both forces for over five months, but by August, he and his followers had grown weary of life on the run. In laying down his arms, he became the last Indian leader to formally surrender to the United States military. Following their surrender, Geronimo and the Chiricahuas—including the Apache army scouts that had helped catch him—were condemned to manual labor at army camps in Florida.
As the years passed, Geronimo busied himself with farming and cashed in on his growing celebrity by selling autographs and peddling walking sticks, bows and other items to American tourists. Five days later, the Indians got a chance to speak to Roosevelt in person at the White House.
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