Geronimo

Who was Geronimo?

Geronimo was a prominent leader of the Bedonkohe Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a battle with Mexican soldiers. Geronimo's Chiricahua name is often rendered as Goyathlay or Goyahkla in English.

After a Mexican attack on his tribe, where soldiers killed his mother, wife, and his three children in 1851, Geronimo joined a number of revenge attacks against the Mexicans. During his career as a war chief, he was notorious for consistently leading raids upon Mexican provinces and towns, and later against Anglo settlements across Arizona, New Mexico and Western Texas.

In 1886, after a lengthy pursuit, Geronimo surrendered to US authorities as a prisoner of war. At an old age, he became a celebrity; appearing in fairs but was never allowed to return to the land of his birth. He later regretted his surrender and claimed that the US government had broken the promises made to secure it. Geronimo died in 1909 from complications of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.