The popular image of Apaches, alas, probably remains one of squat primitives. In fact, Apaches could be (a) huge, like the terrifying Mangas Colorado, (b) ridiculously handsome, like the tasty army scout Peaches. Apaches are now seen as victims: they were singled out by the Spanish for persecution, they only fought for their land, etc. While this is true, it has to be said that the memoirs of Apache life that we have – such as Jason Betzinez’s I Fought with Geronimo (1959) – portray a culture of remarkable violence. The various Apache bands were also riven by inter-clan feuding, and military expeditions always found Apache recruits eager to help attack rival bands.
Born c. 1829, Geronimo’s original name was Goyathlay, ‘The Yawner’: the name ‘Geronimo’ is said to derive from frightened Mexicans invoking St Jerome when he attacked (his first wife and children were killed by Mexicans). Apache agent John Clum described him in his prime as ‘erect as a mountain pine. . . his stern features, his keen piercing eye, and his proud and graceful posture combined to create in him the model of an Apache war-chief’. By 1886, Geronimo had fought for about 40 years: he and his band of 30-odd warriors were being pursued by a quarter of the American army, about 5000 soldiers. He sued for peace, and met General Crook under truce. Crook had a photographer with him, and the resultant photographs (google them) are the only known ones of Apaches dressed to kill.
The meeting did not end well. Geronimo ran off and peace negotiations stalled. He finally surrendered to Crook’s replacement, General Miles, with whom Geronimo had a cautiously staged encounter. Miles, says Geronimo, ’told me how we could be brothers to each other. We raised our hands to heaven and said that the treaty was not to be broken. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other’. In truth, of course, neither trusted the other. Miles had brought Geronimo to heel with the new technology of heliograph signalling, and both were well aware this was the end game. Miles described Geronimo as having the ‘clearest, sharpest, dark eye I think I have ever seen, unless it was that of General Sherman when he was at the prime of life. . . Every movement indicated power, energy and determination. In everything he did he had a purpose’. Said Miles to the old warrior: ‘I will take you under Government protection; I will build you a house. . . I will give you cattle, horses, mules, and farming implements. You will be furnished with men to work the farm, for you yourself will not have to work. . . If you agree to this treaty you shall see your family within five days.’ Geronimo’s response was blunt: ‘sounds like a story to me’.
What Happened Next
Geronimo was a dreadful whinger, always complaining, even when he was clearly in the wrong, but the subsequent treatment of his band was very poor: they were deported to Florida and eventually ended up in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Geronimo became much in demand at fairs, where he sold his autograph, and rode with Quanah Parker and other Indian chiefs at Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration in 1905 (Roosevelt met the chiefs and gave them ‘wholesome advice’). Geronimo died in 1909 after a drunken fall. For collectors of intriguing names, he had a son called Robbie, a brother called Fatty, and a warrior called Fun (who shot himself).