On horseback, Geronimo led his band through the mountain and desert vastness of the Southwest. He was able to cover vast distances, and to find water where none seemed to exist.
On horseback, Geronimo led his band through the mountain and desert vastness of the Southwest. He was able to cover vast distances, and to find water where none seemed to exist.
After the massacre at Janos, Geronimo’s band fled north. For two days and three nights they did not stop. When they reached the border, they rested. A few days later, Geronimo reached his home. He saw Alope’s paintings on the tipi. His children’s toys lay scattered inside. Geronimo burned his tipi, and all that was in it.
One day, he left his village alone. He sat with his head bowed, weeping. He heard a voice call his name four times. (Four is the magical Apache number.) The voice said, “No gun can ever kill you. I will take the bullets from the guns of the Mexicans. I will guide your arrows.”1 Geronimo knew he had received a special power. All his life, he had faith in his power. He would receive many wounds. None were fatal.
A year later, in 1859, the Apaches were ready to strike back. Geronimo talked to three bands. Each agreed to go on the warpath. Mangas Coloradas (Red Sleeves) would lead the Bedonkohe. Others would follow Cochise and Juh. The warriors applied war paint to their faces. War bands held back their hair. They blackened their knives with soot.
The warriors traveled with light loads. Each wore moccasins and a cloth that doubled as a blanket. They carried only their weapons and three days’ food. Geronimo guided the warriors through the mountains and valleys. They avoided roads and trails.
Once in Sonora, the war party bypassed many small towns. Outside Arispe, the Apaches killed eight men. They hoped this would draw the soldiers out of the city. The Apaches would be waiting. That night, the Apaches captured a supply train. It provided needed guns and supplies.
The next morning, four companies of soldiers came out. Geronimo recognized them as the soldiers who had killed his family. He told this to the chiefs. They allowed him to direct the battle. Geronimo arranged the Apaches in a crescent. They lay hidden in timber. The Mexicans advanced and opened fire. Geronimo sent warriors to attack the Mexican Army at their rear. At the same time, he led a frontal attack.
The rider is arriving at an Arizona ranch. He warns that the Apaches are about to attack. The artist Frederic Remington traveled to Arizona to cover the campaign against Geronimo.
The battle was almost over. Geronimo and three others stood in the center of the field. His arrows were all gone. His spears had broken off in the bodies of the dead. Geronimo fought with his knife and bare hands. He recalled:
Two armed soldiers came upon us from another part of the field. They shot down two of our men. We, the remaining two, fled toward our own warriors. My companion was struck down by a saber. I reached our warriors, seized a spear, and turned. The one who pursued me missed his aim and fell by my spear. With his saber, I met the trooper who had killed my companion. We grappled and fell. I killed him with my knife and quickly rose over his body. I brandished his saber, seeking for other troopers to kill. There were none.2
In the two hour battle, the Apaches had killed all the Mexican troops. Geronimo said, “I could not call back my loved ones. I could not bring back the dead Apaches. But I could rejoice in this revenge.”3