Geronimo Info Page
Click - Geronimo's, Story of His Life - Book Index
Geronimo; The About Page
Geronimo, a Mexican Nickname; Goyathlay, "one-who-yawns", His given name; - Geronimo (jərŏn'əmō'), c.1829–1909, freedom fighter and leader of a Chiricahua group of Native Americans "Apaches." It was the Mexicans who called him Geronimo; the Spanish equivalent for the name Jerome.
The Difference Between Fact and Fiction:
The real Geronimo was born in 1829 in what is now Arizona. He lived peaceably until Mexicans killed his wife, mother, and children in 1858. In retaliation, he led raids against both Mexican and American settlers and then settled on a reservation. In 1876, when the U.S. government tried to move the Chiricahua to New Mexico, he took up arms again and continued his occasional raids until 1887 when he was finally captured and relocated to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He took up farming, converted to Christianity, and became such a public figure that he was in the inaugural parade for President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Geronimo's Story of His Life, was published in 1906, three years before his death and was a best seller.
Coincidentally, General Henry Ware Lawton who under General Nelson A. Miles led the expedition that eventually captured Geronimo, was killed by another Geronimo, the Filipino insurgent Licerio Geronimo during the Philippine-American skirmishes a few years afterwards.
This section of the website is "Geronimo's, Story of His Life." It is very well organized for your reference and study. I hope it will enlighten you to the truth about Geronimo and the injustices done to Native Americans. Their beliefs, their stories, and their reverence for life can give great inspiration and assist mankind in shaping a better tomorrow.
Geronimo, Encyclopedia Style:
Geronimo (jərŏn'əmō'), c.1829–1909, leader of a Chiricahua group of the Apaches, b. Arizona. As a youth he participated in the forays of Cochise, Victorio, and other Apache leaders. When the Chiricahua Reservation was abolished (1876) and the Apaches removed to the arid San Carlos Agency in New Mexico, Geronimo led a group of followers into Mexico. He was soon captured and returned to the new reservation, where he farmed for a while. In 1881 he escaped again with a group (including a son of Cochise) and led raids in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. He surrendered (1883) to forces under Gen. George Crook and was returned to the reservation. In 1885 he again left, and after almost a year of war he agreed to surrender to Crook, but at the last minute Geronimo fled. His escape led to censure of Crook's policy. Late in 1886, Geronimo and the remainder of his forces surrendered to Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles, Crook's successor. They were deported as prisoners of war to Florida; contrary to an agreement, they were not allowed to take their families with them. After a further period in prison in Alabama, Geronimo was placed under military confinement at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he settled down, adopted Christianity, and became a prosperous farmer. Geronimo became a national celebrity when he appeared at the St. Louis World's Fair and in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural procession. He dictated his autobiography to S. M. Barrett in 1906.
Geronimo! As Yelled While Jumping or as a Battle Cry:
Leaping from airplanes and landing on the battlefields of World War II the U.S. Army paratroopers shouted Geronimo! How is it that "Geronimo!" sometimes followed by an Indian war whoop became the battle cry of American paratroopers?
It was a movie called "Geronimo" that paratroopers had watched as they were beginning their training in 1940. The 1939 movie depicts Geronimo the chief of the Chiricahua Apache tribe as a bloodthirsty villain. Geronimo was portrayed by the actor "Chief Thundercloud." In the movie, Geronimo is an Apache whose sole delight is found in the slaughtering of white people; preferably defenseless women and children. Cinebooks' Motion Picture Guide says the actor "Chief Thundercloud" had only one expression -- "murderous." Obviously, if this was a true portrayal, Geronimo would not have been in President Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural procession, and he would not have lived to enjoy his best selling book "Geronimo's, Story of His Life."
Back in 1940, however, it was the vicious portrayal of warrior Geronimo in the (1939) film who became the idol of the paratroopers. It is said that Aubrey Eberhardt, a member of the first platoon testing methods of air drops in 1940, was inspired by the movie to announce that he would shout "Geronimo" as he jumped the next day. He did this and his shout was beard on the ground. The rest of the paratroopers followed suit and adopted "Geronimo" as their call to arms.
Geronimo's Book Section:
In this section of the website is contained "Geronimo's, Story of His Life." You will find the chapter titles by placing your mouse pointer over the buttons to the left or going to the index page for a more visual layout. Each page is a chapter of the book.
Go to: Apache Geronimo Book Index
