Geronimo Biography
Geronimo Biography:Geronimo (1829-1909) was an Apache leader and medicine man best known for his fearlessness in resisting anyone–Mexican or American—who attempted to remove his people from their tribal lands.
He repeatedly evaded capture and life on a reservation, and during his final escape, a full quarter of the U.S. standing army pursued him and his followers. When Geronimo was captured on September 4, 1886, he was the last Native American leader to formally surrender to the U.S. military. He spent the last 23 years of his life as a prisoner of war.
Geronimo Early Life and Education
Geronimo was born in the upper Gila River country on June 16, 1829 (there is debate over whether his birthplace is in present-day Arizona or New Mexico). His birth name was Goyahkla, or “one who yawns.” He was part of the Bedonkohe subsection of the Chiricahua tribe of Apaches, a small but mighty group of around 8,000 people. By the time he came of age, the Apaches were at war with Mexicans to the South, the U.S. government to the North and neighboring Comanche and Navajo tribes. He showed early promise as a hunter and led four successful raids on nearby tribes by age 17.
Personal tragedy shaped his lifelong hatred for anyone who attempted to subject him or his people. While he was away on a trading trip in 1851, Mexican soldiers led by Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco attacked his family’s camp. Geronimo’s wife, Alope, their three children and his mother were all murdered.
Geronimo Career
Geronimo (1829-1909) was an Apache leader and medicine man best known for his fearlessness in resisting anyone–Mexican or American—who attempted to remove his people from their tribal lands.
He repeatedly evaded capture and life on a reservation, and during his final escape, a full quarter of the U.S. standing army pursued him and his followers. When Geronimo was captured on September 4, 1886, he was the last Native American leader to formally surrender to the U.S. military. He spent the last 23 years of his life as a prisoner of war.
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Geronimo Personal Life
around the age of seventeen, Geronimo became an Apache warrior. As a warrior he could get married. Geronimo was in love with a young girl named Alope from a nearby village. He presented Alope’s father with a number of horses that he had taken in a raid and her father allowed them to get married. Over the next few years they had three children together.
Geronimo Death
Geronimo died of pneumonia at Fort Sill on February 17, 1909. He is buried in Beef Creek Apache Cemetery in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.