Geronimo, a member of the Apache tribe, was born in Arizona while it was still under the control of Mexico. He didn't like the Mexicans (they killed his mother, wife, and kids) but he also didn't like the Americans. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 turned over the lands Geronimo lived on to the United States. The Americans planned to change the old patterns used by Apache tribes and disrupted the area severely with their ranches and houses. Then, the Americans started to decide where the Apache could live. Initially, the Apache were allowed to stay on some of their former lands, but in the mid-1870's they were forcibly moved to the San Carlos reservation with other Apache Tribes.
Geronimo didn't like this at all, and so he began his frequent escapes. For 10 years he broke out of the San Carlos reservation with his followers over and over. The US government had trouble locating him because of the superior geographic knowledge of the Apache. The US army tried but they couldn't keep Geronimo in. This became a major embarrassment for the United States. Reports or his escaped and his killings of Mexicans and Americans were put in territorial newspapers and people began to fear him.
It took until 1886 for Geronimo to make his final surrender. He was incarcerated (along with about 400 of his followers) in various forts. Geronimo himself spent 14 years at Fort Still and died there, still incarcerated.
Geronimo was viewed by his followers as a defender of the Native American way of life. However, not everyone saw him as such. Some of his fellow Apache thought he was putting the lives of others in danger as he tried to get revenge. Despite this, Geronimo is still considered to be one of the most important Native American leaders.
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/political-figure/geronimo
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/geronimo
https://www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo
I really liked your concision in stating the important facts to Geronimo's life. After doing a little further research, I found that Geronimo was actually the last Indian warrior to surrender to the US army, being praised by others as the "symbol of the untamed freedom of the American West." Geronimo's success could be attributed not just to his strength and endurance, but also his superior leadership skills. With just 39 other Apache warriors, Geronimo and his army ran as much as 80 miles a day through their familiar mountain ranges in order to stay hidden from the fifty hundred American soldiers chasing them. After finally being captured, the Americans, not surprisingly, violated the previous terms of surrender and forced Geronimo to labor and scout for the US Army. I believe that your blog not only hinted upon the resilience of American Indians in their struggles against the settlers, but also showed the injustices against them throughout American history.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/native-history-geronimo-is-last-native-warrior-to-surrender-er-q0d6DLk-jSVpeZojDfg/