For nearly 30 years, Geronimo, the most cunning and formidable Apache warrior of his era, had fought against the whites who encroached upon his homeland, ultimately surrendering in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on this day in 1886.
Referred to as Goyalkla, meaning “One Who Yawns,” among the Apache, most non-Indians recognized him by his Spanish moniker, Geronimo. During his youth, Mexican soldiers had brutally attacked his village in Chihuahua, Mexico, resulting in the murder of his wife and children. Although Geronimo later remarried and had more children, the pain from that early loss instilled a deep-seated animosity towards Mexicans within him.
In the border regions surrounding Mexico’s Sierra Madre, as well as southern Arizona and New Mexico, Geronimo and a band of 50 Apache warriors managed to keep white settlers from invading Apache territories for many decades. Despite never learning to wield a gun himself, he equipped his men with the finest modern rifles available and even employed field glasses for reconnaissance during his campaigns.
A brilliant tactician, Geronimo effectively utilized the Apache’s understanding of the arid desert landscape to his advantage. For years, he and his warriors successfully eluded two of the U.S. Army’s most skilled Indian fighters, General George Crook and General Nelson A. Miles.
However, by 1886, the legendary Apache warrior had grown weary of conflict, and further resistance began to seem increasingly futile… there were simply too many whites and too few Apaches left. On September 4, 1886, Geronimo surrendered to Miles, marking the end of an era as he became the last American Indian warrior in history to officially submit to the United States.
Following several years of imprisonment, he was eventually granted his freedom and relocated to Oklahoma, where he embraced Christianity and became a prosperous farmer. He occasionally served as a scout and advisor to the U.S. Army as well.
Reincarnated as a romanticized emblem of the rapidly fading Wild West, he gained fame as a celebrity at world fairs and expositions, even participating in President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade in 1905. Geronimo passed away at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1909, still receiving a paycheck as an army scout.
