What type of leader was geronimo

Without his precious family, Geronimo negotiated a surrender with Lieutenant Charles Gatewood and two Apache scouts, one of whom was the famous Chatto, and three days later, on 8 September , he was on his way toward Florida, where he thought he would be allowed to rejoin his family. Instead, he was once again betrayed. He was sent to Fort Pickens at Pensacola, and it was several more months before his family would be allowed to join him. The local citizens in Arizona, who had lived the horror of the death and destruction which Geronimo had wreaked upon them for so long, were only too glad to see the Chiricahuas sent away.

According to General Nelson Miles, who had put 5, soldiers, almost as many civilian irregulars, and hundreds of Apache scouts after Geronimo and his 24 warriors without even the smallest smidgen of success, if Geronimo had elected to remain in his mountain fortress, the Army would never have caught him.

Again, Geronimo was betrayed. Conditions were so severe that by the end of the year, two men, ten women, and nine children were dead and more were dying.

Through the efforts of General George Crook, John Clum, and other white men who sympathized with the Apache plight, some of the Apaches were allowed to return to San Carlos, but not Geronimo and his Chiricahuas.

They remained in Alabama until a curious reversal of an ancient relationship set them on the journey to Fort Sill, Oklahoma in October The remnants of the Chiricahuas arrived in January By this time, there were only of them left. I miss them too. I want to go back to them. But the men and women who live in Arizona, they do not miss you…. Folks in Arizona sleep now at night, have no fear that Geronimo will come and kill them. An old man by the time he arrived in Oklahoma, Geronimo was still a formidable person.

Although a prisoner of war, he was not kept in the guardhouse, except when he became drunk and disorderly. He had photographs made of himself which he sold for 50 cents, and he also sold the buttons off his clothing for a quarter, carrying a button case around with him so he could attach new buttons at night. His autograph would often fetch a dollar. He became a living legend with as many stories told about his exploits as Billy the Kid or Jesse James.

For four long years, he struggled with his new reservation life, finally escaping in September Out on his own again, Geronimo and a small band of Chiricahua followers eluded American troops. Over the next five years, they engaged in what proved to be the last of the Indian wars against the United States. Perceptions of Geronimo were nearly as complex as the man himself. His followers viewed him as the last great defender of the Native American way of life.

But others, including fellow Apaches, saw him as a stubborn holdout, violently driven by revenge and foolishly putting the lives of people in danger. With his followers in tow, Geronimo shot across the Southwest. As he did, the seemingly mystical leader was transformed into a legend as newspapers closely followed the Army's pursuit of him.

At one point nearly a quarter of the Army's forces — 5, troops — were trying to hunt him down. Finally, in the summer of , he surrendered, the last Chiricahua to do so. Over the next several years Geronimo and his people were bounced around, first to a prison in Florida, then a prison camp in Alabama and then Fort Sill in Oklahoma. In total, the group spent 27 years as prisoners of war. While he and the rest of the Chiricahua remained under guard, Geronimo experienced a bit of celebrity from his white former enemies.

Less than a decade after he'd surrendered, crowds longed to catch a glimpse of the famous Indian warrior. In , he published his autobiography, and that same year he received a private audience with President Theodore Roosevelt, unsuccessfully pressing the American leader to let his people return to Arizona. His death came four years later. For more than years, as Europeans sought to control newly settled American land, wars raged between Native Americans and the frontiersmen who encroached on their territory, resources and trade.

Known as the American Indian Wars, the conflicts involved Indigenous people, the The Indian reservation system established tracts of land called reservations for Native Americans to live on as white settlers took over their land. The main goals of Indian reservations were to bring Native Americans under U. In fact, Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Siege of Wounded Knee. Woodrow Wilson Addresses Native Americans.

The Last of the Sioux. How Geronimo Eluded Death and Capture for 25 Years In the summer of , the legendary Apache medicine man and guerrilla warrior Geronimo was being pursued across hostile desert terrain by nearly a quarter of the standing United States Army.

Native American History Timeline Long before Christopher Columbus stepped foot on what would come to be known as the Americas, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Sitting Bull Sitting Bull c. Online Exhibits. Search Online Exhibits Search. Share this Exhibit: Tweet. Exhibit Contents. Resources about Geronimo: Geronimo.

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