GERONIMO IN MEXICO: “A summation”

Most of us know of the Apache leader Geronimo but most of what most of us know we learned at the movies.  Leader of the Chiricahua Apaches, Geronimo led the fight against the expansion into Apache tribal lands by the United States during the Apache Wars.  But you knew that much from the movies.  It is true that the greatest wrongs that were visited upon the Apaches were from the United States government.  But the history of Geronimo’s war parties started in Mexico…and we have spent the last few months publishing our adaptation of Geronimo’s own recollections.  As we conclude our study of Geronimo in Mexico, we look at his name, his power and his injuries.

Geronimo was born on June 16, 1829, a birth date he gave himself, near Turkey Creek; a tributary of the Gila River, in what is now the western part of the state of New Mexico.  It was in Old Mexico then but in reality it was Bedonkohe land.  He was given the name, “One Who Yawns,” or Goyathlay in English (often Gokhlayeh or Goyahkla and spelled Goyaałé in the Chiricahua dictionary).  In more recent times, the Fort Sill (Oklahoma) Apaches have suggested that his birth name meant, “Intelligent, shrewd, clever.”

Goyathlay became exceedingly fierce and unafraid in his war against the Mexicans.  It was his Mexican adversaries who gave Goyathlay the nickname of "Geronimo." It is said that Goyathlay was given the name Geronimo (Jerome) by Mexican soldiers because of the daring feats he performed.  Few historians agree to the reasons but it is said that each time they saw him the Mexican soldiers would cry out in terror, "Cuidado!  Geronimo!"  In one battle, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets and armed only with a knife, Goyathlay repeatedly attacked and stabbed the Mexicans, purportedly causing them to call out supplications to Saint Jerome, allegedly the Patron Saint of the Mexican Army.  Although in the Roman Catholic Church, Jerome is recognized as the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists, he did write quite a bit about the horrors of hell and perhaps it was in this context that the Mexicans were asking for Saint Jerome’s aid.

          Geronimo attributed his numerous raiding successes to his special spiritual insights and abilities known to Apache people as "Power.”  He had a reputed invulnerability to gunshot, the faculty to walk without leaving tracks; the abilities now known as telekinesis and telepathy.  He was wounded by buckshot and bullets many times but survived.  

During his many wars with the Mexicans Geronimo received many major but not fatal wounds. He was shot in the right leg above the knee, and carried the bullet all his life.  He was also shot through the left forearm.  In addition, Geronimo was shot just below the outer corner of the left eye, shot in left side, and shot in the back.  Other major wounds Geronimo received included being slashed in the right leg below the knee with a saber and being injured on top of the head with the butt of a musket.

Apache men chose to follow him of their own free will, and the warriors offered eye-witness testimony regarding Geronimo’s “Power."  They declared that this was the main reason why so many chose to follow him. The Apaches believed that Geronimo was favored or protected by "Usen", the Apache high-god.  Geronimo believed that the bitter loss of his family at Kas-ki-yeh brought him his "Power."  While sitting with his head bowed in sorrow, he heard a voice tell him that ‘no gun can ever kill you, and I will guide your arrows.’ The fact that he was often wounded, but remained alive, strengthened his conviction in this power.

Geronimo was responsible for the deaths of many Mexicans; no one knows how many, because normally Geronimo did not count them. Some of them, he said, were not worth counting.  Until his dying day Geronimo had no love for the Mexicans. Geronimo felt that the Mexican military leaders were treacherous and malicious with him and always deceitful and cruel.   Even when he was old and knew that he would never go on the warpath again, Geronimo said that if he were young, and followed the warpath, it would lead into Old Mexico. 

Goyathlay had officially become Geronimo and the name caught on. His “Power” served him well and his exploits in the Southwest have become international legend.