Geronimo, War Hero Geronimo was in many ways an exemplary human being. He was brave, loyal, passionate, spiritual, truthful, strong, and wise. Raised in the Apache tradition, his real name was Goyathlay (meaning one who yawns). The name Geronimo was given him by his enemies (the Spanish-Mexicans, who called out to St. Jerome -- or Jeronimo -- when Goyathlay attacked (Welker, 2011). To the Spanish-Mexicans and the Americans, the man they dubbed Geronimo was a savage, but to his own people -- and indeed to many Americans who met him after his surrender -- Geronimo was a noble soul and a great leader as opposed to the villain the propagandists tried to make him out to be. This paper will show what made Geronimo such a noble man.

The war between the Mexicans and the Apache was indeed brutal. But it was a war over land -- and both sides committed what might today be called atrocities in raids upon the other's homeland. In a Mexican raid, Geronimo's family was slaughtered. Geronimo, therefore, joined a party of revenge and became the war chief of the Apaches.

As war chief, Geronimo excelled in leading his men in battle -- and his view of the enemy was definitive: in the Southwest in the 19th century, the law was kill or be killed -- and Geronimo followed this law to the letter: "I have killed many Mexicans; I do not know how many, for frequently I did not count them. Some of them were not worth counting. It has been a long time since then, but still I have no love for Mexicans. With me...

If I were young, and followed the warpath, it would lead into Old Mexico" (Geronimo, 1906, p. 89). These words were written, of course, after his surrender to the United States government. And by that point he had converted to Protestant Christianity (which later expelled him for gambling). His spiritual beliefs were as noble as his ideas as a warrior: he was not concerned with dialoguing -- for him war was personal and, as he said, was with Mexico.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, the United States government sought to put the Apache on a reservation. Led by Geronimo, these Apaches began to raid the settlers who had displaced them. The U.S. gave chase and a campaign against Geronimo ensued. Geronimo's initial reaction was to surrender peacefully, but "rumors of impending trials and hangings" caused him to flee once more with a small handful of Apache warriors and a few followers. Geronimo was finally surrounded in the Sonora Mountains, and in 1886 he surrendered (Weiser, 2010). However, Geronimo escaped again that same year and -- that same year -- was once more surrounded, this time in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. Geronimo and his band were moved by rail to Florida. Eight years later, he arrived in Oklahoma and began a period of assimilation.

As a retired old war chief assimilated into American life (often appearing at fairs and, famously, in "Teddy Roosevelt's inaugural parade" (Weiser), Geronimo's fame grew to…