Geronimo – Apache warrior

Geronimo was the legendary warrior, a leader of the Chiricahua band of the Apache people. He struggled for a Native American way of life in conflict with American frontiersmen who wanted to take the tribe’s land. The Apache lived in northern Mexico and what is now the southwestern United States.
Geronimo was born in June 1829 in No-doyohn Canyon in Arizona. At the age of 17 he became a member of his tribe’s warrior council. The Apache fought with the Mexicans. Geronimo married a woman from the Chiricahua tribe and had three children. On March 5, 1851, a detachment of 400 Mexican soldiers from the Sonora State, led by Colonel José María Carrasco, attacked the Geronimo’s camp while most of the tribe’s men went to the city to trade. His mother, wife, and three children were killed by Mexican bounty hunters. Wanting revenge, Geronimo fought even more fiercely. During the next 15 years he rose steadily as a war leader among the Apaches.

In 1874 the U.S. government forced 4,000 Apache to move to a reservation in Arizona, where they were denied their traditional customs. Geronimo and his followers left the reservation and led raids against settlers in Arizona.
In 1877 Apache agent John Clum arrested Geronimo and his followers, and sent them to Florida as prisoners. They forced to do hard labor.

Corageous Geronimo

In 1894 Geronimo was moved to Fort Sill in Oklahoma Territory, where he was interred as prisoners of war, although allowed to prosper as farmer. Geronimo later toured with a “Wild West” show and was exhibited at the St. Louis World’s Fair (1904). However, he was not allowed to return to the land of his ancestors. In 1905, Geronimo participated in the parade on the occasion of the inauguration of US President Theodore Roosevelt. He asked the president to return his tribe back to Arizona, but was refused.
In early 1909, the 79-year-old Geronimo fell from his horse and laid on the ground until the morning. Three days later, on February 17, 1909, he died of pneumonia at Fort Sill and was buried at the local cemetery.
The first film about the leader of Apache Geronimo was released in the USA in 1939 by the film company Paramount Pictures.
In 1962, the movie Geronimo was released in the US by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Arnold Laven, starring Chuck Connors.
In 1993, Columbia Pictures filmed movie Geronimo: American Legend (directed by Walter Hill, starring Wes Studi).
In the same year, Turner pictures released the film directed by Roger Young, starring Joseph Runningfox.