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16 - Story of Geronimo by Jim Kjelgaard · Story of Geronimo

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen of the Story of Geronimo. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Sherry Ritchie. The Story of Geronimo by Jim Kelgarde,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen. Hunted like wolves, Geronimo galloped wildly through the
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  Speaker 1: black knight. Naichi rode beside him. Ten of the eighteen
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  Speaker 1: warriors who remained with Geronimo followed. Geronimo turned his head.
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  Speaker 1: He saw light from the burning buildings of the Arizona
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  Speaker 1: rants that he and his warriors had just raided, reflected
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  Speaker 1: in the sky. The paches had taken fresh horses, but
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  Speaker 1: the four men who had been at the ranch had
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  Speaker 1: fled after firing a few shots. Presently, Geronimo pulled in
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  Speaker 1: his horse, but trot the rest slowed. Naichi drew in
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  Speaker 1: nearer to his chief. I wish that the white men
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  Speaker 1: had stayed to fight, he said, I too, said Geronimo.
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  Speaker 1: But the white men are not fools. They remained great
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  Speaker 1: liars the last time I read it. In Arizona with
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  Speaker 1: but six men and Kaita deserted to return to San Carlos,
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  Speaker 1: but the white men said we had two hundred warriors. Loko,
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  Speaker 1: who remains on the reservation, sent me a message asking
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  Speaker 1: to know where we found such strength. Naichi asked anxiously,
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  Speaker 1: what was the whole message? There was no more, Geronimo said,
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  Speaker 1: said Naichi. Then I am sad. My wife and children
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  Speaker 1: are in Arizona. My relatives are there. I am sorely
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  Speaker 1: in need of news of them. Why does Chihuahua send
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  Speaker 1: me no word? He returned to the reservation the second time.
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  Speaker 1: Chief gray Wolf came to us and asked us to
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  Speaker 1: come in. There is no knowing what happened to Chihuahua.
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo said, Chief gray Wolf has gone from Arizona, and
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  Speaker 1: the Paches will never see him again. General Crook had
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  Speaker 1: indeed made a second journey to Mexico, and again he
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  Speaker 1: met the runaway Apaches and tried to persuade them to
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  Speaker 1: come back to the reservation. Chihuahua and his followers had returned.
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  Speaker 1: Mangus and two or three others had fled deeper into Mexico,
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  Speaker 1: but Geronimo and Naichi had promised to return. At the
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  Speaker 1: last minute, They with eighteen other men and nineteen women
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  Speaker 1: and children had changed their minds and fled back into
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  Speaker 1: the Sierra Madres. General Crook had been sharply rebuked by
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  Speaker 1: his commander for letting Geronimo escape, so he had asked
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  Speaker 1: to relieve of duty in Arizona and sent back to Texas.
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  Speaker 1: His wish was granted, and a general named Miles had
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  Speaker 1: come to Arizona to take his place. General Miles had
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  Speaker 1: five thousand soldiers at his command, and their principal duty
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  Speaker 1: was to capture Geronimo. A large number of Mexican ruralies
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  Speaker 1: and police were afield for the same purpose. Besides these,
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  Speaker 1: there were many ranchers, cowboys, miners, and townsmen who would
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  Speaker 1: gladly do anything they could to put an end to
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo and his followers. There were certainly at least ten
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  Speaker 1: thousand people actively plotting the downfall of this one Apache chief,
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  Speaker 1: and not all of them together had come nearer to succeeding.
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  Speaker 1: By special arrangement with Mexico, American troops were permitted to
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  Speaker 1: range south of the border, and there had been several
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  Speaker 1: fights between them and Geronimo's band. Some American soldiers had
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  Speaker 1: been killed or wounded, and the Mexicans had suffered too,
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  Speaker 1: But Geronimo had not lost a single warrior, Not one
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  Speaker 1: of his followers had even been wounded. Yet the Apache
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  Speaker 1: chief was discouraged. He swayed in the saddle, and bright
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  Speaker 1: lights flashed before his eyes. He put a hand in
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  Speaker 1: front of his eyes to shut out the lights. Are
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  Speaker 1: you ill, Naichi ask in alarm. I am tired, said Geronimo.
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  Speaker 1: Naichi said, we may stop and rest. I speak not
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  Speaker 1: of bodywareness. Geronimo said, my spirit is tired. I understand,
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  Speaker 1: said Naichi. We have fought for a very long while.
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  Speaker 1: We have been driven from our camps and our cooking
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  Speaker 1: fires seven times in fifteen months. We lost all our
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  Speaker 1: horses and had to steal more. We know not when
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  Speaker 1: we will have to fight many soldiers. The spirits of
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  Speaker 1: all of us are tired. But we dare not surrender.
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  Speaker 1: We dare not. Geronimo agreed. Chief gray Wolf is gone.
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  Speaker 1: Captain Crawford is dead, Lieutenant Gaywood is gone. There is
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  Speaker 1: not one white man among all who pursue us, whom
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  Speaker 1: we may trust. Almost I wish I had gone in
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  Speaker 1: with gray Wolf. I too, Naichi murmured. They halted at
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  Speaker 1: daylight in a rock bound little canyon. Horses that had
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  Speaker 1: become both weary and thirsty, stood with heads raised and
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  Speaker 1: nostrils flared. They smelled water, for there was a water
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  Speaker 1: hole ahead. But the warriors tied their mounts and waited.
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  Speaker 1: Carrying his Winchester repeating rifle, Geronimo slipped off alone, with
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  Speaker 1: no more fuss than a slinking coyote. He made his
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  Speaker 1: way among the boulders and the scrawny little trees that
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  Speaker 1: grew between them. After a bit, Geronimo stopped and cut
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  Speaker 1: a number of leafy twigs. He thrust them into his headband,
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  Speaker 1: so that if he held very still, whoever saw him
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  Speaker 1: would think they saw a bush instead. Then he dropped
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  Speaker 1: to wriggle forward on his stomach. Presently he looked down
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  Speaker 1: into another canyon. The water hole was there, and the
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  Speaker 1: water was fresh and cold. Greening grass surrounded it. Great
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  Speaker 1: cottonwood trees bordered it. But a herd of horses browsed
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  Speaker 1: on the grass, and pack mules damped at a picket line.
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  Speaker 1: There were packs and tins, and there were more than
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  Speaker 1: twenty soldiers whose reason for being here was to keep
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo away from the water. Geronimo slipped away as quietly
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  Speaker 1: as he had come, soldiers away, he told Naichi. When
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  Speaker 1: he returned to his warriors, many soldiers, Naichi asked, too
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  Speaker 1: many for us to fight, Geronimo said. Naichi said, then
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  Speaker 1: we must go. No, we must lose our horses, said Geronimo.
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  Speaker 1: Naichi said, they will run to water. They will run
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  Speaker 1: to water. Geronimo agreed. Naichi asked, wonderingly, you would give
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  Speaker 1: good horses to white soldiers. These horses are too spent
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  Speaker 1: to serve us any longer. Geronimo said, let them go.
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  Speaker 1: Tiropes were slipped. Following the smell of water. The horses
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  Speaker 1: were off at a gallop. Geronimo led his warriors forward.
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  Speaker 1: He stopped them just beneath the rim of the canyon
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  Speaker 1: in which the water hole lay. Again. He thrust bits
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  Speaker 1: of rush into his headband and crawled forward to look.
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  Speaker 1: The thirsty horses had come in and were crowding each
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  Speaker 1: other at the waterhole. A young lieutenant was ordering his
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  Speaker 1: men to mount. A scout whom Geronimo had seen but
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  Speaker 1: whose name he had never heard, was arguing with the lieutenant.
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  Speaker 1: Don't do it. The scout said, don't do it, lieutenant.
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  Speaker 1: You say these horses were loosed by Geronimo's men, the
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  Speaker 1: lieutenant asked. The scout said, couldn't have been nobody else,
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  Speaker 1: And every horse, where's the Prat brand? Geronimo must have
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  Speaker 1: stole them there. I figure we'll find the Prat ranch
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  Speaker 1: burned and maybe the Prat brothers dead. But don't dash
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  Speaker 1: off in all directions. This a way. If Geronimo lost
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  Speaker 1: his horses, he and his men are afoot. The young
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  Speaker 1: lieutenant exclaimed. The only horses Geronimo ever lost was them
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  Speaker 1: our scouts or soldiers took away from him. The scout said,
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  Speaker 1: he's earn these loose for some deviltry of his own.
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  Speaker 1: And did you ever try to hunt apaches when they
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  Speaker 1: was afoot? No, the lieutenant wanted, But they should be
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  Speaker 1: easy to catch, bows easy as so many quailed with
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  Speaker 1: six entry wings. The scout said, you can't catch them.
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  Speaker 1: The lieutenant says, sternly, mountain come with us, all right,
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  Speaker 1: The scout said, but don't leave no horses here. I won't,
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  Speaker 1: but we must travel fast, so I'll leave the pack mules,
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  Speaker 1: then leave a guard too. I'll need every man, the
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  Speaker 1: lieutenant said. Suppose the paches come here, The scout asked,
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  Speaker 1: they won't. The lieutenant said, they're too cowardly. Geronimo and
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  Speaker 1: every last one of his men are running for Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: We must overtake them. Geronimo's the last Apache war chief.
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  Speaker 1: When he's captured or killed, it will mean an end
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  Speaker 1: to the Indian wars here in the South. With that,
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  Speaker 1: let least I'll get out of This is a captain's rating,
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  Speaker 1: and perhaps even majors. The scout said. If I'm asked,
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  Speaker 1: I'll say I told you twas a fool thing to do.
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  Speaker 1: Say what you please, lieutenant said, I know what I'm doing.
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  Speaker 1: The soldiers followed the scout, who in turn followed the
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  Speaker 1: back trail of the horses. When they found the place
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  Speaker 1: where the horses had been loose, the lieutenant thought they
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  Speaker 1: would also find helpless apaches on foot. When the soldiers
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  Speaker 1: were out of sight, Geronimo signaled his men forward. They
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  Speaker 1: drank at the water hole. Then they rummaged hastily through
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  Speaker 1: the packs and tents and took all the rifles and
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  Speaker 1: ammunition they could find. Minutes later, each warrior was mounted
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  Speaker 1: on a mule. Geronimo led them into rough and rocky
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  Speaker 1: ground where mules could travel but horses could not long
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  Speaker 1: before the young lieutenant brought his men back to their camp.
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  Speaker 1: Every Apache was safe. End of Chapter sixteen, recorded by
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  Speaker 1: Sherry Ritchie Anderson, California,