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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen 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: Reading done by Jules Harroloch. The Story of Geronimo by
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  Speaker 1: Jim Cagilgard. Chapter eighteen, The Last Surrender. Lieutenant Gatewood dismounted,
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  Speaker 1: handed the reins of his horse to one of the couriers,
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  Speaker 1: and shook hands with Geronimo. Geronimo searched the officer's face
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  Speaker 1: for some sign of fear, but there was not even
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  Speaker 1: a slight nervousness. Lieutenant Gatewood was indeed worthy of his
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  Speaker 1: reputation for both courage and gallantry. Geronimo said, your face
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  Speaker 1: is pale and drawn, as though it has not seen
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  Speaker 1: the sun in too many days, or perhaps you have
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  Speaker 1: been ill. It is nothing, said Lieutenant Gatewood. I have
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  Speaker 1: merely ridden far and fast so that I may talk
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  Speaker 1: with Geronimo. You did not say, my friend, Geronimo. Geronimo
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  Speaker 1: pointed out, you are not my friend. Lieutenant Gatewood said, calmly,
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  Speaker 1: you are the friend of no white man or Mexican,
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  Speaker 1: as long as you continue to live like a wild beast,
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  Speaker 1: and raid and kill at your pleasure, except for those
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  Speaker 1: who are with you. Now. Even the Apaches have turned
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  Speaker 1: against you, for you have given a bad name to
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  Speaker 1: Apaches who would live in peace. It is true that
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  Speaker 1: many thirsts for my blood, Geronimo said thoughtfully. It is
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  Speaker 1: equally true that you still speak with a straight tongue.
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  Speaker 1: Some have called me friend, and when they thought I
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  Speaker 1: was no longer suspicious, have tried to betray me. But
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  Speaker 1: you say at once that you are not my friend,
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  Speaker 1: and that is honest talk. What would you have from me,
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Gatewood said, For myself, I want nothing, and as
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  Speaker 1: a soldier I may ask nothing. But for General Miles,
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  Speaker 1: the great chief in command of the soldiers who are
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  Speaker 1: pursuing you, I ask your surrender and the surrender of
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  Speaker 1: all your band. Geronimo asked, and what does General Myers
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  Speaker 1: offer in return? Imprisonment in Florida for you and your families.
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Gatewood said, is he mad? Geronimo flared angrily. His
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  Speaker 1: soldiers have pursued me for many months, and we have
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  Speaker 1: fought them many times. Many soldiers have died in these fights,
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  Speaker 1: but not a single Sapache has been killed by white soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: Does your General Miles not know that we are capable
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  Speaker 1: of carrying on the fight. He knows, Lieutenant Gatewood said,
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  Speaker 1: But if you fail to surrender, General Miles has another offer.
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  Speaker 1: He will hunt you down and kill every one of
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  Speaker 1: you if it takes another fifty years. Take a message
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  Speaker 1: to your General Miles, Geronimo said, Tell him that we
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  Speaker 1: will return to Arizona, if we may go back to
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  Speaker 1: our homes in the White Mountains, and if we may
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  Speaker 1: live there as we did before fleeing into Mexico. That
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  Speaker 1: is childish talk, Geronimo. Lieutenant Gatewood said, you have had
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  Speaker 1: many opportunities to prove that you would live in peace
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  Speaker 1: on the reservation. There will not be another chance. General
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  Speaker 1: Miles orders stand except imprisonment in Florida or be killed
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  Speaker 1: by soldiers. We may also kill soldiers. Geronimo reminded him
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  Speaker 1: that you have proven many times. Lieutenant Gatewood admitted, but
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  Speaker 1: you remember the times of long ago when for every
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  Speaker 1: white man in Arizona there were a hundred Apaches. Now
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  Speaker 1: for every Apaches there are two hundred white men and
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  Speaker 1: more to come. You cannot kill all the soldiers, nor
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  Speaker 1: can they kill us, Geronimo said, My terms stand. We
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  Speaker 1: return to the White mountains and live as we once lived,
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  Speaker 1: or we continued the war. Lieutenant Gatewood turned suddenly to
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  Speaker 1: Naichi and smiled. I saw your mother and daughter, Naichi,
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  Speaker 1: just after they came in with the Chiahua band. They
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  Speaker 1: have been sent to Florida with the rest, but both
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  Speaker 1: inquire about you. Are they well, Naichi asked eagerly, very well.
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Gatewood said, they wish you to surrender so that
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  Speaker 1: you may join them. And I am to remind you
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  Speaker 1: that an enemy more merciless than any soldier lies in wait.
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  Speaker 1: It is winter that is just ahead. Geronimo, Do I
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  Speaker 1: have your final answer? Geronimo said, May we talk again tomorrow?
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  Speaker 1: We may, said Lieutenant Gatewood. They parted. Lieutenant Gatewood and
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  Speaker 1: his party returned to their camp, while the Apaches went
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  Speaker 1: to theirs. The Indians were sober and thoughtful. It is true,
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo said, that few animals have been hunted harder than we.
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  Speaker 1: We have fought and fought well. But we are very few,
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  Speaker 1: and our enemies are very many. We cannot continue to
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  Speaker 1: fight them forever, said Naichi. It is also true that
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  Speaker 1: we would like to see our friends and families again
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  Speaker 1: there is a small chance of doing that as long
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  Speaker 1: as we are in Mexico and they are in Florida.
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  Speaker 1: Others of the band murmured agreement. All were desperately tired
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  Speaker 1: and lonely. They had endured far more than flesh and
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  Speaker 1: blood should be expected to bear, but they were willing
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  Speaker 1: to continue the fight if Geronimo and Naichi decided that
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  Speaker 1: that was best. Yet, Naichi continued, I fear to surrender
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  Speaker 1: even more than I fear to continue the battle. Mexicans
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  Speaker 1: south of the border and Americans north of it would
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  Speaker 1: kill us as readily as we would kill a pack
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  Speaker 1: of rabid wolves if we hand our arms over to
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Gatewood, who will protect us until we are safe
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  Speaker 1: in Florida. Suddenly Geronimo, who had been so violent, saw
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  Speaker 1: in full the vision he had seen only in part.
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  Speaker 1: As he sat beside Naichi. There was old Mangus Coloradus,
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  Speaker 1: advising his people to make peace with the white men,
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  Speaker 1: since they could never hope to conquer them. There was Cochies,
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  Speaker 1: who needed ten years of bloody war to teach him
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  Speaker 1: what Mangus Coloradus had been taught by his own wisdom. Now,
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  Speaker 1: almost twenty five years after the death of Mangus Coloradus,
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo finally understood what one of these chiefs had known
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  Speaker 1: and the other had learned. Apaches could not fight the
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  Speaker 1: white men, but neither could they surrender to them unless
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  Speaker 1: it was possible to work out a plan guaranteeing their
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  Speaker 1: own safety. When they resumed their talks the next day,
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo said bluntly to Lieutenant Gatewood, forget you are white men,
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  Speaker 1: and pretend you are one of us. What would you do?
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  Speaker 1: Trust General Miles and surrender to him. Lieutenant Gatewood said promptly.
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  Speaker 1: So you have spoken, and so shall we do, said Geronimo.
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  Speaker 1: But it is a long way to the border where
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  Speaker 1: General Miles awaits, and this is enemy country. We will
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  Speaker 1: not surrender our arms until we are met by General Miles.
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  Speaker 1: That is agreeable, said Lieutenant Gatewood. In addition, Captain Lawton
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  Speaker 1: and a company of soldiers are camped not far away.
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  Speaker 1: I will ask them to march with you and help
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  Speaker 1: beat off any Mexicans who may attack you. March with us,
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo said. Captain Lawton and his soldiers may come, but
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  Speaker 1: they are to stay ahead or behind. We do not
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  Speaker 1: care to mingle with white soldiers, that too is agreeable,
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  Speaker 1: said Lieutenant Gatewood. It was thus that the Apaches marched
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  Speaker 1: to the border of Mexico. Lieutenant Gatewood marched with them.
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  Speaker 1: Captain Lawton provided an escort of American soldiers, and a
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  Speaker 1: mob of two hundred Mexicans, who finally saw the hated
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  Speaker 1: Apaches in captivity, trailed them all the way, but the
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  Speaker 1: Mexicans did not dare start a fight. When they reached
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  Speaker 1: the camp where General Miles was waiting, Geronimo stalked haughtily
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  Speaker 1: to the general, who stared coldly at the great Apache leader.
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo and his warriors laid down the arms that they
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  Speaker 1: had carried so many miles and into so many battles.
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  Speaker 1: The disarmed Apaches were surrounded by soldiers who took them
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  Speaker 1: first to prison cells at Arizona's Fort Bowie, then to
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  Speaker 1: the train that carried them to exile in Florida. So
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  Speaker 1: ended the fighting days of Geronimo, the last and fiercest
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  Speaker 1: Apache war chief, and so also ended the Indian wars
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  Speaker 1: in the Southwest. Never again would men and women on
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  Speaker 1: lonely ranches or in isolated villages awaken trembling in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of the night to hear the pound of ponies, hoofs,
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  Speaker 1: and the wild Apache war cry. Never again would travelers
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  Speaker 1: in Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico find it necessary
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  Speaker 1: to travel in groups and well armed for fear of
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  Speaker 1: Apache attacks. Geronimo and his followers, as well as many
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  Speaker 1: other Chirricua and warm Springs Apaches, were imprisoned at old
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  Speaker 1: Fort Pickens or at Fort Marion in Florida. Eventually they
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  Speaker 1: were moved to a reservation in what was then Indian
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  Speaker 1: Territory and what is now the state of Oklahoma. There,
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  Speaker 1: Geronimo died at Fort Sill on February seventeenth, nineteen o nine.
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  Speaker 1: Whether he was a great villain or a great patriot
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  Speaker 1: depends on whether one looks at him with the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of the white men whom he plundered or the Apaches
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  Speaker 1: whom he championed. But nobody can deny that he fought
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  Speaker 1: for a free life for himself and his people, and
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  Speaker 1: that he was one of the greatest warriors of all time.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter eighteen. End of the Story of Geronimo
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  Speaker 1: by Jim Cajilgard