We Shall Remain

Geronimo (1x4)

: 04, 2009

In February of 1909, the Chiricahua Apache medicine man Geronimo lay on his deathbed. He summoned his nephew to his side, whispering, “I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.” Born around 1820, Geronimo grew into a leading warrior and healer. He became the focus of the fury of terrified white settlers and the growing tensions that divided Apaches. To supporters, he remained the embodiment of proud resistance, the upholder of the old Chiricahua ways. To other Apaches, especially those who had come to see the white man’s path as the only viable road, Geronimo was a stubborn troublemaker whose actions needlessly brought the enemy’s wrath down on his own people. At a time when surrender to the reservation and acceptance of the white man’s civilization seemed to be the Indians’ only realistic options, Geronimo and his tiny band of Chiricahuas fought on and became the last Native American fighting force to capitulate formally.