On June 16, 1829, in Arizona, Geronimo was born. He was the fourth of eight children. He had three brothers and four sisters. Geronimo was given the name Goyahkla at birth. Goyahkla, in the Apache language, means one who yawns. The name Geronimo is Spanish for Jerome, which means psycho. He most likely received this name after fighting ferociously against the Mexican army, who prayed to St. Jerome often for help. He took the name with great honor and pride. His military excellence and leadership skills have helped mold him into the greatest Apache leader in their history.
Geronimo had a normal childhood for a Native American. He spent his years as a baby on the floor of his family’s teepee and sleeping in his tsoch, which is Apache for cradle. As he grew older, his mother taught him old Apache lore and his people’s religion. His father taught him the tales of courageous, legendary Apache warriors. When he grew old enough to help his parents work, he worked in his family’s field, raising and tending to crops.
As Geronimo approached his late teens, he was already leading military operations. At 17, he had been at the helm of four successful raids against the Mexican army. During this time, he fell in love with a woman named Alope. The couple had three children together and loved each other faithfully until disaster struck. While away, Mexican troops attacked his tribe’s camp and killed his wife and children. Following Apache tradition, he burned all of his family’s things and went to the woods to grieve. Out of anger, he gathered up a group of approximately 200 Apache men to avenge the deaths of his loved ones. It took ten years but he finally got his revenge. He tracked down and killed every single Mexican tro...
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...ronimo’s military excellence and leadership skills have helped mold him into the greatest Apache leader in their history. His legacy will live on forever with all of the other legends of the old west like Jesse James and Butch Cassidy. Today he is respected as a Native American hero and a martyr. “I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust." – Geronimo
Works Cited
Geronimo. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:43, Apr 06, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/geronimo-9309607.
Geronimo: Goyathlay ("one who yawns"). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.indians.org/welker/geronimo.htm
Wilson, R. (n.d.). Geronimo (ca. 1829-1909). Retrieved from http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/G/GE009.html
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