The Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway is named to honor the great Chiracahua Warm Springs Apache warrior and shaman, Geronimo.

Born in approximately 1829 near the mouth of the Gila River when the area was still a Mexican territory, he was given the name Goyathlay (sometimes reported as Goyahkla), meaning "He Who Yawns."

His early life was relatively peaceful until 1858, when his entire family - including his wife, three children, and mother - were killed in their camp in Chihuahua, Mexico by Mexican troops while he was away trading. Afterward, the name Geronimo was given to Goyathlay - sort of - by terrified Mexicans during his retributions as they cried out to San Geronimo (Saint Jerome) for aid.

By 1876, the assault on the native people by the European immigrants was well underway. The ostensibly well-intended reservation system had been created, and the United States sought to move Geronimo's tribe from their beloved Chiracahua Mountains homeland to the parched San Carlos reservation in southeast Arizona. Geronimo fled with about 700 other Chiracahua Apaches, splitting into smaller bands.

In 1883, Geronimo was arrested by a party of over 300 soldiers and scouts led by U.S. General Crook in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, after his plan to overpower the search party failed. He was taken to the reservation... and two years later escaped again. With the Apache population in sharp decline by this time, the fleeing band consisted of approximately three dozen warriors and about 100 women and children. They went to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico.

This escape was an embarrassment to the U.S.

Crook organized 3,000 men to overcome Geronimo and the rest of the escapees, who numbered fewer than 150 - and were mostly women and children. In mid-January, Crook surprised Geronimo's cold and hungry camp, and Geronimo decided to discuss peace. An agreement was reached whereby the Apache would surrender if they were allowed to settle on a reservation in their homelands after two years of exile. Crook agreed to this; Crook's superior officer, however, reversed that decision.

After hearing rumors that he was to be hanged, Geronimo fled again immediately, accompanied by less than 40 other Apaches, half of them women and children. Their flight was brief.

They were pursued by 42 companies of U.S. cavalry and 4,000 Mexican soldiers, led by U.S. General Nelson A. Miles. Geronimo surrendered peacefully on September 4, 1886 after General Miles promised that he would be pardoned by the government of his 'crimes' and reunited with his family. Miles also promised that Geronimo's people would be granted a reservation in their homeland. Bluntly put, these were lies.

The Chiracahua Apaches were severely punished, and spent almost thirty years as prisoners of war. Geronimo and his remaining people were exiled to Fort Pickens, Florida, and later to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

In 1905, when he was in his eighties, Geronimo appealed to President Roosevelt to be allowed die in his homeland and be buried there with his ancestors. The request was denied.

That winter, Geronimo fell off of his horse and laid in a ditch through the night. He died a few days later of pneumonia.

The Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway means to honor this legendary man and the land he loved.

What's on the web about Geronimo?
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