H. W. Brands - The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and the War for America

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I was born in No-doyohn Canyon, Arizona, June, 1829, Geronimo recalled from the distance of old age. In that country, which lies around the headwaters of the Gila River, I was reared. This range was our fatherland; among these mountains our wigwams were hidden; the scattered valleys contained our fields; the boundless prairies, stretching away on every side, were our pastures; the rocky caverns were our burying places.

Geronimos people, the Apaches, had not always lived near the Gila River. Their language was of the Athabaskan family, revealing roots far to the north, among the tribes of the Northwest Coast. The Apaches had migrated to the desert and mountains of the Southwest, probably under compulsion, for life was harder there. They reached the Gila River a few centuries before Geronimos birth, perhaps around the time Columbus reached the West Indies.

Geronimo was the fourth in a family of eight children. They were four boys and four girls. As a babe I rolled on the dirt floor of my fathers tepee, hung in my tsochcradleat my mothers back, or suspended from the bough of a tree, he said. I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds, and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. As he grew, he learned. My mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught me to kneel and pray to UsenGodfor strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we ourselves took vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not care for the petty quarrels of men.

Other lessons came from his father. My father had often told me of the brave deeds of our warriors, of the pleasures of the chase, and the glories of the warpath, Geronimo said. He and his brothers emulated what they heard. We played that we were warriors. We would practice stealing upon some object that represented an enemy, and in our childish imitation often perform the feats of war. Sometimes we would hide away from our mother to see if she could find us, and often when thus concealed go to sleep and perhaps remain hidden for many hours.

With age came responsibility. When we were old enough to be of real service, we went to the field with our parents not to play, but to toil. When the crops were to be planted we broke the ground with wooden hoes. We planted the corn in straight rows, the beans among the corn, and the melons and pumpkins in irregular order over the field. We cultivated these crops as there was need. Plots were modest in size. Our field usually contained about two acres of ground. The fields were never fenced. It was common for many families to cultivate land in the same valley and share the burden of protecting the growing crops from destruction by the ponies of the tribe, or by deer and other wild animals.