When was geronimo killed

On 17 February , the famous Apache warrior and chief, Geronimo , died of pneumonia he had lain out in the cold all the previous night, following a fall from a horse at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, aged Despite being a prisoner of war since his surrender in , Geronimo was still known and talked about across the Atlantic in Britain. Geronimo, a noted Indian chief, who in the past was a thorn in the side of American Government and frequently baffled the United States Army, has died at Lawton, Ohio, where has been confined as prisoner of war for many years.

I should have fought until I was the last man alive. Aberdeen Press and Journal 20 February Finally, in , after long negotiations, he and his band surrendered to General Nelson A. The Chiricahua were sent to Florida as prisoners of war, and then to Alabama, but in the s they were settled at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where Geronimo died of pneumonia in his 80s. He had become a legendary, almost mythical figure, and his name still stirs echoes in the American consciousness.

Death of Geronimo. In one incident described by Apache Jason Betzinez, a few warriors were sitting around a campfire during a raiding expedition when Geronimo suddenly had a premonition that U. On May 17, , Geronimo and some Apache men, women and children took flight from their reservation for the final time.

The famed warrior was then in his 60s, but he remained as determined as ever, often pushing his group to cover as much as 70 miles per day to avoid the American cavalry and Apache scouts on their trail.

They nearly surrendered in March , but Geronimo and 40 followers reneged on the agreement at the last minute and escaped under cover darkness. Soon, the Indians were being pursued by 5, U.

Geronimo was able elude both forces for over five months, but by August, he and his followers had grown weary of life on the run. In laying down his arms, he became the last Indian leader to formally surrender to the United States military.

Following their surrender, Geronimo and the Chiricahuas—including the Apache army scouts that had helped catch him—were condemned to manual labor at army camps in Florida. As the years passed, Geronimo busied himself with farming and cashed in on his growing celebrity by selling autographs and peddling walking sticks, bows and other items to American tourists.

Five days later, the Indians got a chance to speak to Roosevelt in person at the White House. For four long years, he struggled with his new reservation life, finally escaping in September Out on his own again, Geronimo and a small band of Chiricahua followers eluded American troops. Over the next five years, they engaged in what proved to be the last of the Indian wars against the United States. Perceptions of Geronimo were nearly as complex as the man himself. His followers viewed him as the last great defender of the Native American way of life.

But others, including fellow Apaches, saw him as a stubborn holdout, violently driven by revenge and foolishly putting the lives of people in danger. With his followers in tow, Geronimo shot across the Southwest. As he did, the seemingly mystical leader was transformed into a legend as newspapers closely followed the Army's pursuit of him. At one point nearly a quarter of the Army's forces — 5, troops — were trying to hunt him down.

Finally, in the summer of , he surrendered, the last Chiricahua to do so. Over the next several years Geronimo and his people were bounced around, first to a prison in Florida, then a prison camp in Alabama and then Fort Sill in Oklahoma. In total, the group spent 27 years as prisoners of war. While he and the rest of the Chiricahua remained under guard, Geronimo experienced a bit of celebrity from his white former enemies.

Less than a decade after he'd surrendered, crowds longed to catch a glimpse of the famous Indian warrior.

In , he published his autobiography, and that same year he received a private audience with President Theodore Roosevelt, unsuccessfully pressing the American leader to let his people return to Arizona.

His death came four years later.