GERONIMO SURRENDERS TO GENERAL MILES
Fort Sill, Oklahoma (JFK+50) On September 4, 1886, 140 years ago, Chiricahua Apache Chief Geronimo* surrendered to US Army General Nelson Miles**.
Geronimo was taken to the reservation near Fort Sill*** where he became a farmer and converted to Christianity.
He was quoted as saying...
"I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive."
JFK+50 NOTE
According to the National Archives, 5000 soldiers and 500 Native Americans were needed "to catch Geronimo and his small band." Geronimo spent the last 14 years of his life at Fort Sill.
*Geronimo (1829-1909) was born near Turkey Creek, (New) Mexico & became a military leader and medicine man of the Apache tribe. He carried out raids & fought against Mexican and American forces in the New Mexico & Arizona territories.
**Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925) was born in Westminster, Massachusetts and served in the U.S. Army in the Civil War, American Indian Wars & the Spanish-American War.
***Fort Sill, located 85 miles SW of Oklahoma City, was established in 1869 & serves today as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence.
SOURCES
"Apache Chief Geronimo Surrenders," JFK+50, September 4, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"Geronimo, Apache Chief--Pieces of History," National Archives, November 22, 2022, www.prologue.blogs.archives.gov/
