Geronimo

Geronimo (Apache: *Goyaałé*, 'One Who Yawns'; 1829 – 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man of the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache. Following the massacre of his mother, wife, and three young children by Mexican soldiers at Kas-Ki-Yeh in 1851, Geronimo dedicated his life to resisting encroaching colonial powers.

For over three decades, operating in the rugged Sierra Madre mountains and the Sonoran desert, Geronimo led small bands of warriors in evasive guerrilla warfare against thousands of US and Mexican soldiers. His intimate knowledge of the arid terrain, tracking ability, and ferocious tactical mobility made him legendary. In 1886, pursued by 5,000 US troops and 3,000 Mexican soldiers, Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles, becoming the last major Native American leader to formally surrender to the US government. He spent his remaining twenty-three years as a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.