Marc Simmons: Geronimo's home was in New Mexico

Opinion

Monday, March 9, 2009

"Geronimo, most famous and controversial of all Apaches, died at Fort Sill, Okla., on Feb. 17, 1909. Thus, 2009 marks the centennial of his passing.

He has been much in the news lately owing to a lawsuit filed by one Harlyn Geronimo, a great-grandson of the warrior.

The suit seeks to recover the old Apache leader's skull and other remains, supposedly stolen from his grave in 1918 by student members of the secret Order of Skull and Bones at Yale University. Allegedly, the "social club" continues to use these relics in one of its arcane rituals.

The legend of the theft has been around for years, periodically resurfacing. Harlyn's lawsuit gives the matter new life by naming as defendants Yale, Skull and Bones, and certain federal officials, including President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

The affair provides me a timely opportunity to say a few words about this historical figure's life and death.

Geronimo, in fact, was a native New Mexican, thought to have been born in the wilderness near today's Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument north of Silver City. He was from the Chiricahua division of the tribe."

Get the Story:
Marc Simmons: Trail Dust: Famed warrior Geronimo had complex life (The Santa Fe New Mexican 3/7)