Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1894-10-05
GERONIMO.

the tree top and make it feed from their
lips and come at their voice. We are
like the deer and the wild bird. We
listen for your voice, and we follow your
steps,
This was said at Mount Vernon bar
racks, Alabama, where the Chiricahua
captives have been for the last six years
living in Incidence and with abundance
OF good things, but never ceasing to
pine for their native mountains Mount
Vernon barracks are, according to lovers
of the picturesque, the most beautiful
army post in the country, situated about
six miles north of Mobile and in para
disc of oak, magnolia and other subtrop.
ical trees and shrubs. The climate is in
every way unlike that Of Arizona, and
the Indians suffered accordingly, so it
was once decided to remove them to the
Fort Sill reservation, in Indian Terri
tory, but that was promptly vetoed
when the border men pointed out the
obvious fact that they could easily es-
cape thence and make their way back
to Arizona
1t is hard to believe that the Apaches,
bloodthirsty and untamable, are first
cousins to the progressive and rather
pleasant Navajoes, but both are from
the same great offshoot of the Athabas-
can race. The Navajoes combined with
remnant Of the old and semicivilized
Mexican Indians and have maintained
an art and civilization of their own,
while the Apaches took to the noun
talns and grew more savage every year.
Fifty years ago the department estimat-
ed that in Mexico and the United States
they could muster 80, 900 warriors.
This was an exaggeration, but still they
were very powerful. When General
Crook went at them 20 years ago, thew
did not have to exceed 500 warriors,
yet that small number had pretty near
~ depopulated Arizona.
In 1872 the hostiles of that territory
were in three great bands, the greatest
under the famous Cochise. General
Howard, with single aid, penetrated to
his mountain fastness and made treaty
which Coclise kept honorably till his
death. Geronimo broke away, and long
and rather romantic war followed. In
1888 General Crook captured the whole
band. uu!rha7i2g 600 600. e.! !ccatA7 the,n
2: = =eso-ve+ion hrt Geronimo and
Neches broke away again, murdered
1874 whites and escaped into Mexico. In
1886 General Miles captured the last of
the hostiles, their surrender being on
the agreement that their lives were to
be spared. In two years they had killed
176 Americans.
They claim that one of the terms Of
the surrender was that they were not to
1be takenout Of Arizona, but they were
sen>to Fort Pickens, Florida, and later to
Fort Marion, near st. Augustine. Their
nativeDland is very high and very dry,
with cool nights; their LAM of captivity
is lV, moist and hot. In the former
they had range over some 40, 600 to
60, 600 square miles, and in the latter
they were confined to a few acres, Yet
they did not all die, as might have been
expected. Many Of theft young people
have been fairly we'll educated The lads
are employed in Pennsylvania a., cattle
herders and farmhands and the urls at
the domestic, occupations. Day schools
md Sunday schools have BEEN suc oct6esaae
fully maintained among them, ana fhoee
enlisted In the army have made rood
soldiers Meantins aho moth large branch
Of tho Apaohes has bAen: lodAAed IA she
Indian Territory, and ciy ilixation has
made great progress among them So IS
has been decided 20 allow tie old mis-
onefs 20 die at home and the youths Il
iseart anew there.