The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-11
SAVAGE TURNS FARMER
THE BLooDTHIRsTY WARRIOR
LOSES FORMER CRUELTY.
He Has Many Broad Acres and Sleek
Cattle Near Ft- Sill, Okla, and
Has Amassed Much Wealth-Pe-
nurious In Extreme and Great
Horse Trader.
(Kansas City Starr

IUTTDUS JdCt. j
at Intervals and gazes with a watchful
eye at great herd of cattle that egrazes
on the range which extends from Fort
Sill far to the north.
The lone horseman is Geronimo, the
most celebrated of the surviving Indian
chiefs whose dark and bloody deeds in
.Dygone days are predominant features OF
the early history of the western plains.
The present life of the old chief presents
a striking contrast to his wild misdeeds
of few years ago. 1t has been only
short time since the very mention of his
name struck terror to the hearts of the
residents of New Mexico and Arizona.
He ruled his band of bloodthirsty murder
ers with an iron hand, and hundreds of
llves We're sacrlhced to satisfy the cruel
chief S thirst for gore. Time has wrought
wonderful changes in this last great rep
reScntatiVe of a faSt-diSappearaing race.
When captured in Arizona after one of
| the hardest of Indian campaigns. every
! feature of his appearance was suggestive
of a tiend incarnate. He was robed in a
huge blanket made of human ScalpS nd
he boosted continually of this gruesome
trophy.
Today the former warrior is a thrifty
farmer, living peacefully on his farm on
Medicine creek, about two miles from this
fort. lie has buried the past completely,
and has accepted the inevitable without a
murmur of complaint. When one con-
siders the wonderful change in Geroni-
mos life he is impressed with the pic
| ture of the old Indian who was once a
monarch of the plains, but who is now
spending his last days practically in cap
tivity;.. He spends many hours smoking
in solitude, and perhaps thinking of the
happy days when he was free, before be
discarded the implements of war and in
their stead accepted the plow and the
! hoe
1t may be said much to Geronimo's
| credit. that he performs more manual Ia
Dor than any of the other Indians who
late the white man. He is a born trader
and is penuriouS in the extreme. For
shrewdness in business. transactions. he
can make sharp merchant ashamed CT
himself He is considered one of the hest
horse traders in this part of the coun-
try, and his advice is eagerly sought by
many of the white settlers. On account
of his shrewd practices in matters OF a
business nature, Geronimo is not liked
by the neighboring tribes. the Kiowas
and Comanches. The two tribes entertain
such a strong dislike for the Apache that
they hold themselves aloof from Geronl-
mos band except on very rare occasions
when they come over to trade Geronimo
invariably comes out ahead in the trad
| ing and the Kiowas and Comanches re-
turn to their reservation growing gut
tural diatribes against the Apaches.
A short time ago one of the army Of
ficers who is stationed here at the = lott
nimo. He attempted to take a snap shot
! in order to secure natural likeness OF
| the chief The wary old Indian perceived
| the officers intentions Immediately ana
! refused to permit the picture to be taken.
! He Shifted his wrinkled features into the
| nearest approach to a smile that IS pos
sibIe for an Indian to make. ana eXtehdeu
! his hand toward the officer at the same
time partially concealinS his race
Ugh, No money no picture, was Ge-
ronimo's ultimatum.
Thereupon the army officer offered %
cents for the privilege of making pic
| ture, but the Indian demanded more, say
ing: =.
! dian wants share
The officer protested that he had no in
| tention of selling the picture, but desired
| was obdurate, and before the picture
was secured the amount demanded was
! To obtain Geronimo's signature it IS
| necessary to give him 70 cents. He is
very proud of his signature, and possess
| es an autograph album which contains
| signatures of a great many more or less
! famous persons Under each signature
| Geronimo writes his own and proudly
! points out the difference between'his own
! handwriting and that of others. He SPENDS
/ in carving canes. some of the latter are
very artistic in design, and none can be
/ purcha sed for less than 81. The cuails
are very plentiful near the house OF the
chief, and this part Of the range is a ia
vOrite hunting ground for the army men.
/ When Geronimo discovers hunters on mis-
| is satisfied that they nave Gagged some
/ thing. Then he haStens out to the sports
men and demands half of the game. The
demands are seldom refused.
] Through the efforts of Lieutenant f. II.
I Beach, who is in charge of the Apaches
! here, Geronimo has been taught TO save
| the gerater part of his earnings, and 1t
| is stated at the post that he has boarded
| cutie a sum of money during his four
years residence here. But, like all In
/ dams, he Is an inTeterate gambler, and
BILE loss to him If. it were not for his
| fondneSs for gambling, he would be a
! wealthy man. as wealthy men are con-
! sidered down here.
The daily life of Geronimo is about the
! same as that of the other Indians here
except that he performs more manual Ia
Dor than any of the members of his tribe.
/ Long before reVetlle is sounded at the
fort he can be seen riding over the prairie,
| looking over his herds of cattle and his
horses. Just now he is engaged in car
| ing for the herd of cattle that was pur-
! chased by the government for the use OF
the Indians. This herd has been increas-
! ing very rapidly. owing TO the shrewd
mana cement of Geronimo. He has given
! mandatory orders to the members of his
band which prohibit the killing of any
cattle for ratioNs. He has advised his In
dams to subsist on the supplies issued by
the government. Every ten days the
chief brings in his Indians from all over
the reservation to draw their r1lions
These consist of bacon, flour, beans, SUI
gar and coffee. Each child draws the
same amount that is allowed the adults
All the Indians draw clothing four times
year.
der cultivation. and he furnishes the quar-
termasters department with all the hay
and the greater part of the kaftir corr
which is used AT times during the har.
vest season he employs white men to as
sist him in gathering his crops During
the summer months he peddles watermel
ons and garden truck around the post
The returns from this occupation ado
considerably to his income. He has regu
lar customers among the wives of The
army officers and has practically a mo
nopoly of the business. In addition Il
this, he is employed by the government
as a scout, and receives $13 a month anC
, rations for his horse.
Through the efforts of Geronimo thu
government has been materially assisted
in educating the Apache band which
caused so much trouble a few years ago
, After the capture of Geronimo and hi!
warriors the military authorities were il
/ a quandary as to what disposition shout,
be made of them. 1t was agreed tina
! they never could be reduced TO complete
subjugation if permitted to remain il
their native haunts so they were imme
diately removed to st. Augustine, Fla. AT
ter remaining there some time they wer
were ordered to Fort Sill, l. T., and sine
that time remarkable progress has beer
made toward civilizing band of Indian
which was at one time the widest in tn
United States. The Indian agent at For
Sill made a report to the war department
some time ago which shows that thes
| lnulslnS nave III oSleSSt II
farming than any other. They have pur
chased 1000 head of cattle, 500 horses AM
have 700 acres of land under cultivation
The ware now engaged in fencing the en-
tire reservation, which consists of 5000
acres.
However from present indications tn
philanthropst's dream of completely civ
liking the Indian will never be realized
, The experiment with Geronimos ban'
has been the most successful. Yet few
gallons of whisky will undo all that TIL
nnremitting labor of the government ha
accomplished in years, Some time ag'
: C,eronimo's band gained access to som
"firewater'' and. before the agent Learned
of It, the Indians had killed fifteen