Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1909-05-07

the soldiers, retire for a few months
to the mountains, and then when the
settlers believed they were in most
security to swoop down on them,
scalping every man, woman and child
who hadn't had time to fee, and there
was seldom much warning before Ger
onimo's raids. Endless stories have
been told Of the almost unimaginable
cruelty Geronimo displayed toward the
few prisoners he ever troubled himself
to tske. More than once ranchers who
knew they were doomed to capture or
death saw to 1t that their women were
dead before they fell into the hands
Of Geronimo's Apaches.
Geronimo never fought when he
could help 1t. A woman on ranch
or mail carrier on his pony carried
as good scalp as a soldier and was
much safer to slay. When the soldiers
caught up-as they sometimes did
the Indians fought back with every
device they knew. When the pursuit
was too hot their picked men dropped
In their blankets and waited until the
soldiers came upon them, and sought to
shoot the officers.
A Typical Raid.
The story of one of Geronimo's raids
is practically the story of all, and
the biggest Of them was in 1881, when
Geronimo led 500 warriors on the war
path down as far as Chihuahua. They
had many diversions along the road.
On Eagle river they found a herder
with 5000 sheep. The herder they
threw over a cliff, and as he lay there
broken-legged they buried him with
stones. They punched the eyes out of
the sheep until that grew tiresome.
In Gold Gulch a half dozen capital
lists were on their way to examine
prospect A small detachment of the
Indians lay in the tall grass alongside
the trail and shot five Of the six out
Of their saddles. The sixth man got
away. He had retained his rife and
They crossed the Gila river with a
lot Of horses, killing freighters as they
found them, and swept across the mesa
near Shakespeare, where they encoun-
tered Judge McComa Of Silver City,
his wife and their 6-year-old son. They
shot the judge, felled his wife with
stone, tortured her to death, and car
ried off the boy-to what fate nobody
ever has been able to make the
Apaches tell
When Geronimo was at the height OF
his power as an outlaw his face was
one Of demoniacal ferocity. His fury
knew no bounds. His temper was so
terrible that he frothed at the mouth
when enraged. If horse did not do
as he wished he killed it, and squaws
who dlspleased him were put to
death.
The last death trail in which he was
engaged was in 1885, and In that raid
he killed 76 white settlers. Gen. Miles
conducted the campaign against him
uhu, uiuSu ny Iuc ldle NIeu. LdWIOD, ne
succeeded in snaring the willy chief In
1886. Geronimo and his fighters were
run to earth at the junction Of the San
Bernardlno and Bavispe rivers, near
the Mexican border, and surrendered
Internationally. They were sent to
Fort Pickens, Fla, and later to Mount
Vernon Barracks, In Alabama, and
then in 1894 were transferred to Fort
Sill. 1t is said that the various cam
paigns waged by the United States
against this murderous redskin cost the
lives Of nearly 1000 soldiers and
$5,O00,0O0 in money.
At one time, to curry favor with the
President that he might be permitted
to return to his native Arizona, Geron-
imo Joined the Dutch Reformed
church. But his habits were 80 bad
that he was dropped from the church,
and he died without acknowledging thu
white mans God.
SENATORIAL SEAT