Bisbee daily review., 1909-02-25
GERONIMO NOT A BRAVE MAN
 BUT CUNNING
Famous Apache Chief De- scribed As a "FourfIuSher" His Wife Frequently Beat Him
(By Charles T. Connell.)

Geronimo. whose true Apache name is Pee ah-ly. is a membcf of the Janos trIbe of Apaches that dwelt in the range of mountains that divide the Etates of Sonora and Chihuahua. Mex leo. He was born on the Janos river on the eastern slope of the Sierra Iadrc mountains in the northern part Of Chihuahua about the year 1928. 2. his tribe affiliated with the Warm Springs or Oio Calientes, whose home was on the Mimbres river in southern New Mexico.
 These two branches of the Apache :Tioe were on friendly terms and in- tcrmarried with the Chiricahuas who lived in and around the Dragoon mountains in the southern part of Arizona They were allies in war and during periods of peace with the whites. exchanged visits. being con sidered by the government, wards of a single nation. Geronimo was con sidered nothing but an Indian round CT by the attaches or the different army posts throughout the southw est in early days and it has been stated npun good authority that his personal vslor was sorely tested by his first Wife. . Mescalero squaw. who beat him severely many times.
 Geronimo, by those with whom he cane in contact in the early history of the Indian reservations on which hc remained. was never known as the brave man he Is represented. Men are living today in Arizona who knew him when he roamed back and forth from Mirnbres river to the Salfhur Springs valley. At the time. moro particularly when he lOafed around the agency at Sulphur Springs which as located about ten miles south of Coehise station on the Southern Pa tific railwty in Arizona. in the years iS74-75, he was simply a hangerOn, a recipient of weekly rations, with no standing other than that of an ordina- ". shiftless buck. roaming here and there, looting and raidinS under the le adership of other men.
 Geronimo's reputation as a warrior vas made by the newspapers of Ari- ] znna and the cores spondents during ! inc Apache outbreaks from 1881 to 1886 on account of his being selected cy Gen. Crook as the most pliable eInisssry to trcat with in consolidating the hostiles.
 Every raid that was made by the different well known war chiefs, Chat 1o Mana, Bonito, Loco and others, who , rsided the country in different sec tions of Arizona and New Mexico, al s1 far down in old Mexico, was cred. ted to Geronimo. Whenever any dep 1 redatiOn was committed. or murder l0us raids consummarred, it was her aided as the work of Geronimo. Nc 1 matter what section of Arizona, New A.,Aico Or old Mexico vas subjected | to Apache deviltry, ir was sent broad r.st that it was the dread Geronimo i a gain To those who knew. it was | Bonito and Chatto. Chihuahua and i Natchez. Loco, Mana or Chili-kana l These were the master hands that led | the murderous raids throughout tho ! stricken country. f
 | But. it is asked, How came Geron I inO to have any power and why is hf | looked upon as an Apache chieItain | is necessary 10 go into the history ' of the Apache nation to answer. one must realize that there are eight dif f ierent Apache tribes. The ones VIC | ave 10 deal with in figuring out tho power of Geronimo are the Chirica hEas. Warm Springs and Janos l Apaches, his native tribe. In the iirs' | p.ace. the Chiricahuas were placed on the San Carlos reservation in May 1876, at which time Geronimo was ar outlaw with Pi-on-ss-nay. The Warn Springs banded with the Rio Aiimbres Of New Mexico with q sprinkling u .5anos Apaches in 1878. The dominat ing branch of thees allied tribes yer, i,Ee Chiricahuas of Arizona, more par ticularly after the death of Victoria he chief of the Warm Springs iT Is79. who was succeeded by Mana ana
 later by Loco. The Chiricahus
 Apaches were headed by Cochise un
 til his death. June s. 1874. He lef
 two sons, Natchez. who Is still living
 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and TaZa, whC ldsed in Washington while on a visI here in 1879.
 Natchez is the hereditary chief o' ine Chiricahua Apaches and has beer since the death of his brother, but 2 4 powerful man among his tribe named .iuh. was the recognized war chief ' tiCrOnimo has often been heralded as
 the chief of the Chiricahuas but it i:
 a well known fact and corrobOETteI
 hy JeffOrds and Hugnes, the agents
 of the tribe in 1S7+76. who are liv
 sns today. that the seif-stylsd- chic
 is but a scheming intcrlopeT. As ts
 -ge Warm Springs. Victoria, the sue -cessor of Mangus Colorado was tn,
 head of the Mimbres branch and va!
 succeeded By Mana. and later by Loco
 Chatto. a ChiTicauhua, was rene gade from an outlawed band o | Apaches gathered together from th, i Iopoteros White Mountains in Ari
 rona and the Burros in New Mexico But upon the Warm Springs being taken to San Carlos he accompanied
 them, with a few followers. BonitC lzas a full-biooded Chiricaaua, IS wa, | Chihuahua When the Apaches. con sisting of the members of these I branches. broke away from the reserya ltion in October. 1881. Juh. a fuli | blooded Apache. was the war chic ! ttat led the allied forces among I ' hom was Geronimo. At this time tGeronimo was but an ordinary buck laad the writer knew him personally
 and can testify that this was true
 He was just ordinary. At this out break in 1881. Natchez did not gc with his tribe nor did Loco of tho Warm Springs and it was not until lApril 19. 1882, that they did go, at this t;me being forced to do SO. by reason ol Juh. who remained in Mexico. send ling a force of about 100 bucks to Sa1 Carlos under Chihuahua. Geronimo old Bonita for that purpose. because Loco then had in his band many oi tEe squaws and young women whc !, were left behind in the flight in the
 September previous.