Why We Keep Saying ‘Geronimo!’
When It Comes to The Most Famous Native American, It’s the Myth, Not Reality, That Survived
In the public mind, Geronimo is the best-known Indian of all time. Why? He was not a chief. He was not a leader in the same league with Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, or Victorio. He led only a small personal following of about 30 people, most of them part of his extended family.
One reason may be that he was the last of the great tribal leaders to surrender. But there is more to it than that. How else to explain the continuing resonance of his name? As recently as 2011, in …
