I said to General Miles: “All the officers that have been in charge of the Indians have talked that way, and it sounds like a story to me; I hardly believe you.”
He said: “This time it is the truth.”
I said: “General Miles, I do not know the laws of the white man, nor of this new country where you are to send me, and I might break their laws.”
He said: “While I live you will not be arrested.”
Then I agreed to make the treaty. (Since I have been a prisoner of war I have been arrested and placed in the guardhouse twice for drinking whisky.)
We stood between his troopers and my warriors. We placed a large stone on the blanket before us. Our treaty was made by this stone, and it was to last until the stone should crumble to dust; so we made the treaty, and bound each other with an oath.
I do not believe that I have ever violated that treaty; but General Miles41 never fulfilled his promises.
When we had made the treaty General Miles said to me: “My brother, you have in your mind how you are going to kill men, and other thoughts of war; I want you to put that out of your mind, and change your thoughts to peace.”
Then I agreed and gave up my arms. I said: “I will quit the warpath and live at peace hereafter.”
Then General Miles swept a spot of ground clear with his hand, and said: “Your past deeds shall be wiped out like this and you will start a new life.”
XVIII
Surrender of Geronimo
On February 11, 1887, the Senate passed the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate all dispatches of General Miles referring to the surrender of Geronimo, and all instructions given to and correspondence with General Miles in reference to the same.
These papers are published in the Senate Executive Documents, Second Session, 49th Congress, 1886–7, Volume II, Nos. 111 to 125. For an exhaustive account of the conditions of Geronimo’s surrender the reader is referred to that document, but this chapter is given to show briefly the terms of surrender, and corroborate, at least in part, the statements made by Geronimo.
Upon assuming command of the Department of Arizona, General Nelson A. Miles was directed by the War Department to use most vigorous operations for the destruction or capture of the hostile Apaches.
The following extracts are from instructions issued April 20th, 1886, for the information and guidance of troops serving in the southern portion of Arizona and New Mexico.
The chief object of the troops will be to capture or destroy any band of hostile Apache Indians found in this section of country, and to this end the most vigorous and persistent efforts will be required of all officers and soldiers until the object is accomplished.
A sufficient number of reliable Indians will be used as auxiliaries to discover any signs of hostile Indians, and as trailers.
To avoid any advantage the Indians may have by a relay of horses, where a troop or squadron commander is near the hostile Indians he will be justified in dismounting one-half of his command and selecting the lightest and best riders to make pursuit by the most vigorous forced marches until the strength of all the animals of his command shall have been exhausted.
The following telegrams show the efforts of the United States troops and the cooperation of Mexican troops under Governor Torres:
Headquarters Division of the Pacific,
Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.July 22, 1886.
Adjutant General,
Washington, D.C.:The following telegram just received from General Miles:
“Captain Lawton reports, through Colonel Royall, commanding at Fort Huachuca, that his camp surprised Geronimo’s camp on Yongi River, about 130 miles south and east of Campas, Sonora, or nearly 300 miles south of Mexican boundary, capturing all the Indian property, including hundreds of pounds of dried meat and nineteen riding animals. This is the fifth time within three months in which the Indians have been surprised by the troops. While the results have not been decisive, yet it has given encouragement to the troops, and has reduced the numbers and strength of the Indians, and given them a feeling of insecurity even in the remote and almost inaccessible mountains of Old Mexico.”
In absence of division commander.
Headquarters Division of the Pacific,
Presidio of San Francisco, Cal.August 19, 1886.
Adjutant General,
Washington, D.C.:Following received from General Miles, dated 18th:
“Dispatches today from Governor Torres, dated Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, from Colonels Forsyth and Beaumont, commanding Huachuca and Bowie districts, confirms the following: Geronimo with forty Indians is endeavoring to make terms of peace with Mexican authorities of Fronteraz district. One of our scouts, in returning to Fort Huachuca from Lawton’s command, met him, Naiche, and thirteen other Indians on their way to Fronteraz; had a long conversation with them; they said they wanted to make peace, and looked worn and hungry. Geronimo carried his right arm in a sling, bandaged. The splendid work of the troops is evidently having good effect. Should hostiles not surrender to the Mexican authorities, Lawton’s command is south of them, and Wilder, with G and M troops, Fourth Cavalry, moved south to Fronteraz, and will be there by 20th. Lieutenant Lockett, with an effective command, will be in good position tomorrow, near Guadalupe Canyon, in Cajon Bonito Mountains. On the 11th I had a very satisfactory interview with Governor Torres. The Mexican officials are acting in concert with ours.
General O. O. Howard telegraphed from Presidio, San Francisco, California, September 24, 1886, as follows:
… The 6th of September General Miles reports the hostile Apaches made overtures of
