Description
“Geronimo, The Man, His Time, His Place”, written by Angie Debo, is about one of the most important Indian leaders in history.
Though September 5, 1886, is marked as the day that Geronimo surrendered to Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles, there is more to this story than a man’s surrender. He wasn’t alone at the time. With him were fellow Apache leader, Chief Naiche (the son of the great Cochise), 16 other warriors, 14 women, and six children. Besides his small band, the U.S. government rounded up 394 of his tribesmen, including his wife and children. They were loaded into railroad cars and shipped to Florida. For 23 years Geronimo, he was in captivity at Fort Pickens, Florida; Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama; and then Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Debo began her research on Geronimo around 1957. She went to the Mescalero Reservation in 1957 to interview Geronimo’s son and granddaughter. Reading Debo’s introduction in the first printing in 1976 is enticing enough to keep turning the pages. This book is filled with quotes and recollections of Geronimo and others.
Historical content is enhanced through the use of the photographic images. This book is winner of the Southwestern Library Association Book Award, Southwest Book Award for Biography, and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Nonfiction.
Softcover, 480 pages. University of Oklahoma Press.
Angie Elbertha Debo (1890-1988) was born in Kansas. She came to Oklahoma Territory at the age of 9 with her parents. During her lifetime, she wrote 13 books and hundreds of articles about Native American and Oklahoma history. She was hailed as Oklahoma’s great historian. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1950 and the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984.
