Geronimo! And So Much More
I Meet Cochise’s Great Granddaughter
By the time I got to the Mescalero Indian Reservation near the Mexican Border, I had no difficulty whatsoever in accepting the Apache’s story that Geronimo was first and foremost a Vision Keeper and Medicine Man, and only secondarily, a warrior. How he became the nearly invincible war chief he is remembered as, was part of my story and to write Paint the Wind, I’d been researching and writing for five years.
Elbys Hugar, the great-granddaughter of Cochise, the legendary Chiracahua Apache Chief, became my guide and general factotum. She was an elder of the Mescalero Apaches and had extraordinary knowledge of the old ways… she’d spoken only Apache until in her thirties, and lived in a teepee on her father’s land. Her generous sharing of knowledge and memories was invaluable to my story.
Blood Brothers
You see, in Paint the Wind there are two brothers, Chance and Hart McAllister – one a gambler, who’s a legend at the poker table and in bed, the other an artist who longs to paint the West before it fades forever.
When Fancy chooses Chance, and embarks on a climb to the top of Leadville and Denver’s silver-rich society, Hart journeys deep into Indian territory and is befriended there by a lone warrior who has saved his life… that Apache is the famed war leader Geronimo, with whose story I fell madly in love. It became essential to my tale to prove that such a friendship could have existed.
I went to Elbys Hugar because I had a problem. I’d based my belief that it could have, in the fact that Cochise had called on his deathbed for only one person, Tom Jeffords, the Indian Agent. Surely, one calls for a true friend at such a moment. (There’s much more to this story …see Winning the West…an Apache Point of view)
Native American Gifts to My Story
I traveled to the Mescalero reservation in search of answers, but it took a while before Elbys trusted me enough to be forthright. I’m afraid the Apaches have good reason to mistrust us. I put the question to her saying many Apache experts and even some young Apaches had told me the friendship I envisioned between Hart and Geronimo couldn’t have existed. She was silent a moment then said, “Cochise was blood brother to Tom Jeffords. Integrity is all that was needed for such a friendship.”
The Indians’ Own Story of How the West Was Won
I learned from the Apaches of a very different version of how the West was won from what I’d been taught in school and at the movies. I heard of plague-ridden blankets handed to the Indians to cause genocide… of forced marches of prisoners without food or water that were meant to kill as many as possible on their way to internment camps. Of peace talks where poisoned meat was served to the Chief’s party, so the Native “guests” died in agony as the soldiers gloated. Of endless treaties signed and never honored.
I learned of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in terrible schools where they were 
routinely abused or killed and tossed into nameless graves.
I also learned from Elbys that Cochise loved a white woman and wanted to marry her, but was forbidden by the Tribal Council to mix the blood of the chieftain’s line with the blood of the White Race that was guilty of such cruelty and the destruction of the tribe and their God-given land.
Scalping Wasn’t the Worst Sin
Did you ever hear much that wasn’t complimentary about the Cavalry soldiers who are so applauded for having rid the west of those pesky Indians whose land the government had stolen? Well, the truth is, those same soldiers raped and murdered Indian women and children routinely. As a matter of fact, it was considered a great war trophy to cut off an Indian woman’s breasts and hang them on your belt for all to see.
Native American Wisdom Shared
I’ll never forget my time with the Indians – Apaches, Picuris and Ute. I raced horses over a sacred mountain with an Indian guide, who told me of the sacred places where the tribal elders go to commune with their ancestors… I learned of our Shadow Bodies that live after us, and of the language the trees speak to each other as they showed me how to listen.
I learned that mysticism and metaphysics are everyday knowledge to an Apache – now – not just in Geronimo’s time. As Geronimo says in Paint the Wind, “the white man goes to his churches to talk about God, the Apache goes to the land and talks to God.” The Great Spirit or Creator, is a very important everyday concept to the Apache Nation.
I learned of the deep reverence Native Americans feel for the earth and all living beings and their sure knowledge of how to protect earth, water and air so we may pass it safely to the next 7 generations for that is our sacred obligation.
I fell in love with the Apaches and wanted to tell of the Winning of the West told from their side of the story. Something long overdue. (see The Winning of the West? An Apache Point of View)
To learn about my relationship with the guns of the old West, please check out Cathy and Her Shootin’ Irons.
