#Geronimo

Geronimo Birthplace Monument by the Gila Cliff Dwellings New Mexico. The famous Apache warrior, who although was never a chief, is remembered perhaps as one of the most famous Indian’s of North American modern history. We have all yelled it before jumping into a lake from a rock or cliff, GERONIMOOOO! Now I was blessed enough to see his birth country, right there in the Gila National Park in New Mexico. #Geronimo #indian #Apache #newmexico

“Honoring an Apache Warrior
Memorial Project for Geronimo Helps Mark Public Lands Day

GILA WILDERNESS, N.M., Sept. 19 -- Almost 7,000 feet high in the middle of the country's first preserved wilderness, before the cement was mixed and the rocks and mortar were laid, this volunteer project started with an it'edjidile, a blessing, in the language of the Apache.

Harlyn Geronimo, a medicine man and the great-grandson of the Chiricahua Apache warrior Geronimo, prayed, raising fingertips smeared with the yellow pollen of the river cattail to a gray, overcast sky.” Read full source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

Here is where we stayed, which is near the cliff dwellings. It also has, across the street, an entire walled memorial to the Apache’s and a lot more about Geronimo.

Here is a bit more on this legend:
"Geronimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua: Goyaałé ) "the one who yawns"; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua Apache tribe. From 1850 to 1886 Geronimo joined with members of three other Chiricahua Apache bands—the Tchihende, the Tsokanende and the Nednhi—to carry out numerous raids as well as resistance to US and Mexican military campaigns in the northern Mexico states of Chihuahua and Sonora, and in the southwestern American territories of New Mexico and Arizona."
…
"In his old age, Geronimo became a celebrity. He appeared at fairs, including the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, where he reportedly rode a ferris wheel and sold souvenirs and photographs of himself. However, he was not allowed to return to the land of his birth. He died at the Fort Sill hospital in 1909.[8] He was still a prisoner of war. He is buried at the Fort Sill Indian Agency Cemetery surrounded by the graves of relatives and other Apache prisoners of war.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo

The Gila wilderness is vast, still to this day. Stories of killer bears and mountain lions, not too mention the snakes and big game, still echo about around campfires. Not too long ago, a man was eaten alive by a mountain lion, right near where we camped while there!

By the way, here is the nice RV campground we hunkered down at. The hot springs down the street, by the river were great!

Gila Hot Springs RV Park
34-48 Airstrip Rd, Silver City, NM 88061 Airstrip Rd, Silver City, NM 88061, USA
The famous Indian of the Apache tribes, Geronimo at his Birthplace Monument by the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico.