Biography post 3) Response to European / American contact

With the U.S. invading Apache territories after the Mexican-American war tensions were high butt he Chiricahua leader, Geronimo's father-in-law, Cochise, could see where the future was headed (Biograhpy.com,2015). The revered chief called a halt to his decade-long war with the Americans and agreed to the establishment of a reservation for his people on a piece of Apache property (Biograhpy.com,2015). But within just a few years, Cochise died, and the federal government reneged on its agreement, moving the Chiricahua north so that settlers could move into their former lands (Biograhpy.com,2015). This act only further angered Geronimo, setting off a new round of fighting, Geronimo proved to be as elusive as he was aggressive (Biograhpy.com,2015). However, authorities finally caught up with him in 1877 and sent him to the San Carlos Apache reservation, for four long years he struggled with his new reservation life, finally escaping in September 1881 (Biograhpy.com,2015). Over the next five years they engaged in what proved to be the last of the Indian wars against the U.S. Finally, in the summer of 1886, he surrendered, the last Chiricahua to do so (Biograhpy.com,2015). Over the next several years Geronimo and his people were bounced around, first to a prison in Florida, then a prison camp in Alabama, and then Fort Sill in Oklahoma (Biograhpy.com,2015). In total, the group spent 27 years as prisoners of war (Biograhpy.com,2015).