Geronimo

First published in 1906, Geronimo is the collaborative work between Geronimo, chief of the Chiricahua Apache, and author S. M. Barrett. The latter was given special permission from President Theodore Roosevelt to interview Geronimo while he was a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. What Barrett recorded is a blunt, firsthand account of the twenty-five years Geronimo spent fighting the U.S. government.

In Geronimo, the famous Native American discusses the history of the Apache people—where they came from, their early life, and their tribal customs and manners. Geronimo expresses his personal views on how the white men who settled in the West negatively affected his tribe, from wrongs done to his people and removal from their homeland to Geronimo’s imprisonment and forced surrender.

“I am thankful that the President of the United States has given me permission to tell my story. I hope that he and those in authority under him will read my story and judge whether my people have been rightly treated.” —Geronimo

This is the perfect book for anyone interested in the history of America and its native peoples, and this true-life account—from one of the most well-known figures in our country’s history—is both thrilling and sobering.