Twenty Three Years a Prisoner of War
by
The Odyssey of Geronimo, based on history and Apache culture but told through his eyes, is a revealing epic of Geronimo’s strengths, weaknesses, and character. As a prisoner of war for twenty-three years, Geronimo escaped being hanged by civil authorities in Arizona, rose to become a national “superstar,” and became an astute businessman. He was invited to three world’s fair expositions, numerous parades and fairs in Oklahoma, and rode with five other famous old warriors in Theodore Roosevelt’s 1905 Inaugural Parade.
During his time in captivity, Geronimo became a justice of the peace at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, a village chief at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and earned pay as an army scout for his leadership. At the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, in front of a massive crowd, he debated General Nelson Appleton Miles about the lies Miles had told to convince him and his warriors to surrender. During the debate, the famed Apache warrior and shaman of great power publicly shamed the powerful general for his lack of integrity in his dealings with the Apaches.
Authentic, powerful, and exhaustively researched, award-winning author W. Michael Farmer paints Geronimo with an unflinching eye, presenting the good, the bad, and the ugly of one of history’s most feared and famous warriors.
