Read By Pat Bottino

"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

Here is one of the most extraordinary and invaluable documents in the annals of
Native American history: the authentic testament of a remarkable "war shaman"
who, for several years, held off both Mexico and the United States in fierce
defense of Apache lands.

During 1905 and 1906, Geronimo, the legendary Apache warrior and honorary war
chief, dictated his story through a native interpreter to S. M. Barrett, then
superintendent of schools in Lawton, Oklahoma. As Geronimo was by then a prisoner
of war, Barrett had to appeal all the way up the chain of command to President
Teddy Roosevelt for permission to record the words of the "Indian outlaw."
Geronimo came to each interview knowing exactly what he wanted to cover,
beginning with the telling of the Apache creation story. When, at the end of the
first session, Barrett posed a question, the only answer he received was
a pronouncement: "Write what I have spoken."

Download File Size:87.92 MB

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