Geronimo is one of the most famous figures in the history of the American West. To the Apaches he was a war shaman, or medicine man, respected for the great mystical power he possessed. To his enemies, the Mexicans and the Americans, he was a vicious and fearless warrior. His name became a battle cry that struck terror into the hearts of those who heard it.
The famous Apache warrior, Geronimo, visited Carlisle once during his lifetime. He made short visits to the Carlisle Indian School on his way to and from the Inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 4, 1905. In the inaugural parade six Indian chiefs rode on horseback at the head of the battalion of cadets from the Indian School.
Geronimo had always wanted to go to the Capitol and talk with the "One in Washington," and after years of waiting his wish was gratified when he was invited to leave the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and travel east to appear in the inaugural parade.1 Geronimo and Little Plume, a Black Foot chief, arrived at Carlisle on Tuesday, February 28, 1905.2
On March 2, two days before the inaugural parade, the Indian School contingent paraded in the streets of Carlisle as a preview of their appearance in Washington. The regiment was made up of six troops of unmounted cavalry, fifty men to a troop and a band of forty-six pieces. The boys, dressed in cavalry uniforms and armed with cavalry carbines, also gave an exhibition drill. The part of the procession which attracted the most attention were the six chiefs representing five tribes. The most noted were Geronimo and American Horse, the well-known Sioux chieftain. The others were Hollow Horn Bear, Sioux; Little Plume, Black Foot; Buckskin Charlie, Ute; and Quanah Parker, Comanche. They were decked out in war paints, feathers and blankets.3 Their ponies were painted in similar colors. The ponies, obtained from Bretz's Livery Stable in Carlisle, were cream colored coach horses.4
On that Thursday evening the school assembled in the chapel to listen to the noted visitors who had come to Carlisle to attend the inauguration with the students. Each of the visitors made remarks to the assembled group.5 Geronimo's speech as interpreted by George Wratten appeared in The Arrow March 9, 1905 edition as follows:
My friends: I am going to talk to you a few minutes, listen well to what I say. You are all just the same as my children to me, just the same as if my children are going to school when I look at you all here.
You are here to study, to learn the ways of white men; do it well. You have a father here and a mother also. Your father is here, do as he tells you. Obey him as you would your own father. Although he is not your father, he is a father to you now.
The Lord made my heart good, I feel good wherever I go, I feel very good now as I stand before you. Obey all orders, do as you are told all the time and you won't get hungry. He who owns you holds you in His hands like that and He carries you around like a baby. That is all I have to say to you.
On March 4 the three hundred or more cadets were awakened between three and four o'clock. At 4:30 breakfast was served. Everything was loaded on the Indian Special and the train left the Indian School siding at about 5:30AM, with nearly 400 passengers, a car-load of provisions, and eight or ten head of horses.6
Cumberland County is fortunate to have had a number of excellent photographers who left behind a fascinating visual record of Cumberland County people, places and events. Charles C. Lachman, Frank Beidel, Charles F. Himes, A. A. Line, John N. Choate, Maynard Hoover, and Clyde A. Laughlin are just a few names familiar to those who know early local photographers.