Geronimo: An American Legend Page #4

You don't want to get taken alive, no sir.

They got lots of ways to kill you.

One of their favourites is to strip you,

tie you upside down to a wagon wheel.

They pour pitch on you, light you on fire.

I know you are angry about this war.

The White-Eye...

...gave me no choice.

I ask your blessing.

You ask my blessing

after this thing is done.

What I did is right.

Now we are fighting

Mexicans and White-Eye.

The reservation is bad,

but at least we can stay alive.

We have fought the Mexicans for years...

...and the White-Eye will never catch us.

Many Apache will die.

I must send for Nantan Lupan.

We will talk with him.

I ask that you do this.

General Crook and a small detachment

of Apache scouts...

...came across the border

into the Canyon de los Embudos.

Crook had agreed to negotiate terms,

but he intended a hard bargain.

For the rest of his life, he never forgave

Geronimo for jumping Turkey Creek.

Crook maintained his sympathy

for the Apache...

...but between he and Geronimo

all trust had vanished.

There is one God looking down on us all.

We are all children of one God.

I didn't come here to listen to religion.

You broke your word.

You left Turkey Creek.

You killed many White-Eye.

You come back.

Washington wants you to go to Florida.

You do it or I'll come back

with my army and fight.

Nantan Lupan does not understand.

The White-Eye try to change Apache way.

The Apache were doing fine farming corn.

The problem was Geronimo.

I knew Cochise, he was a king.

He was a wise ruler of his people.

I knew Vittorio, he was a proud leader.

And I know Geronimo.

He doesn't want to lead or rule or be wise.

He just wants to fight.

I didn't start this trouble.

The Army killed the Dreamer.

He was calling for war.

If the medicine man had come in

peaceably, he'd be alive.

There's no excuse for taking up arms

against the United States Army.

The Army's the best friend

the Chiricahua ever had.

You know it and I know it.

With all this land,

why is there no room for the Apache?

Why does the White-Eye want all land?

How long in Florida?

Maybe two years, with your families.

I think I can get that.

That's not a bad deal.

A lot of White-Eyes want to see

Geronimo hanged for murder.

Not murder.

War.

Many bad things happen in war.

How many White-Eye did you kill

since you left Turkey Creek?

Maybe 50.

Maybe more.

How many Apaches do you kill?

You killed women and children.

So did you.

We gain nothing by fighting.

We can live on the reservation.

I go there.

You, Nantan Lupan...

...are like a brother to me.

Many of my people want to surrender.

When I was young...

...the White-Eye came

and wanted the land of my people.

When their soldiers burnt our villages,

we moved to the mountains.

When they took our food...

...we ate thorns.

When they killed our children...

...we had more.

We killed all White-Eye that we could.

We starved and we killed...

...but in our hearts...

...we never surrendered.

C.S. Fly, a photographer from Tombstone...

...requested permission

to accompany General Crook to Mexico...

...and record the negotiations.

Much to everyone's surprise, Crook agreed.

Even more surprising, Geronimo

and the other Chiricahua also agreed.

In some mysterious way, they seemed

to understand these pictures...

...would make them immortal.

They are the only known photos

ever taken of the American Indian...

...as an enemy in the field.

Old Nana and his people...

will return to Turkey Creek.

Many of his people are too old to fight.

Nantan Lupan

will make all of you a prisoner.

We have to trust him.

There is no other way.

I called him my brother.

Go if you must. I have made my decision.

I will not surrender to the White-Eye.

I will stay with you and fight.

But now we will be very few.

'Thereby I tender my resignation

as commander of this department.

'I have served you well in the past, but my

judgment has been called into question.

'Without doubt, I made an error

in trusting the word of Geronimo...

'...that he would surrender.

'Perhaps others will be more correct

or more fortunate.

'The real tragedy

I know you do not understand:

'That is, to the Apache people.

'They have lost in me a true friend...

'...and they have few.

'George Crook,

Brigadier General, United States Army.'

I was forced to send this

to Washington a day ago.

They've accepted my resignation...

...with regrets.

General Nelson Miles will replace me.

There's nothing to be done, General?

Nothing.

Graceful retirement for a general

who could not catch Geronimo.

Settlers, prospectors,

land speculators, they won't admit it...

...but the truth is they'd all like to see

the Indian dead.

They see the Army as their weapon.

The Army that fight the Apache is

the only hope of keeping the Apache alive.

Only the Army can protect them.

Yes, sir.

I fought them a long time, General...

...and I figure if I was one of them,

I'd be standing next to Geronimo...

...shooting at the blue coats.

But God made me who I am

and between them or us...

...I figure it's us.

Well, damn it, Al.

Is that the only way we could win?

Well, I can't answer that question.

I'm just a hired hand.

I just want to say,

I didn't always agree with you...

...but you had my respect.

And while you was in charge...

...the Army was a proper piece of work.

Sir.

So, I'm going to quit this damn fool job.

I'm going to go on down to Tucson and...

...I'm going to get drunk.

Take it easy, Al.

Yes, sir.

Al.

General Miles brought with him

an entirely new staff of line officers.

Lieutenant Gatewood,

myself and many others...

...had to taste the humiliation

of being dismissed from the field.

I'm honoured to be here

with you men of the Sixth Cavalry.

Honoured to be here by the order

of the President of the United States.

We are charged with bringing in

the renegade Apache, Geronimo.

We will accomplish this task.

We will succeed.

But we're abandoning

certain practices of the past:

Over reliance on Apache scouts.

Men of divided loyalties.

I will keep troops in the field

until the enemy is fully subjugated...

...fully pacified.

There will be no compromise

with the honour of our nation.

There will be no compromise

with the honour of the United States Army.

Captain.

As he had promised,

General Miles sent troops forward...

...without the Apache scouts.

For the next five months,

they relentlessly searched...

...but the results were predictable.

Geronimo and his tiny band of Chiricahua...

...had vanished deep

into the mountains of Mexico.

It seemed they were chasing a spirit

more than a man.

Lieutenant.

I doubt if you're enjoying

your current assignment.

Nothing personal,

I understand you're a fine officer.

Do you know why

I called you here, Gatewood?

No, sir.

Tomorrow a new policy change

will be announced.

As punishment for Geronimo's resistance.

All Chiricahua living on reservation land

are to be rounded up and sent to Florida.

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