Native American Leaders: Apache Indians

Profiles the life of the Apache warrior Geronimo and the state of the American Southwest during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Discusses the myth and the man Geronimo became in the minds of many people, and provides a point-counterpoint analysis as to whether he was a villain or a hero.

Examines the life and legacy of Geronimo, a Native American leader and medicine man of the Chiricahua Apache who fought to protect his tribal lands.

An account of the last years of the free Apaches providing a description of the reservations, where the Apaches were deceived and abused by the United States government and its agents, while at the same time acknowledging reliable contemporary sources that reported on the Apaches' cruelty.

"They called him Mickey Free. His kidnapping started the longest war in American history, and both sides--the Apaches and the white invaders--blamed him for it. A mixed-blood warrior who moved uneasily between the worlds of the Apaches and the American soldiers, he was never trusted by either but desperately needed by both. He was the only man Geronimo ever feared. He played a pivotal role in this long war for the desert Southwest from its beginning in 1861 until its end in 1890 with his pursuit of the renegade scout, Apache Kid"--Dust jacket.