In the past I have been told that a few drops of Native American blood flows in my veins. I have been unable to trace this with certainly, but I would be proud to have a few stands of DNA from a Sioux, Comanche or Apache. Mine would probably be a lesser tribe like the Kickapoo, Karankawa, Bidia, or Tonkawa. Anyway, it would be great to have a little Native Indian blood and be a true Native American rather than an alien. At least my ancestors were legal, I think.

I have recently been reading about a true Native American, Geronimo. He was a remarkable guy and not the savage depicted in the movies. He was a great Apache warrior. He wasn’t even a chief but rather an Apache Medicine Man, which is equivalent to a doctor for the tribe. His mother, wife and three children were killed by Mexican soldiers. After this, he vowed revenge on almost everyone and spent thirty years as a warrior, terrorizing the settlers and military. The soldiers couldn’t catch him as he outsmarted them with every move and evaded capture in mountainous areas where he lived and made his domain. He was like an Osama bin Laden of the 19th Century.

Geronimo, like all Apaches truly adapted to the land and he was actually a part of the canyons and mountains of Southern New Mexico and Arizona. He knew every water hole and hiding place and constantly evaded capture. He was very intelligent and filled with abundant energy and drive. He was completely independent, and literally lived off the land.

He was said to have magical powers. He could walk without leaving tracks, had a gift of mental telepathy and the ability to survive gunshot wounds (he was shot several times in his life). He once entered a cave and soldiers waited outside but he never came out and was later seen in another area. The remarkable thing is that the cave had no other known entrance or exit.

Geronimo was finally captured by General Nelson Miles in Arizona on September 4, 1886. He was sent to Fort Pickens in Florida where he became a tourist attraction and made money signing autographs and pictures. He became so famous he was in the inaugural parade for President Theodore Roosevelt. He died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma at the age of 79.

It was great to read about Geronimo on the porch. It sure beats reading and hearing about the economy, and whether Barack Obama is a Muslim or not. If Geronimo was running for something in November he would get my vote. I think he was a pretty smart guy and might even make a good President. I’ll bet he could even catch Osama bin Laden, he would know where to look