Geronimo, holding rifle, in his camp before surrender to General Crook, March 27, 1886. Geronimo "one who yawns" (June 16, 1829 - February 17, 1909) was a Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. He was notorious for consistently urging raids and war upon Mexican Provinces and their various towns, and later against American locations across Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Geronimo surrendered to U.S. authorities in 1886 after a lengthy pursuit. As a prisoner of war in old age he became a celebrity and appeared in fairs, but was never allowed to return to the land of his birth. He died in 1909 from complications of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.