The Castillo de San Marcos—Part 8

by Jennifer Uhlarik

Hello, readers! Is anyone up for one more post about the Castillo de San Marcos? If so, here it is. By now, you’ve followed my posts about the fort being built by Spain in the 1600s, ceded to Britain in the 1700s, returning to Spain’s control again for a few years, eventually becoming an acquisition of the United States, and its fall into the Confederate Army’s hands during the American Civil War. We’ve also looked into the three years during the 1870s when the fort became home to seventy-three Plains Indians, as well as the internment of the Apache Indians a decade after that . So what happened next at the United States’ largest masonry fort? 

 

Life grew relatively quiet at Fort Marion after the Apaches departed. This once busy and crowded structure returned to the mundane service as a storage facility in the days after its last use as a military prison. However, that was only on the inside of the fort. While the ownership of the property belonged to the United States War Department, Fort Marion underwent the “Gilded Age” treatment. Due to its prominent location in the heart of St. Augustine’s historic district—and with it being easily viewed from the waters of Matanzas Bay, as well as standards of that era being on beauty and recreation, the War Department spent much money landscaping the grounds with trees, grass, and benches to turn this 20-acre facility into a park rather than a sterile military facility. Many flocked to the beautiful setting to walk on the extensive web if sidewalks and paths or even tour the ancient building. Fort Marion also became home to Florida’s first golf course. And various special events were held on the grounds—including the likes of early baseball games played by professional African-American players. 

Golfing on the grounds of Fort Marion, circa 1902. This golf course was the
first in Florida!

 

However, eventually, talks turned to whether the War Department should retain control of the facility or hand it off to another department who might make better use of it. On October 15, 1924, Fort Marion and another nearby installation, Fort Matanzas, were both decommissioned as military sites and were transferred into the control of the National Park Service. While the War Department’s main goal was to keep the fort in good repair for use as a jail or storage of military armaments, the NPS’s goal was to preserve the history of the site for ages to come. One significant change they made came in the early 1940s, when the old fort retook the name “Castillo de San Marcos” as it was originally called by Spain.

 

Another thing that occurred during the early 1940s was the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which, as we all know, drew the United States into World War II. With that development, Florida became a busy place for military training and military bases—and once again, St. Augustine and the  Castillo de San Marcos had a role to play. The United States Coast Guard came to town in 1942, taking over several hotels in historic St. Augustine. They placed their recruits in those hotels, then worked a deal with the Castillo de San Marcos to do PT exercises on the fort’s grounds. In addition, several of the casemates inside the fort were turned into classroom space again—just as they’d been used during the incarceration of the Plains and Apache Indians in times past. And the beautiful courtyard became the site of many graduation ceremonies for those who’d completed their training.

Graduation ceremony for the Coast Guard during the 1940s,
held in the courtyard of Castillo de San Marcos.

 

It was a good thing the U.S. Coast Guard had come to St. Augustine during this time. The Germans had long-range plans to do more than just wreak havoc in Europe. They’d also set their sights on the United States, and Florida was one area they were targeting. With an offensive code-named Operation Drumbeat, German submarines infiltrated the waters around Florida. In a matter of months, they sank roughly 400 ships and took thousands of sailors’ lives. This state, usually known for tranquil waters and pristine white-sand beaches became a nightmare where, many mornings, people would awaken to find bodies and carnage littering the shorelines. Even more frightening was the night in June 1942, when four German spies made it ashore from one of these German subs, carrying American money and explosives. Thankfully, those men were captured before they could carry out their nefarious plans. Once this was discovered, special patrols of Coast Guard members patrolled the beaches on horseback, in Jeeps, or even on foot with specially trained dogs.

Coast Guard and trained dogs patrolling
Florida beaches during WWII

 

As I’m sure everyone knows, World War II lasted until 1945. As troops returned to American soil, many who had come to Florida for training or service at one of the 172 military installations in the state decided to return here once they’d made it home. What had been a relatively quiet, agriculture-based state with only small pockets of tourist areas prior to the war suddenly flooded with newcomers. Across the nation, the population boomed following the soldiers’ return—at an average rate of about fifteen percent. In Florida, the boom was three times that amount, or 46%! The state officially became one of the tourist capitals of the country, and St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos remain one of the most captivating vacation spots to this day!

 

It's Your Turn: If you have been following along on these posts about St. Augustine’s Castillo de San Marcos, what time period did you find to be the most interesting? If you have not read the entire series of posts, what piece of today’s post was most intriguing?

 

 

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Love's Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

 

 

The Castillo de San Marcos--Part 7

by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Hello, readers! Are you ready for more interesting history about the oldest masonry fort on U.S. soil? If you’ve been following along, you’ve learned all about the fort’s founding and how it was passed between Spain, Britain, Spain again, the United States, and even fell to the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Last month, I told you how, for a period of three years during the 1870s, the fort became home to seventy-three Plains Indians. And this month, I’ll share another interesting chapter of the Castillo’s history—the internment of the Apache Indians.

 

Just as we learned in last month’s post about the Plains Indians, the Native Americans of all tribes were struggling to acclimate to the idea of so many white men flooding into what had been their traditional territories. The Apaches were no different, and conflicts sparked between these groups all across Arizona for decades. Fierce warriors that they were, the Apaches fought hard against the incoming settlers, making homesteading in the Southwest a difficult endeavor. The Frontier Army came in and attempted to subdue the Apaches, placing them on reservation lands, but as so often happened, those promised lands ended up being found to have hidden value in the form of gold, silver, or other resources. Or the government didn’t deliver the promised supplies—cattle and other food supplies, blankets and clothing, etc. So new treaties were negotiated, and new boundaries drawn up, shrinking the sizes of reservations or moving them to new locations all together, all so that white men could capitalize on the resources they’d found on reservation lands—or with more promises of better supplies in the new locales. As anyone would, the Apaches grew tired of this shuffling and broken promises. Bands began breaking out of the reservations to go again on raids and make war on the Army and settlements for these unfair practices, as well as to provide for their families. Ultimately, this war went on for years, but slowly ended as Apache leader after Apache leader finally surrendered when they couldn’t keep going.

Apache Men sitting among cannons housed
at Fort Marion, circa 1886

Similar to the Plains Indians, various Apache men were chosen to be sent to Florida for incarceration at Fort Marion. What was different from the Plains Indians incarceration was that women and children were also sent to the fort. They arrived by train on April 16, 1886. Of course, all of St. Augustine came out to gawk at the new arrivals. The oldest men came first, wrapped in their blankets. Following them came the younger warriors. And lastly, the women and children. While large, the fort could comfortably sleep 150 or so, not the 502 who ended up being sent to Florida for imprisonment. Some of the Apaches were made to sleep in the casemate rooms surrounding the inner courtyard, and many others were sent to the gundeck above to sleep in Sibley tents.

 

As you might imagine, life was difficult in a strange new place, particularly in such tight quarters. The Apaches were given a pound of beef per adult per day, with children receiving half that; fresh bread each day; vegetables and grains like rice, turnips, hominy and beans, as well as a small weekly portion of potatoes and onions. The women were expected to cook the food themselves, except for the bread, which was made down the street at St. Francis Barracks and carted over each morning. They drank coffee with sugar, or they had water from the well within the fort’s walls. 

 

Geronimo, one of the most famous Apache
warriors. While he was not held at Fort Marion,
his wife was, and gave birth to his daughter, Marion
(later renamed Lenna), while there.

There were twelve Apache children born during the year they were incarcerated at Fort Marion, the first of which was Geronimo’s daughter (aptly names “Marion”, although she later changed her name to Lenna). Unfortunately, there were also several deaths in that year. When you stop to consider the sheer number of people in such confined spaces, it isn’t surprising that illness ran rampant among them. Colonel Langdon, who was in charge of overseeing the Apache prisoners, brought in Army physician, Dr. DeWitt Webb, to treat the men, women, and children. Despite his best efforts, Dr. Webb reported that he lost numerous patients to various diseases, such as dysentery, acute bronchitis, marasmus (or wasting disease), old age, epilepsy, tuberculosis, and neonatal tetanus. All told, twenty-four Apaches died during that year in St. Augustine. 

 

In order to make more room during the daylight hours, the Apaches were allowed to spread out outside the fort walls on the grounds and go into town, but even so, there wasn’t much for them to do. Children played games while the adults saw to the needs of their families, cooking, mending clothing, and repairing their few belongings. There wasn’t enough space for much else. The women would weave baskets to sell to locals and tourists, and men and boys would make and sell bows and arrows, as well as offer lessons in how to use the weaponry. However, with the overcrowded conditions, it was harder for the Apaches to make and sell their wares than it had been for the seventy-three Plains Indians a decade before.

 

The prisoners began turning to gambling and card games to pass the time until Colonel Langdon came to the same conclusion that his predecessor, Lt. Richard Henry Pratt, had. They needed stimulation, and it would come through education and assimilation. Colonel Langdon contacted Richard Henry Pratt in Carlisle, PA, to ask him to return to Fort Marion and interview the children to see if any would be a good fit at the Carlisle Indian Residential School, of which Pratt was the founder and headmaster. Upon Pratt’s visit, he selected 103 of the children to return with him to the school, and they young ones were immediately sent on their way under Pratt’s care. At the Carlisle Indians School, they children were given military-style uniforms to wear, their hair was cut short, and they were given Christian names.

Apache children in traditional garb on their arrival at Carlisle Indian School (left).
Many of the same children after receiving haircuts and military-style uniforms (right).

 

Of the roughly four hundred remaining Apaches, Colonel Langdon again called upon St. Augustine’s women to begin educating the Natives. Just as with the Plains Indians, Miss Sarah Mather and other local women set up classes so the Apache adults could learn to read, write, and speak English, as well as some simple arithmetic, science, and other subjects. Those children who were not taken to Carlisle, PA, were taken each weekday to a local nunnery where the Sisters of St. Joseph educated them in similar subject matter. Unlike Lt. Pratt before him, Colonel Langdon did not implement a physical training program or having skilled craftsman teaching the Apaches their crafts—more than likely because there were too many prisoners and not enough space for such education.

 

After roughly one year, those Apaches left in St. Augustine were moved again, this time to a reservation in Alabama, and later to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, where they remained.

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Love's Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

Oklahoma History: Fort Sill: An Enduring Legacy Pt 1

 

Fort Sill, Wikipedia Photo

 

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez


Thank you for coming in and joining us for our final fort in “The Forts of Oklahoma Series.” This fort tends to hit a little closer to home, as it is the only fort that is still an active military installation to this day.

The original military occupation of the site is listed as being in 1834, when the 1st US Dragoons established “Camp Comanche” to begin negotiations with local indigenous tribes. In 1852, Captain Marcy arrived to explore the Indian Territory and made the recommendation that the site be considered for a permanent fort. In 1858, Colonel Douglas Cooper also made the same recommendation.

The fort was initially staked out by Major General Philip Sheridan and Colonel George Custer on January 8th 1869. First named Camp Wichita, it was known among the indigenous tribesmen as “The soldier house at Medicine Bluffs.” The installation was later renamed by General Sheridan in honor of his friend Brigadier General Joshua Sill, who was killed during the battle of Stones River, Tennessee, in 1862. The site was staked out as support for the tribal pacification policies enacted by President U.S. Grant in response to increasing raids and massacres just after the War Between the States.

The Indian Territory was quite lawless, particularly after the War Between The States. The only law in the territory was enforced by the U.S. Army including soldiers from the other forts in the Oklahoma/Indian Territory. The policy of pacification was carried out by numerous Indian Agencies that were assigned to different forts throughout the territory, indeed throughout the entirety of the Great Plains.

Some of the more notable visitors to the location were Jefferson Davis, General Henry Leavenworth, Nathan Boone, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ben Clark, and Jack Stilwell.

After several months in operation, President U.S. Grant approved agents from the Quaker Indian Agency to be assigned to the Kiowa and Comanche tribes on their reservations just outside of Fort Sill. The army was prevented from taking punitive actions against the indigenous tribesmen who used Fort Sill as a sanctuary. This resulted in the Warren Wagon Train Raid.

General William Tecumseh Sherman arrived from Fort Richardson shortly after the raid and ordered several of the Kiowa chiefs be brought in for questioning. They were delivered to him at the commanding officer’s quarters, known as “Grierson’s Porch”. During the questioning, he ordered the three chiefs arrested, and they attempted to assassinate him. In memory of the event, the Commanding Officer’s quarters were dubbed “The Sherman House.”

The chiefs: Satank, Satanta, and Addo-Etta (Big Tree) were arrested and ordered to be transported to Texas for trial. A mile from the fort, Satank grabbed the carbine of one of the troopers guarding him, and before he could fire it, was hit by several bullets from the other guards. Satank’s body was left leaning against a tree, and the column continued on its mission to deliver the other two chiefs to Fort Richardson, Texas. A marker commemorates the site where Satank fell. He was buried in “Chiefs Knoll” in the Fort Sill Post Cemetery.

Satanta and Addo-Etta were tried and convicted for instigating the raid and sentenced to death by hanging. Their sentences were commuted to life in prison by Texas Governor Edmund Davis. In October, 1873, they were paroled.

In 1874, the Comanche, Kiowa, and Southern Cheyenne engaged in the “Red River War,” which lasted almost a full year. The last chief to surrender was Quanah Parker. His surrender signaled an end to the indigenous tribesmen involvement in the warfare in the southern plains.

At one point during the 1880s, the fort was nearly deserted when a rumor had been spread that gold was found in the Wichita Mountains nearby, as both the enlisted men and the officers left to stake their claims.

During the 1880’s and 1890’s, one of the units that was stationed at the fort was Troop L of the 7th Cavalry. This troop, consisting entirely of indigenous tribesman, was considered to be one of the best in The West. Several of their members are credited with helping the tribes avert the bloody “Ghost Dance Uprising” in which many tribesmen were brutally killed by the Army.

In 1894, the fort received the Chiricahua Apache chiefs as prisoners of war. The most notable name among them was Geronimo. After having been at the fort for some time, the government allowed him to travel with Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show. Geronimo, with a contingent of Apache, was allowed to attend several annual World Expos and Indian Expos during the 1890’s. They were even able to ride in Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade. Geronimo died of pneumonia, as a prisoner of war in 1909.




Being on the fringes of the Indian Territory, Fort Sill had started to lose significance during the later 1880’s throughout the 1890’s, even into the earlier part of the 20th century. In 1901, the last of the indigenous tribes’ lands to be opened to white settlement was located around Fort Sill. The town of Lawton quickly sprang up, becoming one of the larger cities in the new State of Oklahoma.

The first artillery battery arrived in 1902, and the last cavalry regiment departed in 1907, the year Oklahoma became a state. This marked the historic change in roles from being a little-known frontier cavalry fort to an enduring role as a major artillery fort in the US Army.

Join us next month as we share the more recent chronicles of historic Fort Sill: An Enduring Legacy Pt. 2

The Superstition Mountains

by Susan Page Davis

View of the Superstitions from the west side

The Superstition Mountains in southern Arizona offer beautiful views and are a popular hiking and rock climbing destination. Not far from Phoenix, the mountains can be seen for many miles.
 

The mountains got their name because early settlers heard of the many stories and myths told about them by the Apache and Pima Indians in the area. Later, the legend of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine captured the imaginations of many. To read more about the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, see Nancy Farrier’s earlier post on this blog: http://www.hhhistory.com/2013/04/www.nancyjfarrier.com.html .

On the east side of the Superstions, near the trailhead of the Peralto Canyon trail.

The mountains were once known in Spanish as Sierra de la Espuma, mountain range of foam. The most prominent of the range is Superstition Mountain. Other prominent features include Peralta Canyon, Miner’s Needle, Weaver’s Needle, and Flat Iron Peak. Humans have lived in this area for many thousands of years.

Some Apache believe that a hole leading down into the lower world is located in the Superstition Mountains. Winds blowing from the hole are supposed to be the cause of severe dust storms in the Phoenix metropolitan region.

The Pima Indians have a detailed legend about a widespread flood that has similarities to the biblical account of Noah. In this tale, man was created by Cherwit Make, the Great Butterfly, who later became angry because of man’s bad behavior.

Legend of Suha

Suha, a Pima shaman, was warned by the creator, through the voice of the wind, that if people did not change, they would be destroyed by floods. When the people didn’t listen to Suha’s warnings, he and his wife were told to gather spruce gum and make a large, hollow ball. After stocking this structure with water and food, they crawled inside and sealed it.

The flood came, destroying the other people. Suha and his wife eventually landed in their gum ball on Superstition Mountain. Their food was nearly gone, and they were glad to find a prickly pear, or tuna cactus right outside when they opened a hole in the ball. They ate its fruit and waited. When the water subsided, they went down into the valley and created a new civilization.

This view was much like what stagecoach passengers saw in the 1880s.

There is much more to this myth, and you can read about it here.

Another Pima tale tells of Hauk, the “Devil of Superstition Mountain,” who stole one of Suha’s daughters. Suha followed and rescued his daughter, but some people believe the evil spirit still lurks behind Supersition Mountain and will not go there.







Giveaway:  I decided to use the Superstitions as part of the setting for an upcoming book.  If you would like to win a copy of my earlier book set in northern Arizona’s Four Corners area, leave a comment below and include your contact information. Almost Arizona is a historical romance. In it, you will find a sister’s love and her determination to clear her brother’s name when he is accused of murder.

Susan Page Davis is the author of more than sixty published novels. She’s always interested in the unusual happenings of the past. Her newest books include The Twelve Brides of Christmas and The Outlaw Takes a Bride. She’s a two-time winner of the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award, and also a winner of the Carol Award and the Will Rogers Medallion, and a finalist in the WILLA Awards and the More Than Magic Contest. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com .

Geronimo Goes To The Beach

Geronimo at time of capture

By Marilyn Turk (http://pathwayheart.com.)

In the wee hours of the morning on October 25, 1886, a train pulled into the station at Pensacola, Florida. By 8:30 a.m., people were lined up to view the occupants in the highly publicized event.

Onboard was the most notorious Indian ever captured by the United States Army. Geronimo, along with 14 other Apache warriors, had arrived.

Thirty soldiers stood guard over the Indians while townspeople pointed and gawked at the sight of the natives they’d read about, especially Geronimo. He’d made a laughing stock out of the US Army, avoiding capture many times, then escaping when captured. Newspaper cartoons caricatured the events happening out West which made the elusive Geronimo appear to be the victor instead of the captured.

Apaches at Fort Pickens

Meanwhile, the 62-year-old Apache with the shiny black hair, parted down the middle with a handkerchief tied around it, sat resolute, observing those who came to see him. He had finally surrendered, accepting the conditions of a handshake that guaranteed him his own land. But he and his band of warriors were sent to prison instead. Because the Army didn’t want to risk another embarrassing escape, he was sent to Fort Sam Houston in Texas, then to Florida.

The original plan was to send his entire band to Fort Marion in St. Augustine where 400 other Indians of different tribes were already being held prisoner. However, while Geronimo and his band were “quartered in four big tents” in Texas, several prominent Pensacola residents petitioned the government to have Geronimo’s group sent to Fort Pickens on nearby Santa Rosa Island instead. They pleaded the case that Fort Marion was too crowded and that Army troops from Pensacola’s Fort Barrancas could guard the prisoners in a more secluded environment. The editor of The Pensacolian newspaper noted that Geronimo would be “an attraction which will bring here a great many visitors.”

The Apaches were sent to Florida as scheduled, however, the families were divided. When the train stopped in Pensacola, the men were removed, but their wives and children in a separate rail car continued on to St. Augustine and Fort Marion.

The men were then taken to the wharf to a steamer where they were ushered aboard for the ride across the bay to the island where Fort Pickens awaited.  For most of them, their first boat ride was a frightening experience, while one “old” Indian was reported to enjoy the sight of porpoises running alongside.

Casement room where Apaches lived

At Fort Pickens the Indians lived in two open casemates with fireplaces. They slept on cots and hung netting in their quarters as protection from the mosquitoes. They were issued army rations, cooking utensils, and clothing. At Fort Sam Houston, Geronimo spent his time playing cards with the others in his band. Things were different, though, at Fort Pickens, where the captives were forced to work each day cleaning up the old fort, clearing weeds, planting grass and stacking cannonballs. Model prisoners, they hoped their willingness to cooperate would reunite them with their families.

To see the Apaches, tourists had to first obtain a pass from Colonel Langdon, who was in charge, and pay for a boat trip to the island. Groups of visitors, sometimes as many as 400 a day, took an excursion boat across the bay to see the captives. Geronimo, the “savage” whose reputation struck fear in the hearts of Western settlers, enjoyed his popularity and used it to his advantage, requesting various items from sympathetic tourists. Besides entertaining visitors, Geronimo and some of the other Apaches were sometimes displayed in town, where they charged 25 cents for their pictures and autographs.

Geronimo on the right

Public outcry over the treatment of the Indians pressured Colonel Langdon to petition his superiors for reunification with their families. As a result, on April 27, 1887, the families arrived and were housed in the officers’ quarters on the south side of the fort while single men were moved to similar rooms on the north side.

Soon the sound of women and children was heard at the fort and newspapers reported “Geronimo Happy.” In June 1887, a corn dance was held in celebration of the families’ reunion. About 300 Pensacolians attended by invitation from the Colonel.

One of Geronimo's wives and his children

Unlike at Fort Marion where many Apache prisoners died, the Apaches’ health was generally good at Fort Pickens. There was only one death during the eighteen months they were held there - She-gha, one of Geronimo’s three wives. She was buried at Barrancas National Cemetery.

The fear of yellow fever led the Army to remove the Apaches from Fort Pickens to Mount Vernon Barracks, north of Mobile, Alabama on May 12, 1888. The Apaches were moved a final time to a reservation of 50,000 acres at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1894. Geronimo died there in 1909, having attained fame, but never regaining his freedom or returning to his homeland. The remaining Apaches from his tribe were freed in 1913.

 

Geronimo posing for picture

.

Native American Mission Schools

Apache Boarding School students
 

Today's post is written by guest author and Genesis winner, Kiersti Plog.
 

When I began a story set in 1911 at a Navajo mission school, I imagined a day school where children came in the morning and went home each night. But I quickly discovered boarding schools formed the vast majority of mission or government schools for Native American children during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

These boarding schools formed a cornerstone of the “assimilation” approach to the late 1800s so-called “Indian problem.” With the near-completion of westward expansion, the indigenous inhabitants were quickly being crowded out of their centuries-old homelands and way of life. Though armed resistance seemed mostly subdued after the 1890 tragedy at Wounded Knee, Native Americans’ traditional nomadic lifestyle seemed incompatible with white settlers’, and the United States government simply did not know what to do with them.

Some, including Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, actually advocated for “total annihilation” as a solution. The more “humane” method adopted came largely through boarding schools. By taking Native children from their families and bringing them up in conformity to the dominant culture, they would lose their “Indian-ness” and be able to assimilate into white society—or that was the hope. “Kill the Indian, save the man,” Captain Richard Pratt called it. His Carlisle Indian School, founded in 1879 in Pennsylvania, served as a model for many boarding schools to come.
 

Navajo Tom - Before and after "conversion" 1882
 

When students arrived at school, their hair was shorn short—upsetting to the children, as hair cutting was reserved for mourning in most Native American cultures. Their traditional clothing was taken away, replaced with military-style uniforms. They saw their families only a few times a year. If caught speaking their native language rather than English at school, punishment came fast and often severe. A missionary who has worked on the Navajo reservation most of his life told me many Navajo elders today still carry bitterness and resentment over having their mouths washed out with soap at boarding school, merely for speaking their own language.

As I learned about these schools and the children who attended them, my heart began to be broken. No doubt many of those who founded these boarding schools and advocated for this approach meant well. But when one people automatically assume their ways to be superior and more God-given than another’s, damage is done. On the Navajo reservation, at least two entire generations of children were raised in the militaristic setting of boarding school rather than by their parents. These children themselves thus never learned how to parent, leading to widely disintegrating families today. The attempt to forcibly remove culture and language has also contributed to a deep identity crisis among many Native Americans.

 

Not all children had a bad experience at boarding school. For some who came from poor or even abusive families, school became a refuge of safety and three meals a day. But regardless, the impact of boarding schools on Native American society has been indelible. Many of these schools still exist as mission and day schools on reservations today.

 

 

Kiersti Plog
 

Kiersti Plog holds a life-long love for history and historical fiction and lived with her family for five years in New Mexico near the Navajo Reservation. Her yet-unpublished novel Beneath a Turquoise Sky is set at a Navajo mission boarding school and received the ACFW Genesis Award for Historical Fiction in 2013. She writes stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God’s story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstiplog.com