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So, about that Patreon Poll...
🕑 Added 2024-11-10 01:14:59 +0000 UTC“We had one war with Mexico to take Arizona, and we should have another to make her take it back.”
– Quote attributed to General Sherman, page VII, Introduction, The Conquest of Apacheria by Dan L. Thrapp
It's September 4th, 1886. Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.
A man named Goyahkla (One-Who-Yawns) had led his band of 34 Apache to escape the reservation upon which they had been languishing. Under his leadership, they have always remained one step ahead of the US Army. All the same: they have ran their horses to death, they are out of water, and they are surrounded.
Bearing down upon the canyon are 5,000 U.S. and 3,000 Mexican troops.
"For more than five months [Goyahkla's] band ran the soldiers ragged. The combined military might of two great nations succeeded in capturing not a single Chiricahua [Apache], not even a child."
- page 1, Once They Moved Like the Wind by David Roberts
These are the last natives of the United States not on a Reservation. These are the final moments of the Apache wars.
The Apache scouts working under the Army, who both knew Goyahkla personally, came to him under a white flag to make peace. He insults their manhood and calls them traitors. They ask that he surrender, for the women and children's sake. He does so after much hesitation. On his deathbed decades later (I am working to confirm this) he said to his nephew:
"I should have never surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive..."
He was born at the headwaters of the Gila river in June 1829 and would not see a white man until he, himself, was already a man. He would be made a menace to the Mexican government after they scalped his mother, wife, and three young children. During one of his many battles against Mexican soldiers, some at the ends of their lives would cry out to their Saint of Mercy. This name which escaped Mexican lips in their final moments would become the name by which Goyahkla was known as he became a legend to Apache and White Man alike:
Geronimo.
There are moments in the histories I read which leap off the page. Panfilo de Narvaez adrift on a raft, watching the world he was destined to conquer slip over the horizon. The Conquistadors descending down into the Valley of Mexico, in awe of the world they would soon plunder. Julius Caesar being presented the severed-head of Pompey, with tears coming to his eyes as his sickening ambition became a revolting reality.
These are the moments where history ceases to be a series of frustratingly-inconsistent documents nor a problem to solve, and instead becomes an enrapturing and dramatic reality. A moment in time preserved for us, so that we may see the shoulders which bear the burden of our reality.
Geronimo was born at the headwaters of the Gila river and didn't see a white man until he was an adult. He died on a reservation in Oklahoma 6 years after the Wright brother's plane had taken flight. He had killed more Mexicans than he could count. He had ridden in a Cadillac. He had fought at Apache Pass. He was trapped in history. History was trapped in him.
James Baldwin's incredible writings will feature prominently in the video. There is no aspect to Geronimo's life which is not deeply-divisive. No single moment of his existence which is not controversial and open to argument. All the same, when I visited Geronimo's grave, it was not these contradictory accounts which haunted me. Rather, it was the words of James Baldwin yet again, sourced from his seminal work, "Go Tell it on the Mountain":
“It was a sound of rage and weeping which filled the grave,
rage and weeping from time set free,
but bound now in eternity…”
- Go tell it on the mountain, page 203
I'm still deciding on the title. Bear in mind, the title next to the thumbnail is almost never the "true" title. The one exception to this is "The Mad God of the Yucatan". I'm considering both "The World after the Warpath" or "The Last Warpath of the Apache". The title next to the thumbnail will most likely be, "The Last Indian to Surrender". That's not the "true" title because I feel it doesn't capture the story well enough. I don't want to reduce Geronimo to his context.
I am sorry I'm not following the results of the poll. I should not have started one, and I encourage you to unsubscribe if you feel cheated. None of the options I gave to you are beyond possibility, and unless something happens to me, they will one day be covered.
I do hope that my brief retelling of Geronimo's story may help you to see why I'm following this creative impulse. I promise that I'm hard at work and that I'm making this decision because I think it'll result in the best final product for you, the viewer. I feel unspeakably privileged to do whatever-this-is-that-I-do, and you make that possible. You can expect to see the final result of these efforts before the end of the year, but I will concede it's possible that you won't see it until the first quarter of next year. I do have to review Stalker 2 first. These longer history projects take awhile, so I've been working on it off-and-on for some time.
"...Geronimo stands astride the desert Southwest, haunting our collective nightmare of Manifest Destiny. As most of the living Apache see him today, so this narrative attempts to paint him: as one of the heroes of American history"
Page 15, Once They Moved Like the Wind by David Roberts
Thanks for your support and patience,
DJ PC
Comments
Trim Bwegons
Cosigning what everyone else said
whokares
Honestly after reading the posts it clearly seems like you are incredibly passionate about exploring this particular topic, even though i am a bit late to this conversation, i do encourage you to “strike the iron while it’s hot” and tell us the story of the last Indian to surrender.
Connor McPherson
Hey did you post a teasers and then remove the post or am I just going crazy
LoneGunMan7500
I ended up listening to Geronimo’s autobiography because of you. Every time I watch one of your videos it ruins my life a bit more. Thank you Cobbler
Michael Balls Penis
Very stoked to see your thoughts on Geronimo. All the best work comes from passion so I’d rather see the project on Geronimo that you want to make as opposed to another one you don’t. No one cares about that gay ass poll dude, we’re all gonna end up cancelling our subscriptions for the same reason: You raising the monthly to $100 after the overnight borrowing rate goes up 20 points.
Lucas Chaves
I second that
Lucas Chaves
Damn those indians
Baybulat Aşetey
Poll's closed due to Apache.
MO PO
Wow, I always feel inadequate when I see your perspective and I wish I could see the deeper insight that you see. I’m probably just to stupid to see it until some else points it out and everything begins to click. I feel like an NPC.
James Rowe
Cobbler, I (and I think most of us) are subscribed because we love your content. Whether it’s ancient racism or a crackdown (need another one of those, btw, pretty please). Don’t feel like you let anyone down, at the end of the day you have creative control. I truly am excited to watch your work, whatever it may be.
Matthew Freihofer
I for one am offended. How dare you insinuate we care about development time! Quality is what counts. LET THE COBBLER COOK!
Cloud-DMS-l33t
Cheers brother. Screw the poll…Thanks for the update.
Espina
I have watched mad God of the Yucatan 8 times. So far. I'm working through the other histories for the second time. You mentioned my man Tom Holland, (who I only know because of his brother but hes a good egg too). The FBI bricked my phone while I was watching Aztec Pt. 1, EVEN though I'm a woman. Please for the love of Kukulkan, do whatever it is that get you up in the morning.
Tomasz Inn
Do whatever man, i'm autistic person who's absessed about the topic for few moments, do what you love and enjoy, we are here for everything you do, as history nut and ga*er i love your videos so really, do what you want, we want what you want, just don't do ASMR with blackboard chalk
Tomasz Inn
MF expects my overstimulated a*s to read all that while i pay him to make videos where i can listen to what he says like dumba*s i could read books but i don't want to, i have you >:( now out of respect for you as a person i will read it, gosh...
Lucas Chaves
My dad scream geronimo when jumping on the pool . Not sure why I mentioned that but made me more excited for the future video . Let's go
Garrett
I much prefer your content when it’s what you want to share. I couldn’t care less about the poll. Carry on airman.
