They survived Geronimo’s surrender, but this 1913 decision tore Apache families apart for good

The Chiricahua Apache’s Heartbreaking Choice of 1913

Freedom came with a cruel catch for the Chiricahua Apache in 1913.

After 27 years as prisoners of war following Geronimo’s surrender, their numbers had dropped from 506 to just 257 due to disease and harsh conditions.

The U.S. government finally offered liberty, but with a bitter choice: move to New Mexico or stay in Oklahoma.

On April 2, families split apart forever as 180 people left for Mescalero while 81 stayed near Apache, Oklahoma. The day became known as “the Parting,” when tears of joy mixed with sobs of grief.

The story of this heartbreaking choice lives on at the Apache Historical Society Museum, where 600+ photographs tell their story.

Geronimo’s Surrender Led to Decades of Jail Time

In September 1886, about 400 Chiricahua Apache became war prisoners after Geronimo gave up fighting. The Army rounded up everyone, even scouts who helped track Geronimo.

They sent them all to Fort Marion in Florida, where unfamiliar tropical diseases hit these desert people hard. The government broke surrender promises and kept them locked up.

Army officers took children from their families and sent them to Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.

Swamp Life Killed Many Apache in Alabama

The Army moved the prisoners to Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama in 1887 when Fort Marion got too crowded. TB, malaria, and other sicknesses spread through the group during their seven years in Alabama’s swamps.

The original group of 506 prisoners shrank fast, with children getting sick most often. Families lived crammed together in rough barracks with bad plumbing and little medical help.

Some kind reformers and officers pushed for a healthier location.

Oklahoma Offered a Fresh Start in 1894

The 296 Apache who lived through Florida and Alabama got to Fort Sill, Oklahoma on October 4, 1894. Army leaders told them Fort Sill would be their forever home.

The War Department even made the base bigger just for Apache families to settle. Each family got land to farm and build on.

The weather felt much better than the swampy Southeast, and people started to hope again.

Apache Built a Community While Still Prisoners

Apache families built houses, grew crops, and created a real community over almost twenty years at Fort Sill. Children went to school while adults worked as farmers and ranchers.

Their numbers kept dropping from ongoing health problems, falling to just 257 people by 1913. Though still prisoners, the Chiricahua made real homes and planted roots.

Most believed Fort Sill would become their permanent home.

Locals Wanted Apache Land After 1910

Oklahoma politicians and businessmen started eyeing the Apache land around 1910, wanting the prisoners gone from the valuable military land. White settlers wanted the property for farms and projects.

Army officials joined the push to move the Apache somewhere else. The extra land set aside for Apache use became a hot topic.

Pressure grew to break the promise that Fort Sill would be their permanent home.

Freedom Came With a Tough Choice in 1912

The Indian Affairs office gave the Chiricahua a tough ultimatum in December 1912.

They could move to Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico mountains or get tiny, scattered land plots around Apache and Fletcher, Oklahoma.

Officials called this the condition for ending their 27-year status as prisoners of war. Families faced a hard choice between freedom with moving or staying near the only home they had known for two decades.

Families Split Between Mountains and Plains

Chiricahua families struggled with the choice that would split their community forever. Some wanted to return to mountain country like their old homeland in New Mexico.

Others refused to leave homes and fields they had worked for 19 years at Fort Sill. Extended families faced permanent separation with no way to stay together.

Each choice meant losing loved ones and further breaking apart their already shrinking community.

Tears Flowed as Trains Pulled Away on April 2, 1913

On April 2, 1913, 180 Chiricahua boarded trains heading for Mescalero, New Mexico. The other 81 people from about 20 families chose to stay in Oklahoma.

Fort Sill Apache today still call this day “the Parting” in their family stories. Relatives said final goodbyes at the train station, knowing they might never see each other again.

People cried about both freedom and deep sadness over family splits.

Oklahoma Apache Got Scattered Across Farmland

The 81 Apache who stayed got moved to small, individual plots by 1914.

Families received bits of land scattered around the towns of Apache and Fletcher, Oklahoma, breaking up their community. The plots were too small and spread out to keep any sense of tribal togetherness.

Those who stayed lost both their Fort Sill community and their relatives who moved to New Mexico. The promise of Fort Sill as their permanent home vanished completely.

New Mexico Offered Mountains But Required Adjustment

The 180 relocated Chiricahua found themselves at Mescalero Reservation in the mountains of southern New Mexico. They had to join an existing Mescalero Apache community after decades away.

Chiricahua families worked to fit in with different Apache groups they hadn’t lived with before. The mountain setting looked more like their original homeland than Oklahoma’s flat plains.

This group managed to keep a more connected community than their Oklahoma relatives.

A Single Tribe Became Two Separate Nations

The 1913 Parting permanently split the Chiricahua Apache into two distinct groups that never reunited. Fort Sill Apache in Oklahoma and Chiricahua at Mescalero grew into separate communities with different paths.

Their 27 years as prisoners of war from 1886 to 1913 had cut their population from 506 to just 257 people. Families torn apart in 1913 never came back together.

Their long-awaited freedom came at the cost of tribal unity and family bonds that could never be restored.

Visiting Apache, Oklahoma

You can learn about the 1913 “Parting” at the Apache Historical Society Museum at 101 W Evans Ave in Apache. The museum is in an 1901 sandstone building that used to be the Apache State Bank, and admission is free.

To see where Chiricahua Apache prisoners lived, visit Fort Sill National Historic Landmark & Museum, open Tuesday-Saturday 9am-5pm. You’ll need a visitor pass from the Visitor Control Center at 6701 Sheridan Rd first.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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