The Odyssey of Geronimo
Twenty-Three Years a Prisoner of War, A Novel
"He was hated by some of his own people, loved by others, but respected by all"
The Odyssey of Geronimo, based on history and Apache culture, but told through his eyes using the truth from fiction, is a revealing epic of his strengths, weaknesses, and character. As a prisoner of war twenty-three years, Geronimo escaped being hanged by civil authorities in Arizona, rose to become a national “superstar,” and became an astute businessman.
During his captivity, Geronimo fathered two children, lost three wives, and married two more. When he died from pneumonia after sleeping drunk all night in a cold rain, he had a small fortune in a Lawton, Oklahoma, bank from selling his autographs, autographed pictures, headdresses, bows and arrows, and other mementos.
He was hated by some of his own people, loved by others, but respected by all.
Book 1, Killer of Witches, begins in 1865 when Yellow Boy is five years old and vanishes overnight with over 500 Mescaleros from Bosque Redondo near Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1865.
Book 2, Blood of the Devil, begins in 1880 in the Sierra Madre stronghold of the great Chiricahua chief, Juh, when Yellow Boy and his warrior brother, Beela-chezzi learn how to find the giant bald witch, who has escaped them, Sangre del Diablo (Blood of the Devil). They have sworn to kill and send him blind to the Happy Land for the murder and scalping of their people.
Book 3, The Last Warrior, continues the powerful story of the Mescalero Apaches fighting for tribal survival against determined ignorance from autocratic government overseers, countering attacks from those misusing their supernatural powers, and choosing sides in White Eye conflicts.
AWARDS
Will Rogers Medallion Award
Fourth Place – October, 2016
New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist
Historical Fiction – November 2016
New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist
Adventure – November, 2016
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Book Details
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Book Details
- Publisher : Tiree Press; 2nd ed. edition (June 7, 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 346 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1633737446
- ISBN-13 : 978-1633737440
- Item Weight : 1.06 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.77 x 9 inches
2021 New Mexico-Arizona
Book Award for Literary Fiction
2020 Will Rogers
Medallion Award Winner!
2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Literary Fiction
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“It is about time a western writer includes an Apache as the central hero in an expansive story of hard and deadly times. Michael Farmer has created a major character, Yellow Boy, caught between two worlds. He suffers and triumphs as he tries to protect his people. Clever, follower of the ancient ways, yet knowing he has to adjust, Yellow Boy is bold, and pushes the boundaries we all understand when it comes to cultural change. More than well researched, this book is dramatic and heart rending as one follows the men and women of his band deep into the rugged and magnificent landscapes we know from Southern New Mexico to the canyon recesses of the Mexican Sierra Madre. Book 1, Killer of Witches in The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache trilogy by Farmer is a keeper.”
—Lynda A. Sánchez,
Author, Historian and Educator.
Coauthor with Eve Ball and Nora Henn of Award Winning, Oral Apache History, Indeh.
Lincoln, New Mexico
