The Bones of Geronimo

By Terry W. Drake

The Bones of Geronimo is a book about two border patrol agents of Sierra Vista, Arizona, one of which is a descendant of Geronimo. These two agents experience the thrill of the chase to capture illegal aliens crossing the border at night. They have an outstanding arrest record for undocumented and illegal aliens in their joint portfolio. They make numerous excursions into the desert, and by campfire, Gerald Gerome Geronimootherwise called Jerry by his associatetells stories of his great-grandfather, Chief Geronimo. The flashbacks to the Indian wars between the Mexican Army and the United States Army add flavor at points in the current events. They capture ten undocumented aliens and, by executive order from President Obama, are ordered to release them if they had not committed any other crime but entry into the United States.

Samuel Jackson Silverstone, known as Jack to his friends, obeys the order but plants GPS tracking devices into their rears under the guise of a tuberculosis injection. He returns the illegal aliens to the spot they were captured and turns to watch them run away. Jerry and Jack return to the sheriffs office and turn on the tracking computer to watch the screen display ten individuals disperse into the desert. Two of the individuals return to Mexico and drop off the screens attention. The other eight individuals are seen throughout the night walking toward town. They observe their movements and wait. They respond to alarms that are set off concerning robberies and murder and exercise their rights to arrest offending criminals.

Jerry is troubled by the news of his goal to return the bones of Geronimo to his birthplace requested by the Apache chief of the Bedonkohe tribe. His request was to be buried in the Triplet Mountains of San Carlos near the headwaters of the Gila River. Geronimo was buried at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, where his formal request was ignored. However, Jerry learns that the Skull and Bones Society from Yale University has stolen the bones of Geronimo for their collection, particularly by Prescott Bush and six other bones men in 1918. Jerrys group appeals to the congress and Pres. George W. Bush concerning the return of the bones of Geronimo.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503561205

Terry W. Drake

The author was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, on July 20, 1948. It is a small town in the south east corner of the state. He joined the United States Air Force in the middle of the Vietnam War era in August 1966. He served four years in the military, acquiring the G.I. Bill for his college education. He attended the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where he earned his Bachelor in Business Administration degree and continued on in graduate school. He obtained his Master in Business Administration in May 1975 and received his Certificate in Public Accounting in June 1976. The author is the former General Manager for the Board of Public Utilities in Kansas City, Kansas, and a former Board Member for the American Public Power Association. He has served on the Board of Western Fuels Association and is a member of The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In his last eight years in public service, he lived in the United States Territory of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas. He served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Water and Power Authority and as a special financial consultant to the Government of the Virgin Islands. The author began his new career in writing after the death of his wife Deanna in 2004 and now lives in Kansas City, Kansas. Mr. Drake is the father of three children. His elder daughter Terry Christine Drake lives in Everett, Washington, with her two sons Sean and Jacob, his younger daughter Dresden Marie Drake Goldberg lives in Frisco, Texas, with her husband Stephen Arnold Goldberg and their twin girls Hannah and Harper, and the authors son Brandon Octavian Lee Drake lives in Tampa, Florida, just after serving eight years in the United States Navy stationed in Japan.

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Chapter 2

The Skull and Bones Society

JERRY JOINED JACK in the police department lounge early morning around seven and sat watching the news reports on the city’s broadcast Channel 12 when he got some coffee and settled in next to his senior partner. Jack had been a field agent with the ATF for ten years and enjoyed the rewards of his higher rank. Jerry, however, has only been with the organization for five years. He had obtained his master’s degree in criminal justice, a six-year commitment, from the University of Phoenix with emphasis in intelligence management and cyber crime. Jerry will turn thirty on his birthday, November 3, and remains seven years junior to his elder partner who will turn thirty-seven on July 20, 2012. Jerry was born November 3, 1982, in Safford, Arizona, along the Gila River. They have agreed to meet to go out in the desert to campout and observe any traffic that may come their way.

The Gila River is a tributary of the great Colorado River and the birthplace of Geronimo, known at birth as Goyaale, born in June 1829. The Bedonkohe tribe was one of seven separate tribes of the Apache from New Mexico to Arizona, all of which at that time was under Mexican occupation and control. During Geronimo’s time, the Bedonkohe tribe was under Chief Mahko, his grandfather, and then thereafter his father’s death, the chief was Mangus Colorado. The next tribe south in the region was the Chokonen (Chiracahua) Apache ruled by Chief Cochise. The next tribe Nedni Apache was southwest and ruled by Chief Whoa. The Che-hen-ne or Ojo Caliente was east and the hot springs Apache were ruled by Chief Victoria. The White Mountain Apaches were north and ruled by Chief Hash-ka-ri-la. Finally, the Chi-e-a-hen Apache were west and ruled by Chief Co-si-to and Chief Co-da-hoo-yah.

Jack turned to Jerry from his television program waiting on the election results from the last election November 2, 2010, and said, What is that you seem to be studying?

These documents were put together by our tribal counsel for the benefit of my family project to return the skull and bones of Geronimo to San Carlos along the Gila River where Geronimo was born. It is the Apache custom, and I have shared this project with you before.

I was just curious. You know that Tom Crosby had won his seat on the council with his swearing-in ceremony on January 2011. I believe you have met him before. He has a top-secret clearance through our organization. He, while in Spokane, Washington, worked for the Air Smuggling Investigators Association. He is well thought of and has received commendations. Tom has worked in Border Patrol from the San Diego Sector Intelligence Office. You can be certain he will take interest in our operation, and he has the clearance to ask questions. Locally, he had flown helicopters for the border patrol. I live just south of the airport where he had a base of operation until his retirement in 2009 from the Border Patrol. We need to move out to our desert stakeout in a few minutes. I already have our horses in the trailer with our supplies in a cooler. Our sleeping bags and blankets are stored in the front section of the horse trailer, Jack reported.

Jerry just shrugged his shoulders, got up to get more coffee, and returned to his report and said, Okay! Did you get coffee for the morning? Jack nodded his affirmative response and returned his attention to the local news that had been prerecorded from the last election of November 2, 2010. Jerry turned his attention back to his family report instead of watching reruns.

Kate Cross Eyes Geronimo (Ih-tedda) died in 1954 and was the last known surviving wife of Geronimo. Her grandson Harlyn Geronimo was born in 1947 and has been active in the pursuit of the recovery of Geronimo’s bones for burial in his homeland according to Apache tradition. Harlyn is the son of Marion Geronimo who is in turn the daughter of Ih-tedda. His investigation has led to disturbing knowledge that perhaps Geronimo’s bones are no longer buried at Fort Sill in Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma. He has discovered that a secret society of Yale University from New Haven, Connecticut, known as the Skull and Bones Society, may have taken Geronimo’s bones to their headquarters, known as the Tomb back in 1918.

Prescott Bush and six other bonesmen, as society members are called, were among those who robbed the grave site and relocated the bones of Geronimo to their society’s headquarters. A tribal council leader by the name of Raleigh Thompson met with members of the Skull and Bones Society in 1986 to reacquire Geronimo’s bones. Joe Sparks is the legal counsel of the family and the Apache nation, represented by the chairman of the San Carlos Apaches, Ned Anderson. They all met with Jonathan Bush and other society members. Jonathan is the brother of Pres. George H. W. Bush and son of the offending Prescott Bush. The society’s attorney is Endicott Davison, and he states that the whole controversy is a hoax and that the society does not have possession of Geronimo’s skull.

Skull and Bones Society members have threatened legal action if pictures and a copy of a logbook accounting for the grave robbing incident are not returned to the society. Jerry feels that the Society of Skull and Bones would not be interested in the logbook’s entry of the incident if the story was false or a hoax as the society’s attorney described the events.

Staff member of the New Yorker magazine Alexandra Robbins states that her research supports the Apache Indians’ statements and accusations about the grave-robbing incident. Marc Wortman published in the Yale Alumni Magazine back in 2006 that Geronimo’s bones are inside the Tomb at society headquarters and that a society member confirmed this observation. Winter Mead had informed F. Trubee Davison about the presence of Geronimo’s bones in the Society Tomb.

The collegiate school was founded on October 9, 1701, as a private Ivy League school in New Haven, Connecticut. The community was still a colony, and the name of the school was changed in 1718 to Yale College to honor contributions from Elihu Yale, the governor of the British East India Company. The colony of Connecticut was founded by Thomas Hooker in 1636. It became a state of the Union on February 6, 1788, a full seventy years after Yale College was funded. Connecticut means beside the long tidal river. Its original government was by the church known as a Theocracy, but they soon changed their government to that of common law when too many religions with different philosophies arrived. In 1887, the name was again changed to Yale University with fifteen academic schools and twelve residential colleges and an endowment now worth over twenty billion dollars.

Yale alumni have been represented on almost every election campaign for president since 1972. Among their alumni who were successful candidates in the election for president were Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Nominations included John Kerry for president in 2004, Joseph Lieberman as vice president in 2000, and Sargent Shriver for vice president in 1972. Hillary Rodham Clinton made a serious bid for the presidency in 2008, Howard Dean in 2004, Gary Hart in 1984 and 1988, Paul Tsongas in 1992, Pat Robertson in 1988, and Jerry Brown in 1976, 1980, and 1992.

Besides the secret society of The Skull and Bones, they also have the Scroll and Key Society, Mace and Chain, Book and Snake, Wolf’s Head, Elihu, Berzelius, St. Elmo, and Manuscript, and among the oldest secret society are the Aurelian from 1910 and the Torch Honor Society from 1916. The Skull and Bones Society remains the oldest after being funded by William H. Russell in 1832. This even predates the founding of the university who adopted the society as a fraternity for men. Some of the most powerful and influential men of our country were members of this secret society.

Bonesmen included among their membership are Pres. George H. W. Bush, Pres. George W. Bush, Prescott Bush, and Senator John Kerry. The Skull and Bones Society included the prominent families of Bush, Harriman, Lord, Phelps, Rockefeller, Whitney and President Taft. Some of the country’s most respected financial institutions had Skull and Bones members from J. P. Morgan, Morgan-Stanley Dean Witter, and Brown Brothers Harriman, and several bonesmen have been linked to the Federal Reserve.

Bonesmen have assumed positions in the CIA and the Supreme Court as well as positions as attorney generals and secretaries of state. Society members have been elected as senators, representatives, and president. They control the wealth of the Rockefellers, Carnegie, and Ford families. Their influence is widespread and immersed in controversy for providing financial backing to Adolf Hitler’s early years and the neo-Nazi doctrine.

Actress Meryl Streep, the Academy Award winner, was a Yale School of Drama classmate of 1975. Pres. William Howard Taft graduated from Yale in 1878. Nathan Hale and Eli Whitney were Yale graduates. The list of famous people is extensive, and their influence is expanded by graduating actors such as Vincent Price, Henry Winkler, Paul Newman, Sigourney Weaver, Jodie Foster, and Oliver Stone.

The current Yale president is Peter Salovey with an endowment fund over twenty billion. They have over twelve thousand students trained by three thousand six hundred staff members. Their motto is light and truth, which we, as a group of Apache family members, will test in coming months.

Jerry placed his report back into his case and got more coffee for their trip into the desert. I’m ready when you are.

Give me just a few minutes to see the statewide election results, Jack replied as he sipped his coffee, and Jerry pulled up a chair alongside him.

You already know the results of these elections from November 2, 2010. This is a rerun.

I am just trying to familiarize myself with our state leaders to ensure I’ve not missed anything.

The commentator on Channel 12 revealed the election results. "Jan Brewer, Republican for governor, defeated challenger Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard 54 percent to 42 percent in elections held November 2, 2010. Party primaries were held on August 24, 2010, when the incumbent governor won her party’s nomination. She had gained her position as governor by the resignation of Janet Napolitano, who resigned to accept a presidential appointment as secretary of Homeland Security on January 21, 2009. Janet Brewer at that time was secretary of state and next in line to the vacancy in the position of governor. The state does not have a lieutenant governor position at the time of her appointment. She had signed into law on April 23, 2010, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act known as SB1070. This act contributed to her successful campaign because it made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to not have an alien registration document. The act further made it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor and knowingly transport them.

"In other races, we have Tom Horne as attorney general. On November 2, 2010, Horne defeated Felecia Rotelini in the race for Arizona attorney general. He had previously served as judge pro tem in Maricopa County Superior Court and was the former special assistant attorney general. He served as the superintendent of public information of the Arizona Department of Education from 2003 to 2011. He was sworn into the office of attorney general on January 3, 2011, and replaced Terry Goddard, who had decided to run for governor. Horne is not without controversy, as the SEC had filed security violations against him as president for the bankrupt investment firm known as T. C. Horne & Co. In July 2011, he was investigated for employment practices that led to the hiring of a woman in a high-level position who did not have a license to practice law. The Phoenix New Times broke the investigation and alleged that Carmen Chenal was the woman in the car and that the two were having an affair. According to an FBI report, Horne was involved in a hit-and-run accident. The FBI has commenced an investigation into campaign finance law violations that involves Kathleen Winn as head of an independent expenditure committee."

I’ve seen enough for now. Would you like to go to Denny’s or IHOP for breakfast?

Jerry turned toward Jack and said, Let’s go to Denny’s.

They both got up and proceeded to their van with a horse trailer attached. Jerry left his car at the police station, while Jack’s car remained at the stables. They found Denny’s within minutes and enjoyed their breakfast before proceeding to a prearranged site halfway between Sierra Vista and Nogales. It is just a few miles south of Rio Rico, the site of Brian Terry’s death.

As they set up camp, Jerry hobbled the horses nearby, giving them grain and water, while Jack erected a tent. They used a metal reflector to direct the heat from the fire into the tent and also help disguise the light of the fire to the surrounding area. They brought their equipment forward, which included night-vision binoculars and a sniper rifle with a night-vision scope. They were armed with the standard-issue revolvers, and Jerry had one additional rifle that he brought along without a scope attachment. It took a good portion of the morning to set up camp properly, and they were not expecting any daytime entries from across the border.

Chapter 3

At Home on the Range

THEY WERE IN camp for several hours before Jerry asked, What did you bring for lunch?

I have hamburger meat in the plastic container that should last us for two days. The buns are in the knapsack with our plates and utensils. I brought some lettuce leaf, cheese, onion, and tomato slices, and they’re in the second cooler in a plastic container with our Cokes and root beer. I have brought strip steaks for our dinners tonight and tomorrow night should we decide to stay on past the one night.

What about breakfast?

Did you think I would forget that? I have a carton of large eggs with a pound of bacon in the other cooler with a twelve pack of Miller Lite. We can save the beer for later tonight while we are on watch. We can pace ourselves and have enough for tomorrow night as well.

You seem to have thought of everything. Did you bring ammunition?

Damn, I just thought I would forget something at five in the morning.

You mean you did forget the ammo?

No, Jerry, I was just kidding. There is plenty of ammunition for our rifles and our pistols in the glove box of the van. I also brought cut firewood in the trailer.

If you ever need any help putting together our supplies, all you have to do is give me a call.

I know that, Jerry, but somehow I seem to work off my own checklist that I developed that covers anything and everything. I feel more comfortable with doing it myself. However, from time to time, I may call you to pick up something I can’t find or don’t have time to retrieve.

That would be just fine. Why were you so interested in the election of November 2010?

I heard a rumor that the elected attorney general may face charges of misconduct in office. I just wanted to see if the political channel had any recent news to reveal.

How is it that you have those suspicions?

I heard a rumor from a friend in Phoenix that says he was involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident with a parked car while a woman stayed in the car, and he inspected the damage. He drove off, leaving no message on the car he damaged and had his car repaired quickly.

That sounds like he may be under surveillance.

You’re thinking along the same line that I am. Jerry, I think it might be the FBI looking into his campaign funding.

I see. I have one more question about our supplies. Did you bring coffee?

Yes, Jerry, there is coffee and a campfire coffee pot in the brown sack in the rear of the van. There are two mugs in the bag. I drink mine black, and I noticed you did as well, so I did not bring creamer or sugar.

Jack turned from the conversation to look through his binoculars and surveyed the surrounding area for movement. Jerry did the same thing, and when no movement was found, he said, I wonder how cold it will get tonight?

I believe the report I saw mentioned forty degrees.

That’s cold enough.

I have extra blankets in the back of the van should we need them in addition to our sleeping bags, Jack replied as he searched the area once more. Jerry got up and retrieved the coffee and supplies and returned to the campfire.

I thought I would make a pot of coffee, if you don’t mind.

That’s fine. I could use a little more. You’ll have to use the water we brought for the horses in that five-gallon jug.

Is there anymore?

No, just ration what we got the horses can do without because they’ll drink from any standing water we run across.

Their observations on the stakeout continued for hours as they finally prepared their lunch. Jerry fried the hamburgers, while Jack retrieved the buns and condiments. They worked silently together, taking observations between moments that allowed the distraction. Jerry grabbed a root beer and gave a Coke to Jack from the cooler.

Have you heard anything further about our suspects at large in the murder of Brian Terry?

No, it seems they have dropped off the face of the Earth somehow, but characters like that can’t remain in hiding forever. They will pop their heads up from the hole their hiding in, and we will get the information from an informant for cash.

They were with the Sinaloa Cartel. Is that your understanding, Jack?

Yes, but we have to be aware that we may get in the middle of their little war over drugs that they are having with some of the other cartels. Particularly, my concern rests with the Gulf Cartel and the Knights Templar Cartel as well.

That strikes me funny that a drug cartel would name them after a religious knight organization from the fourteenth century.

Well, Jerry, there is the La Familia Cartel and the Independent Cartel who seem to be at war among all the cartels.

The reports I read lately mentioned some success in arresting cartel leaders in the Tijuana and the Gulf Cartels.

Yes, they seem to be exposing themselves more as they fight among each other for control over the drug-trafficking routes entering the United States. We are going to hear news on Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga very soon. I predict they will be involved with some action, either delivering drugs or fighting with other competing cartels. Jack predicted.

It seemed like several hours had passed since lunch, and Jerry confirmed it was only two in the afternoon by checking his watch. He looked at Jack, who was making observations through his binoculars, and asked, Where again did you get the name Rocinante for your horse?

"You’ll remember. It comes from the book Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. He is represented in the book as the man of La Mancha, and his faithful stead is basically an old hag that is withered by poor food and conditioning. Don Quixote envisions himself to be a knight on a great mission and his horse as a great and valiant stead. He fights with windmills, thinking them to be dragons. Sancho Panza is local farmer who he enlists as his squire, nicknamed Jerry."

Okay, now you’re pulling my leg, Jerry replied.

Yes, just a little. His nickname is not Jerry. It is Geronimo.

Go on with your story about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Jerry insisted.

Don Quixote’s true love is Dulcinea Del Toboso, which in reality, is a farm girl who knows nothing of his love or his mental condition. He finds an inn on his adventure, which he views as a great castle. My true love these days seems to be Loretta Daabs, and she operates a great restaurant named Manda Le Restaurant and Lounge, Jack said with a smile.

Tell me more about her. Your story about Don Quixote and his horse Rocinante I have heard before.

You have met her at Rendezvous when you joined us there. That’s where you met your girlfriend Tamara Spencer. Loretta Daabs was married here in town and married to an army captain stationed at the fort. When he got transferred out of Arizona, they decided to get divorced, and she kept the house on Pueblo Avenue, and I don’t live that far from either her restaurant or her home from Golf Links Road. They never had children together and that concerned her, thinking it might be her fault. She was tested for fertility and nothing was found to be wrong. The captain went on his way, and she got a job at Manda Le Restaurant and Lounge. She has been alone for two years before we met last August, and her father’s name is Ezra Young.

While Jack continued his surveillance, Jerry paused to think and said, So she was Loretta Young as she was growing up!

That’s right. I caught the comparison right off just as you just did.

Jerry was standing now, looking through his binoculars, as Jack was pointing east toward the outskirts of the border town. Saddle your pony and hand me my rifle.

That lady has a small child with her, and she’s running from a man carrying a knife. They are on the U.S. side of the border, Jack said as he watched the man close in on the woman through the scope on his rifle.

It looks like he means her harm. Jerry, hurry! I’m going to take the shot. He has grabbed her hair, and she is sheltering the child, Jack said, and then he took the shot.

Jerry rode off with the sound of the sniper rifle still echoing in the valley. Jack saddled Rocinante and shifted his fictitious body armor with a smile because he had seen the great man fall at Dulcinea’s feet. Jack rode toward the group and witnessed Jerry standing on the man’s arm holding the knife. He also saw the woman turn to hug her child. Jack guessed she was about three. He dismounted and handcuffed the man, who was clearly Mexican with a shoulder wound, and said, Habla inglés?

No entiendo ingles!

Jack said, Cut his dick off and send him back across the border! I’m through with him.

Jerry picked up the knife, and then the man screamed out, I speak and understand English!

Por lo que hablar y entender el inglés! Jack replied as Jerry smiled.

Why are you trying to kill this woman? Jerry asked as he helped the lady to the saddle. He handed her the child and turned to hear the man’s response. As he turned, the woman kicked the horse on its side, and they dashed off toward the border. Jerry whistled and shouted Cochise return. The horse turned immediately and returned by Jerry’s side.

The man said, I’m not trying to kill her. She is my woman, and I caught her talking to another man who I know wants her. She is not to be trusted. She runs off all the time. I don’t want to see her with another man. My shoulder hurts like fire, and I’m burning up inside. I need a doctor.

You’re coming with us. Just walk up that hill and you will find our camp, Jack said as he mounted his horse. Jerry sat his horse and pushed the lady and her child forward in the saddle.

They climbed the hill together, making the Mexican man walk the whole way. Once there, Jerry placed the woman in the front seat of the van. He shackled the attempted-murder suspect in the back of the van. He bagged the knife in a plastic bag and began to dismantle the camp. Jack intercepted him by saying, "Leave the camp intact. We will take this man to jail and place this lady in protective custody at the police station. We will