Posted on 06/18/2007 7:25:53 PM PDT by RDTF
SANTA FE, N.M. — Legend has it that Yale University's ultrasecret Skull and Bones society swiped the remains of American Indian leader Geronimo nearly a century ago from an Army outpost in Oklahoma.
Now, Geronimo's great-grandson wants the remains returned.
Harlyn Geronimo, 59, of Mescalero, N.M., wants to prove the skull and bones purportedly taken from a burial plot in Fort Sill, Okla., are indeed those of his great-grandfather. They're now said to be in a stone tomb that serves as the club's headquarters.
If they are proven to be those of Geronimo, his great-grandson wants them buried near the Indian leader's birthplace in southern New Mexico's Gila Wilderness.
"He died as a prisoner of war, and he is still a prisoner of war because his remains were not returned to his homeland," Harlyn Geronimo said. "Presently, we are looking for a proper consecrated burial."
-snip-
Harlyn Geronimo wrote last year to President Bush, seeking his help in recovering the bones. He thought that since the president's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was allegedly one of those who helped steal the bones in 1918, the president would want to help return them.
But, Harlyn Geronimo said, "I haven't heard a word."
The White House did not respond to messages seeking comment.
President Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, both attended Yale and joined the elite club. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, is also a Bonesman, as are many other men in powerful government and industry positions.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
If S&B has the real skull of Geronimo, of course it must be buried.
If they are there then all the property and assets of the skull and bones needs to be turned over to this man.
Maybe this will get the attention of our president.
The citizens of this country haven’t been able to do so.
This has surfaced every ten years or so.
Cecil Adams of the Straight Dope has the whole story.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051111.html
“they’d had the skull examined and found it wasn’t Geronimo’s but rather that of a ten-year-old boy”
All indications are that S&B does not have Geronimo’s skull. For example a photo taken in 1878 showed Bonesmen around a case with a skull. The same photo, reprinted later claimed it was Geronimo’s...interesting how they got it before he died.
His grave in 1918, when Prescott Bush allegedly took the skull, was unmarked and undisturbed.
Also, it has been printed that “But here’s the thing: There’s no good reason to believe Geronimo’s remains ever left Oklahoma, and plenty of reasons to think they didn’t. One obvious problem is the description of the theft in the S&B history: “The ring of pick on stone and thud of earth on earth alone disturbs the peace of the prairie. An axe pried open the iron door of the tomb, and Pat [short for ‘patriarch,’ the honorific used among S&B alums] Bush entered and started to dig. . . . At the exact bottom of the small round hole, Pat James dug deep and pried out the trophy itself. . . . We quickly closed the grave, shut the door and sped home.”
What a hoot, eh? Trouble is, the description bears no relationship to the actual burial place, which wasn’t a mausoleum with a door, as the account suggests, but rather a conventional grave in the ground. An S&B representative has described the “crook” account as a hoax, and no less than celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, in The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty (2004), writes that the whole thing was a tall tale cooked up by Prescott Bush and friends that made its way into S&B lore. OK, so Kelley isn’t a sterling source, but most accounts agree that stories of Geronimo’s bones having been moved were circulating before 1918—put in play, perhaps, by the local Apache in hopes of discouraging thieves. (Today the grave is covered by a concrete slab and marked with a pyramid of stones, but these were added after 1918.) A Fort Sill spokesman tells me, “There is no evidence to indicate the bones are anywhere but in the grave site.”
See reply #7 for the url for the full story the quote in #8 was taken from.
Pound sand, Harlyn Geronimo. Anyway, I thought it was Pancho Villa’s skull.
Somebody alert Ron Paul! This is something he can work with.
The presidency already has the Tecumseh curse on it. The Bushes are tempting fate with the addition of a curse from Geronimo.
Wow, what pulled their ripcord?
Next thing you know, they’ll want GHW’s Spear of Destiny.
Don’t you wish you had something to work with?
DNA comparison of bones in the gravesite and Yale to the great-grandson would settle the matter, yes?
The Amarillo newspaper ran a story on Pancho Villa several years ago. His widow (how old must she have been?) had the body dug up to be interred in Mexico City and the skull was missing. Her lawyer blamed the S&B who gave the strange reply that “if you can prove we have it, we’ll give it back.”
I think they love a good joke as much as anyone.
If only Geranima had died on the Mexican side of the border then that skull would have qualified for free medical care for life!
Pure crap and not the first time this has come up. They’ve made claims in the past that were disproved. That skull was placed in the box years before Geronomo died. “Returned to his homeland” — they need to figure it out that treaties and other proclamations be damned, their tribes were overrun by a stronger tribe just like their tribe at various times conquered other tribes. Too bad, so sad, they are American citizens and their lives will be infinitely better if they leave the tribe mentality behind like our ancestors did centuries ago.
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