AUGUST 2024'S TVXOHOF WESTERN - GERONIMO!

When I first began to work out the Zonks in various productions as a Curator of Toobworld, any recastaway was automatically shipped off to other TV dimensions.  But now, I try to chalk up the changes in appearance to differences in perspective by some other character.

For our TV Western entry in August, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame has chosen an historical figure with just enough TV appearances to qualify….

GERONIMO

[The Real Deal]

From Wikipedia:
Gerónimo (lit. 'the one who yawns'; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands – the Tchihende, the Tsokanende (called Chiricahua by Americans) and the Nednhi – to carry out numerous raids, as well as fight against Mexican and U.S. military campaigns in the northern Mexico states of Chihuahua and Sonora and in the southwestern American territories of New Mexico and Arizona.

Here are the credits for Geronimo’s qualification into the TVXOHOF:

STORIES OF THE CENTURY

GERONIMO (1954)

In the TV series 'Stories of the Century' the episode "Geronimo" was aired on February 14, 1954.

Railroad detectives Matt Clark (Jim Davis) and Frankie Adams (Mary Castle), go after Apache chief Geronimo (Chief Yowlachie), who has been identified by Joe Burns (Emile Meyer), the night watchman of the railroad yards, as the leader of a band of freight-car robbers.

TOMBSTONE TERRITORY

GERONIMO (1958)

"Geronimo" was the title of episode 21 of the ABC western series 'Tombstone Territory'. The episode was first broadcast on March 5, 1958, with John Doucette playing the part of Geronimo.

May 26, 1889 - Apache chief Geronimo is looking to resupply his raiding party's ammunition stocks and attacks an army supply train just north of Tombstone killing the small army guard detail. While Sheriff Hollister and his men search the county looking for Geronimo, he makes his way to town and hides out in a pool hall. Waiting for an illegal arms dealer to deliver his ammo, Geronimo is detected and Hollister is only steps away from an encounter with the chief.

MR. HORN (1979 Mini-series)

The story of frontiersman Tom Horn, and his career as a cavalry scout, a tracker, a range detective, and the final events in his life that led to his tragic death.

From Wikipedia:
Geronimo, played by Enrique Lucero, features prominently in the 1979 miniseries 'Mr. Horn', starring David Carradine as Tom Horn.  [The character of Geronimo appeared in the 1979 film ‘Mr. Horn’, despite the fact that Geronimo never met Tom Horn.]

From the IMDb:
Tom Horn was a civilian scout in the Apache Wars (between 1849 and 1886), in Arizona. He saw heavy action in numerous fights with Apache warriors. He eventually rose to the position of Chief of Scouts. Tom Horn was also present at Geronimo's final surrender at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on September 4, 1886, acting as an interpreter. Geronimo was said to have been so impressed by his knowledge of the Apache language that he gave Tom Horn an Apache medicine bag with rocks, small bones and other sacred objects. Tom Horn had the contents up until his hanging and he never let people touch them.

O'Bservation:
Wikipedia vs. the IMDb - I'm presenting both opinions as to whether or not Geronimo and Tom Horn ever met.  I don't plan to do any further research, as Earth Prime-Time is not the same as our Earth Prime.  (If it was, Mark Twain never would have gone to outer space; Lillie Langtry never would have been embraced into vampirism; and John F. Kennedy would not be still alive centuries from now.)

I will say this....  I can't picture Mr. Goldman letting the facts stand in the way of a good story..

PART ONE

From the day Tom Horn is recruited by Al Sieber to become a Cavalry scout, until the deadly persecution of Geronimo.

Contrary to the statement at the beginning of the film, Geronimo never was captured. Geronimo surrendered and met with United States Military officers, surrendering to General Miles on September 4, 1886 at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. A pile of stones still marks the site of Geronimo's surrender. Tom Horn personally escorted Geronimo to the train station at Bowie Arizona that transported the Apache captives into exile in Florida. Tom Horn had much admiration for the old Apache war leader and never tarnished or defamed Geronimo's exploits.

PART TWO

From the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the story jumps to 1901, in which Tom Horn becomes a hired gun for cattlemen in Cheyenne, Wyoming, until his trial for a murder he possibly didn't commit, and his execution.

Geronimo, still a prisoner of war in 1903, later heard about Tom Horn's unfair hanging and commented that Tom Horn had been a great warrior, and he also believed him innocent.

GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE (1990)

Geronimo also appeared in “Gunsmoke: The Last Apache” (the 1990 reunion movie of television series ‘Gunsmoke’).

James Arness rides again as Matt Dillon, the U.S. Marshal he made popular in the 1955-75 television series. In this movie he goes after a renegade Apache named Wolf (Joe Lara) who has taken his daughter captive. As a bargaining chip, Dillon helps two sons of Apache chief Geronimo out of the fort stockade and offers them in trade. Dillon is aided by an Army scout, Chalk Brighton (Richard Kiley).

Matt Dillon gets a letter from Mike Yardner, a woman whom he "knew" many years ago. When he arrives, he learns that her daughter, Beth has been abducted by one of Geronimo's War Chiefs known as Wolf. She also tells him that he is her father. So with an Army Scout named Chalk they try to find her. Dillon decides to take two Indian boys who are related to Geronimo, who are presently being held by the Army, with him to trade for his daughter. But General Myles wants to execute them, so with Mike and Chalk's help Matt gets them and goes out into the desert to find Geronimo's camp.

The 1973 episode, "Matt's Love Story" (1973), forms the basis of this story. In that episode, Matt loses his memory after he is shot and is taken care of by Michael Learned character. They fall in love and have a relationship until Matt gets his memory back. Clips from that episode were woven into this one to present the plot element that Matt had a daughter he never knew about from that affair. Michael Learned again played Mike Yardner in both episodes.  (James Arness and Michael Learned reprised their roles from the original series.)

GERONIMO (TV Movie 1993)

This story of epic courage and grace is a remarkable window on Native American life and the early years of the last and most feared Apache War Chief.

The story of the greatest Native American warrior who, together with the rest of his Apache tribesmen, defied American and Mexican Armies in 1867. Finally caught and sent to a reservation camp, he eluded a military force of 5000 for 18 months before finally surrendering to the government.

In 1858, a company of Mexican soldiers seeking to expand their country's borders attacks an Apache camp, killing many men, women and children. Among the dead are the mother, wife and three children of Geronimo (Joseph Runningfox), a young Apache warrior. Angered by the slaughter of his family and his people, Geronimo joins chief Cochise (August Schellenberg) in his quest for revenge, eventually rising through the ranks to become a leader in the Apache Wars against the United States.