[Ads-l] Antedating of "Geronimo"
James Eric Lawson
jel at NVENTURE.COM
Tue Jan 10 19:25:07 UTC 2023
On 1/10/23 10:58, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> But will we ever know what led Pvt. Eberhardt to yell "Geronimo!" in the
> first place?
>
No, we'll never know that, unless you have access to the services of a
better spiritual medium than I do.
We do have textual evidence of 'Geronimo' used as an interjection at
least as early as 1905, though, so we know that Eberhardt didn't
"originate" (those are scare quotes) the use, merely repurposed it for
'chutists, knowingly or unknowingly. We also have considerable textual
evidence, although with a somewhat unreliable provenance (personal
accounts), of how that use did "originate".
> He could have yelled "Sitting Buuuuullllllllllll!", for example.
>
> Or just "Wahoo!" like Major "King" (Slim Pickens) Kong on his H-Bomb.
>
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 3:26 AM James Eric Lawson <jel at nventure.com> wrote:
>
>> The following citations, etc., are part of the missing
>> historical evidence of the origin of the 'Geronimo!'
>> exclamation, as yet unacknowledged (to date) by OEDO et al.
>> These may constitute part of what John Simpson called an
>> "unrecognized prehistory" (_The Word Detective_, 2016, p 121)
>> of the word.
>>
>> POMP MARKS PAGEANT
>> Type: Newspaper Article
>> Author: Scripps-McRae Press Associates
>> URL: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116113476/pomp-marks-pageant/
>> Place: Cincinnati, Ohio
>> Pages: 3/1-2
>> Publication: The Cincinnati Post
>> Date: 1905-03-04
>> Archive: newspapers.com
>>
>> Extract: LO, GERONIMO! (headline)
>>
>> [Geronimo's story of his life
>> Type: Book
>> Author: Geronimo
>> Author: S. M. (Stephen Melvil) Barrett
>> Contributor: University of California Libraries
>> URL:
>> https://archive.org/details/geronimosstoryof00gerorich/page/54/mode/2up
>> Place: New York
>> Publisher: New York : Duffield & Co.
>> Date: 1906
>> Accessed: 1/9/2023, 11:19:17 AM
>> # of Pages: 310
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: Geronimo’s Indian name was Go khlä yeh, but the
>> Mexicans at this battle called him Geronimo, a name he has
>> borne ever since both among the Indians and white men. [p
>> 54]
>>
>> Term: Geronimo! [Exclamation not used; background
>> information regarding Geronimo’s name supplied by S.M.
>> Barrett.]]
>>
>> Apache agent: the story of John P. Clum
>> Type: Book
>> Author: Woodworth Clum
>> Contributor: Internet Archive
>> URL:
>> https://archive.org/details/apacheagentstory0000clum/page/28/mode/2up?q=cry
>> Place: Lincoln, Nebraska
>> Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
>> ISBN: 978-0-8032-0967-1 978-0-8032-5886-0
>> Date: 1936 (1978 printing)
>> Accessed: 1/9/2023, 11:26:24 AM
>> Abstract: [8] leaves of plates; "A Bison book"; 1978 reprint of the 1936
>> ed. published by Houghton Mifflin, New York.
>> # of Pages: 342
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: When dawn came and the battle was resumed,
>> Gokliya was not content to fight according to Apache
>> custom, from behind rocks and greasewood bushes. Instead,
>> he rushed into the open many times, running zigzag and
>> dodging so that bullets from the rurales’ rifles did not
>> hit him. Each time he ran out this way, he killed a rurale
>> with his hunting knife, took the rurale’s rifle and
>> cartridges, and ran zigzag back again to his people.
>> Gokliya did not know how to use the rifles, so he gave
>> them to other Apache warriors, who had served with
>> Cochise, chief of the Chiricahuas, and had learned how to
>> use them. So fearlessly did Gokliya fight that the Mexican
>> rurales became more cautious, and when they saw Goklya
>> come out into the open, with only his hunting knife as a
>> weapon, they would shout, ‘Cuidado! Cuidado! Geronimo!’
>> (‘Look out! Be careful! Here comes Geronimo!’) [p 28-9]
>>
>> The Apaches were quick to see that the rurales were afraid
>> of Gokliya. They did not know why they called him
>> ‘Geronimo’; thought it might be the name of some god who
>> did not like the rurales. So when Gokliya would jump out
>> from be- hind a rock or tree and run swiftly toward a
>> Mexican, the Apaches also shouted ‘Geronimo,’ until it
>> became the common battle-cry. Toward evening, when
>> sun-tints on the mountains changed to purple, the Mexicans
>> ceased to fight, and went back on the trail from which
>> they had come. The Chiricahuas rejoiced in their victory.
>> Three of the rurales’ ponies had been killed in the
>> fighting, and Apache women made them into meat for eating.
>> At the feast, Gokliya was made much of, but all of his
>> people now called him Geronimo, and not Gokliya.
>>
>> Always thereafter, Geronimo was his name. [p 29]
>>
>> Extract: As this unusual and somewhat historical
>> procession stepped down off the porch, led by Sergeant Rip
>> and Nachee, followed by Geronimo and his sub-chiefs, with
>> a rear guard of Beauford and half a dozen Apache police,
>> the rank and file of the renegades were dumbfounded.
>> Geronimo always had claimed a charmed life, and his people
>> had believed him. He had often boasted that he never would
>> be captured or killed. At many campfires for many years,
>> he had retold the story of the battle of Kiskayah, against
>> the Mexicans, when his name was changed from ‘Gokliya’ to
>> ‘Geronimo.’ And when he would repeat that battle-cry of
>> the Mexicans, ‘Cuidado, Geronimo; Cuidado, Geronimo,’ his
>> listeners in unison would echo, ‘Cuidado, Geronimo; enju.’
>> But now the great Geronimo, humiliated and a prisoner, was
>> being marched past the very noses of his followers. Much
>> as they had come to believe in his omnipotence, they now
>> had to believe their eyes. [p 226]
>>
>> Extract: ‘Geronimo! Geronimo!!’ the crowd yells
>> frantically. Hats are tossed in the air.
>>
>> ‘Geronimo! Hooray for Geronimo!’ [p 291]
>>
>> Comment: Account of battle in which Geronimo! became the
>> battle-cry and Gokliya’s name. Book by Woodward Clum, John
>> P. Clum’s son.
>>
>> 'Geronimo' Is Yell of the 'Chute Boys
>> Type: Newspaper Article
>> Author: Henry M'Lemore
>> URL:
>>
>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116152654/geronimo-is-yell-of-the-chute-boys/
>> Place: Hammond, Indiana
>> Pages: 1/1
>> Publication: The Hammond Times
>> Date: 1941-06-22
>> Accessed: 1/9/2023, 8:37:17 PM
>> Short Title: Observer Hears Battalion Cheer on Way to Earth
>> Archive: newspapers.com
>>
>> Extract: ‘Geronimo’ Is Yell of the ‘Chute Boys (headline)
>>
>> Extract: I’ve no business writing this story because it’s
>> not down my alley, but somehow I feel this country needs
>> to know about the battle cry “Geronimo, Geronimo.”
>>
>> Extract: As they fell they yelled “Geronimo, Geronimo” and
>> they were still yelling it when they pounded to earth.
>>
>> Extract: No one knows just how the cry was adopted. One of
>> the early chutists yelled the famed chieftain’s name, and
>> they’ve all been yelling it ever since.
>>
>> Look Out Below! (Geronimo!) (Song Of The Paratroops)
>> Type: Audio Recording
>> Performer: Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
>> Performer: Fred Waring
>> Performer: Jack Dolph
>> Contributor: Internet Archive
>> URL:
>>
>> http://archive.org/details/78_look-out-below-geronimo-song-of-the-paratroops_fred-waring-and-his-pennsylvan_gbia0071899f
>> Date: 1942
>> Accessed: 1/7/2023, 12:28:06 AM
>> Label: Decca
>> Performer: Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
>> Writer: Fred Waring; Jack Dolph
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: [song title on record label:] Look Out Below!
>> (Geronimo!) (Song Of The Paratroops)
>>
>> Comment: Possibly the song referred to by Winters in
>> _Beyond Band of Brothers_ (2006). Not related to Charles
>> Thatcher’s 19th century Australian ballad “Look out
>> below”. Relationship to Larry E. Johnson’s 1924 copyright
>> “Look out below” not discoverable by me at this time.
>>
>> [Catalog of copyright entries. Part 3: Musical compositions.
>> Type: Catalog
>> Author: Library of Congress
>> URL:
>>
>> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112042370772&view=1up&seq=700&q1=look%20out%20below
>> Pages: 1794/2
>> Publication: Catalogue of copyright entries. Part 3, Musical compositions
>> Date: 1942 Nov 9 [entry copyright date]
>> Publisher: Library of Congress, Copyright Office.
>> Accessed: 1/7/2023, 12:37:04 AM
>> Archive: HathiTrust
>>
>> Extract: “Look out below”; w & m Fred Waring and Jack
>> Dolph c Nov. 9, 1942.
>>
>> Comment: Informational citation regarding 1942 song
>> elsewhere parenthetically titled (Geronimo!) and (Song of
>> the Paratroops).]
>>
>> Geronimo: the man, his time, his place
>> Type: Book
>> Author: Angie Debo
>> Contributor: Internet Archive
>> URL:
>> https://archive.org/details/geronimomanhisti00debo/page/12/mode/2up?q=cry
>> Place: Norman, Oklahoma
>> Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
>> ISBN: 978-0-8061-1333-3
>> Date: 1976
>> Accessed: 1/9/2023, 8:53:28 PM
>> # of Pages: 512
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: Into this setting Geronimo was born. He was given
>> the name Goyahkla, with the generally accepted meaning
>> “One Who Yawns,” why or under what circumstances is not
>> known One can guess that yawning was the habit of a sleepy
>> baby, but no characterization could have been more
>> inappropriate to the energetic spitir that marked his
>> personality. Some aged Fort Sill Apaches suggest a name
>> slightly different in pronunciation, with the meaning
>> “intelligent, shrewd, clever.” As an adult, he became
>> known by the Mexicans as Geronimo, and this name was
>> adopted even by his own people. The Spanish-Apache feud
>> had been inherited by the Mexicans after their
>> independence; and according to one story, in a battle with
>> them he was fighting like a fiend, charging out repeatedly
>> from cover, killing an enemy with every sally and
>> returning with the dead man’s rifle. Each time he
>> emerged, the Mexicans began to cry out in terror,
>> “Cuidado! Watch out! Geronimo!” (Perhaps this was as close
>> as they could come to the choking sounds that composed his
>> name, or perhaps they were calling on St. Jerome.) The
>> Apaches took it up as their battle cry, and Goyahkla
>> became Geronimo. [p 13] [Cross-referenced by Debo to
>> _Apache Agent_ (op. cit. Clum) and _Geronimo_ (op. cit.
>> Barrett).]
>>
>> Comment: This work is cited as the standard biography of
>> Geronimo by later authors, for example Utley in _Geronimo_
>> (below), 2012, pp x, 278.
>>
>> Paratrooper!: the saga of U.S. Army and Marine parachute and glider
>> combat troops during World War II
>> Type: Book
>> Author: Gerard M. Devlin
>> Contributor: Internet Archive
>> URL:
>> https://archive.org/details/paratrooper00stma/page/n15/mode/2up?q=geronimo
>> Place: New York
>> Publisher: St. Martin's Press
>> ISBN: 978-0-312-59654-5
>> Date: 1979
>> Accessed: 1/9/2023, 9:19:28 PM
>> Library Catalog: Internet Archive
>> # of Pages: 746
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: In the last analysis, it was a proper decision to
>> reject all of the above and, instead to inscribe on the
>> silver shield below the Ojibway Thunderbird, the cry of
>> triumph which had issued so explosively from Sergeant
>> Aubrey Eberhardt’s lips on that eventful day in the fall
>> of 1940: GERONIMO! And thus it came to pass. [p xiii]
>>
>> Extract: “To prove to you that I’m not scared out of my
>> wits when I jump, I’m gonna yell ‘Geronimo’ loud as hell
>> when I go out that door tomorrow!”
>>
>> See that Eberhardt was fighting mad, and not wanting to
>> anger the big man further (when Eberhardt got a little
>> angry it was most unwise, and unhealthy, to make him
>> angrier), everone agreed that his idea of yelling
>> “Geronimo” when he jumped was excellent.
>>
>> … By this time, word had spread throughout the test
>> platoon concerning Eberhardt’s plan to yell “Geronimo!”
>> when he made his jumpt that day. Everyone wondered if he
>> would really be able to do it.
>>
>> … With jumpers continuing to spill from the plane, a loud
>> “Geronimo” shout, accompanied by an Indian war wheep,
>> could be clearly heard like a clap of thunder. Without
>> knowing it at the time, Private Aubrey Eberhradt had just
>> originated what was to become the jumping yell of the
>> American paratroopers. [p 70]
>>
>> Extract: The entire test platoon picked up the yell,
>> shouting “Geronimo!” each time they went out the door on
>> practice jumps. [p 71]
>>
>> Extract: All circumstances and events surrounding the
>> origination of the Geronimo yell were related personally
>> to the author during a June 1973 interview with Eberhardt
>> at his home in Roberta, Georgia. [p 673]
>>
>> From Benning to Shanks
>> Type: Book Section
>> Book Title: Beyond band of brothers
>> Author: Richard D. Winters
>> URL:
>>
>> https://archive.org/details/beyondbandofbrot00wint/page/41/mode/2up?q=Geronimo
>> Publisher: Berkley Caliber
>> Pages: 304
>> ISBN: 978-0-425-20813-7
>> Date: 2006 Feb
>> Accessed: 1/7/2023, 12:47:53 AM
>> Archive: Internet Archive
>>
>> Extract: By this time, Easy Company had emerged as the
>> strongest company in the regiment and the 506th PIR had
>> become a source of pride to every soldier who wore its
>> regimental patch. One of the popular songs on the radio
>> was called “Geronimo,” and it was rapidly adopted as the
>> paratroopers’ song. “Geronimo” became the password that
>> paratroopers were supposed to holler when they jumped, but
>> Sink would have none of it in the 506th. [p 41]
>>
>>
>> On 1/2/23 17:26, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> Maybe she shouted because the sudden appearance of Geronimo
>>> in person made her want to jump out of her seat?
>>
>> Or, like the Mexicans in the battle when Geronimo got his
>> name, she shouted in fear? or, like the Apaches in the same
>> battle, she shouted to frighten the stranger accosting her in
>> the theater? So many possibilities exist, some admittedly more
>> likely than others.
>>
>>>
>>> In any case, it's hard to connect this incident, reported in
>>> December, 1939, with the various Ft. Benning Geronimos more
>>> than a year later.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jan 2, 2023 at 7:34 PM James Eric Lawson
>>> <jel at nventure.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The movie promoted the shout. So (at least, pending better
>>>> evidence):
>>>>
>>>> [1939 _Arizona Daily Star_ (Tucson) Geronimo...the red
>>>> savage whose name was a battle-cry of vengeance...is headed
>>>> this way! 24 Nov 12/6-7]
>>>>
>>>> And the article doesn't say (although it might *seem* to
>>>> imply) the woman "shouted because she suddenly recognized
>>>> the actor". The ambivalence is nicely managed.
>>>>
>>>> On 1/2/23 15:10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>> But the only individual actually uttering the name
>>>>> "Geronimo" in any of these exx. seems to be the film-going
>>>>> lady mentioned on Dec. 17, 1939.
>>>>>
>>>>> And she shouted because she suddenly recognized the actor
>>>>> "Chief Thundercloud" (Victor Daniels), who played
>>>>> Geronimo, sitting in front of her at a showing of that
>>>>> very film.
>>>>>
>>>>> JL
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Jan 2, 2023 at 3:58 PM James Eric Lawson
>>>>> <jel at nventure.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> As for other US idioms, OEDO has failed us on "Geronimo!"
>>>>>> The rumored yell was rumored well in advance of the
>>>>>> 501st's adoption and the 1939 movie, although the 1939
>>>>>> clip following may partly explain the 501st's adoption:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1901 _The Intelligencer_ (Anderson, South Carolina) 30
>>>>>> Jan 7/3 "What a death to die!" said Sieve to the major,
>>>>>> and In reply, while Mike Grimes and Steve stood with
>>>>>> uncovered heads, the major lifted his face to the stars
>>>>>> and uttered Geronimo's yell.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115659442/geronimo/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1927 _Arizona Republic_ (Phoenix) 23 Apr 4/3 At the
>>>>>> conclusion of her talk, Mrs. Greenway was greeted with
>>>>>> the Camp Geronimo yell of the
>>>> Scouts.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115659946/geronimo/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1939 _Star Tribune_ (Minneapolis, Minnesota) 17 Dec 47/8
>>>>>> "Geronimo!" she yelled.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115660275/geronimo/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 1/2/23 10:35, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>>>> I think I'm the first educator/ lexicographer to seek
>>>>>>> out _Geronimo!_ (1939) [note exclamation point] to gain
>>>>>>> insight into the adoption of
>>>> the
>>>>>>> Apache chief's name as the war cry of the 501st
>>>>>>> Parachute Battalion.
>>>> Just
>>>>>>> by the way, it may be the only film in Hollywood history
>>>>>>> in which Andy Devine turns out tbe the real hero.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In any case, I was hoping I'd see somebody jump off a
>>>>>>> cliff, if not out
>>>>>> of
>>>>>>> an airplane, shouting "Geronimo!" Just as good would be
>>>>>>> 2,000 mounted Apache warriors yelling "Geronimo!" in
>>>>>>> unison as they attack the
>>>>>> seemingly
>>>>>>> helpless patrol of 16 cavalrymen. (The official numbers
>>>>>>> mentioned in
>>>> the
>>>>>>> script: guess who wins?)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But no. The only actual shouting of "Geronimo!" comes at
>>>>>>> the start when
>>>>>> an
>>>>>>> anonymous horseman gallops into a settlement and cries
>>>>>>> "Geronimo!" to
>>>>>> warn
>>>>>>> that the Apache is again on the warpath.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Since Fred's source reports that "Geronimo, Geromimo"
>>>>>>> was being shouted
>>>>>> all
>>>>>>> over the 501st's area at Ft. Benning "a thousand times a
>>>>>>> day," it may
>>>> not
>>>>>>> have been specifically jump-related at all. It may have
>>>>>>> started simply
>>>> as
>>>>>>> an encouragement to any kind of urgent action.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> JL
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sun, Jan 1, 2023 at 10:36 AM Jonathan Lighter <
>>>> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> You're correct. I need stronger glasses.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> JL
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Sun, Jan 1, 2023 at 10:34 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
>>>>>>>> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Here is a link to the article which credits Private
>>>>>>>>> Aubrey Eberhardt with first using the term during a
>>>>>>>>> parachute jump.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Article title: Paramount's 1939 western GERONIMO ... a
>>>>>>>>> forgotten
>>>> movie
>>>>>>>>> with a giant legacy Author: Ed Howard
>>>>>>>>> https://www.b-westerns.com/geronimo.htm
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The above link was posted by Peter Reitan back in
>>>>>>>>> January 2017.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2017-January/146001.html
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Bill Mullins posted a citation dated April 29, 1941
>>>>>>>>> for Geronimo back in October 2016. I cannot find a
>>>>>>>>> citation dated April 19, 1941 from Bill for Geronimo.
>>>>>>
>>>>
>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-October/144693.html
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Garson
>>>>>>>>>
>>
>> --
>> James Eric Lawson
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
--
James Eric Lawson
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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