Geronimo's Laptop

Summary

After his arrival at the Fort Sill Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, Geronimo uses a magical laptop to tell the history of the Chiricahua Apaches from his point of view.

Geronimo was a master war strategist before he surrendered. After his incarceration, the remarkable Indian adapts and becomes a keen observer of how the white man thinks. Especially the white man who is president. How can he get President Theodore Roosevelt to let him take his people back to their home in Arizona? The man is a powerful opponent who has no love for Indians. Especially Geronimo. Unable to change the president’s mind without help, he uses the laptop to send messages to Lt. Gatewood, the officer he grew to trust when he was a prisoner at Fort Apache. Geronimo is counting on the lieutenant to advise him on his problems with Teddy Roosevelt.

Because of pressure from businessmen who see a profit to be made by using the famous Apache to draw crowds, the government allows Geronimo to leave the reservation to make public appearances in Wild West shows, expos, and fairs all over the country. Geronimo sees his new popularity as a tool to help him change the president’s mind about letting him take his people home. As his popularity grows, trains begin to carry eager visitors to the reservation who seek out the famous Indian to hear his side of the Apache story…the story that books and newspapers don’t tell.

Geronimo’s Laptop is an extension of the play Geronimo, Life on the Reservation, that I wrote for Rudy Ramos (High Chaparral, Yellowstone, and more.) and was directed by Steve Railsback. In 2021, the play was picked by The Los Angeles Times as one of their 19 Cultural Picks. Suitable for all.