Bush Family's Skull and Bones Society Stole Geronimo's Skull

By Brenda Norrell - Indian Country Today

MOUNT GRAHAM, Ariz. - The Skull and Bones Society admitted to Apache leaders 17 years ago that they had a skull they call "Geronimos" in their secret cult museum in New Haven, Conn. Still, his remains have not been returned.

Raleigh Thompson, former San Carlos Apache tribal councilman for 16 years, said it is time to bring Geronimo home to be buried in the mountains that he loved.

"Geronimo left his rifle and peace pipe here when they took him away," Thompson said.

"When Geronimo was taken from this land, he wanted to come back and be buried on San Carlos in the Triplet Mountains."

During an interview at the Mount Graham Sacred Run, Thompson said he was present in New York when the Skull and Bones Society admitted that it held Geronimos remains in 1986.

"They dug up Geronimos body in 1918. His body is at the Skull and Bones Museum. Grandfather Prescott Bush dug it up," Thompson said.

The grave robbing was exposed when Apache leaders received a photo and information in the 1980s. The informant, fearing for his life and never identified, provided Apache leaders with a photo of the cult museums display of Geronimos remains in a glass cage. The informant also provided a copy of a Skull and Bones Society log book, in which the 1918 grave robbery was recorded.

According to the Skull and Bones log book entry, Prescott Bush, grandfather of George W. Bush, and five other officers at Fort Sill, Okla., desecrated Geronimos grave.

After receiving the information, San Carlos Chairman Ned Anderson, Thompson and tribal attorney Joe Sparks were in an Apache tribal delegation which met with the Society. During a series of meetings, they met with Skull and Bones officials and Jonathan Bush, George Bushs brother, in New York City in 1986.

However, Thompson said the skull that the Skull and Bones Society offered to return to the Apache delegation was that of a young boy, not Geronimo, and the Apache leaders refused it.

"They admitted that they called this skull Geronimo. They gave us the skull, but the skull was so small that it looked like a young boys skull." Thompson said.

"Based on that, we didnt want to take the skull. I think they switched the skull on us."

Thompson said the Skull and Bones Society has other items of Geronimos, including one of Geronimos elbow bones and his horses bridle bit and straps. They have been on display in a museum cage in the secret societys "tomb," as shown in the photograph the Apache leaders received.

In the 1980s, Anderson pressed Arizona congressmen, including Republican Senator John McCain, for assistance in retrieving Geronimos remains. However, Skull and Bones did not return the remains.

Anderson gave congressmen a copy of the Skull and Bones Societys internal history, "Continuation of the History of Our Order for the Century Celebration," written June 17, 1933, by The Little Devil of D121."

This log book states that the attack on Geronimos grave was in May 1918, at Fort Sill. One of the grave robbers advised the others to proceed with caution. He is quoted as saying, "Six army captains robbing a grave wouldnt look good in the papers."

Skull and Bones members are referred to as "patriarchs" in the early log book. The reference to Prescott Bush is written as "Patriarch Bush."

The log book states, "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[riarch] Bush entered and started to dig. We dug in turn, each on relief taking a turn on the road "

"We quickly closed the grave, shut the door and sped home to Pat[riarch] Mallons room, where we cleaned the Bones. Pat[riarch] Mallon sat on the floor liberally applying carbolic acid. The Skull was fairly clean, having only some flesh inside and a little hair. I showered and hit the hay ... a happy man ..."

Although Jonathan Bush and Society members admitted they have a skull they call Geronimos during the 1986 meetings in New York, the Societys attorney denies it.

Attorney Endicott P. Davison, attorney for the Skull and Bones Society, denies that the society had Geronimos skull. He claimed the log book describing the grave robbing was a hoax.

Meanwhile, since learning of the robbing of Geronimos grave, Anderson and Thompson have struggled with frustration to bring Geronimos remains home.

Speaking to Mount Graham runners, Thompson compared the telescopes that scar Mount Graham to the desecration of Geronimos grave.

The Bush familys involvement in the Skull and Bones Society and the Trilateral Commission, a joint commission of world leaders accused of seeking world domination, is no secret.

George W. Bush, in his 1999 campaign autobiography, "A Charge to Keep," speaks of his membership in Skull and Bones. "My senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society, so secret I cant say anything more."

Now, there is also a new book exposing the secrets of the Skull and Bones Society. Alexandria Robbins, formerly of the staff of the New Yorker, is author of "Secrets of the Tomb." Robbins, a Yale graduate and award-winning journalist, interviewed more than 100 Bonesmen for the book and includes information on Geronimo.

Based on her research, Robbins believes the grave robbing incident took place, the log entry is authentic and the skull belongs to Geronimo.

"Almost 90 years later, that skull still sits in the Tomb. It sits in a glass case and the members still call it Geronimo," Robbins said in an interview with the womens Guerilla News Network.

The Skull and Bones Society was founded by Yale student William H. Russell in the early 1800s. Russell, from a wealthy family, was influenced during his travels to a German secret society.

The Society, founded with Alphonso Taft, the future Secretary of War and father of future President William Howard Taft, is considered the most powerful secret society the United States has ever known.

New members are selected from the junior class at Yale University and then initiated in the "tomb," a dark windowless crypt in New Haven, Conn.

They are given new names, "Knight X" of the Order, and introduced to the artifacts.

These tomb items include Hitlers silverware and dozens of skulls, including those of Geronimo and Pancho Villa. There are coffins, skeletons and innards.

Skull and Bones members are threatened with blackmail in order to ensure loyalty. They must tithe the Society and are guaranteed financial security for life. Bonesmen are offered jobs at investment banks and law firms owned by fellow Bonesmen, and granted access to the Societys island on the St. Lawrence River. Robbins said Bonesmen have been senators, Supreme Court justices and dominate the financial world.

At Yale, the Skull and Bones corporate shell, the Russell Trust Association, owns much of the universitys real estate and a large portion of the land in Connecticut.

While the Skull and Bones Society is now exposed, no action has been taken for the return of the remains of Geronimo.

"The white man destroys the oceans, kills the water and fishes with oil and he contaminates the soil with uranium," Thompson told runners at Mount Graham.

"Indians see the hearts of the tree, beauty of the mountain. It is a living mountain," Thompson said.

"Now, the white man has come and cut the trees on this holy mountain. It is the same way as when they dug up Geronimos grave and put it in their museum."

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