Geronimo’s descendants sue Yale over stolen remains

HARTFORD, CONN. — Geronimo’s descendants have sued Skull and Bones -- the secret society at Yale University linked to presidents and other powerful figures -- claiming that its members stole the remains of the legendary Apache leader decades ago and have kept them ever since.

The federal lawsuit filed in Washington on Tuesday -- the 100th anniversary of Geronimo’s death -- also names the university and the federal government.

Geronimo’s great-grandson Harlyn Geronimo said his family believes Skull and Bones members took some of the remains in 1918 from a burial plot in Ft. Sill, Okla., to keep in its New Haven clubhouse, a crypt.

After years of famously fighting the U.S. and Mexican armies, Geronimo and 35 warriors surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles near the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1886. Geronimo was eventually sent to Ft. Sill and died at the Army outpost of pneumonia in 1909.

According to lore, members of Skull and Bones -- including former President George W. Bush’s grandfather, Prescott Bush -- dug up Geronimo’s grave when a group of Army volunteers from Yale was stationed at the fort during World War I, taking his skull and some of his bones.

Members of Skull and Bones or the Russell Trust Assn., the organization’s business arm for tax purposes, could not be reached for comment.