Jay Silverheels as Geronimo

Today Jay Silverheels is best remembered as Tonto on the television series The Lone Ranger. This is unfortunate, as Jay Silverheels played many other roles in his career, roles that are not regarded as stereotypical as Tonto is today. Indeed, what is often overlooked is that Jay Silverheels played Apache leader Geronimo no less than three times.

The first time Jay Silverheels portrayed Geronimo was in the 1950 movie Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow starred James Stewart as Tom Jeffords, a historical figure who was friends with Apache leader Cochise and who was instrumental in ending the Indian wars in Arizona Territory. While today Broken Arrow is problematic insofar as it stars Jeff Chandler in redface as Cochise, as well as other white actors portraying Native Americans, it is one of the earliest movies to portray American Indians sympathetically.

Jay Silverheels only appears briefly as Geronimo in the film, but that appearance is significant. Geronimo is not portrayed as a savage bent on killing white settlers, but instead as a leader among his people seeking the best path forward for them. When he opposes the peace treaty Tom Jeffords has negotiated with Cochise, it is clear he has his reasons for doing do. Although brief, Jay Silverheels's performance as Geronimo numbers among his best, lending the Apache leader the gravitas one would expect of him.

It would be two years later that Jay Silverheels would once more portray Geronimo in the movie The Battle at Apache Pass (1952). Like Broken Arrow, The Battle at Apache Pass was also based on history, in this case it was loosely based on both The Bascom Affair from 1961 and the Battle of Apache Pass from 1862. The Battle at Apache Pass had two more things in common with Broken Arrow. First, Cochise was once more played by Jeff Chandler in redface and Geronimo was played by Jay Silverheels. Second, the movie also treats Native Americans sympathetically.

Unfortunately, while Jay Silverheels does a good job in the role, the movie's portrayal of Geronimo is less than would be desired. At one point Geronimo plots with two white men to frame Cochise for an attack on a ranch, something that not only never happened historically, but would have been out of character for the historical Geronimo. Sadly, the makers of The Battle of Apache Pass chose to make Geronimo a traditional screen villain instead of portraying him accurately.

The final time Jay Silverheels would play Geronimo was in the Audie Murphy Western Walk the Proud Land (1956). Walk the Proud Land was also based on history, in this case on introduction of limited self-government to the Apache by Indian agent John Clum (Audie Murphy). Like Broken Arrow and The Battle at Apache Pass, Walk the Proud Land features examples of redface, namely Anne Bancroft as an Indian widow who is John Clum's housekeeper and Robert Warwick as Apache leader Eskiminzin. Even so, like Broken Arrow and The Battle at Apache Pass before it, Native Americans are treated with sympathy in Walk the Proud Land. Indeed, Geronimo fares better in Walk the Proud Land that he had in The Battle at Apache Pass. Like Broken Arrow, Geronimo is portrayed as doing what he believes is best for his people, even if that means resorting to violence.

Over the years Jay Silverheels has received a lot of criticism for having played Tonto on The Lone Ranger, but throughout his career he played many other roles as well, roles that were not stereotypes. His three performances as Geronimo were all fine, even if the portrayal of the Apache leader is less than is desired in The Battle of Apache Pass. In both Broken Arrow and Walk the Proud Land he brought a dignity to the historical figure at time when American Indians were still often being portrayed as savages.