‘Tomb Raiders’
Yale’s ultra-secret Skull and Bones Society is believed to possess the skull of legendary Apache chief Geronimo.
By Mary Annette Pember
The skull of the legendary Chiricahua Apache chief Geronimo may languish in a display case at Yale University. Rumors have swirled for years that the remains are located in the “Tomb,” the headquarters of the ultra-secret Skull and Bones Society.
The 175-year-old Skull and Bones is perhaps the most recognizable of Yale’s secret societies. Conspiracy theorists have depicted the society as a training ground to turn the country’s social elite into world leaders. Each year, 15 seniors are “tapped” for admission into the society. There are about 800 “Bonesmen” alive today. In a famous 1977 Esquire article, Yale alum Ron Rosenbaum wrote that the mission of Skull and Bones was “converting the idle progeny of the ruling class into morally serious leaders of the establishment.”
Indeed, some of the most powerful men in the world have been Bonesmen, including both President Bushes. George H.W. Bush’s father, former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush, was also a member. It’s this Bush who figures prominently in the Geronimo story.
The most credible account of the Bonesmen’s connection to Geronimo is supported by a newly discovered 1918 letter written by society member Winter Mead to fellow Bonesman Trubee Davison. The letter details the theft of “the skull of the worthy Geronimo the terrible” from its tomb at Fort Sill, Okla., and declares that “the skull is now safe inside the Tomb together with his [Geronimo’s] well worn femurs, bit and saddle horn.”
Marc Wortman, a writer and former editor of Yale Alumni Magazine, found the letter last year in the university’s Sterling Memorial Library archives while conducting research for a book on Yale’s World War I aviators. In an article for the magazine, the library’s chief archivist, Judith Schiff, says the letter “has a very strong likelihood of being true.” Schiff, who has written extensively about Yale’s history, notes that Bonesmen are required to be honest with fellow members about society affairs. At the very least, researchers agree that there is strong evidence to suggest that Bonesmen who were serving with Army volunteers at Fort Sill unearthed the remains of an American Indian and believed them to be those of Geronimo. Mead’s letter names the Bonesmen involved in the theft, including Prescott Bush.
