# Geronimo's Grave **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 12, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766 "2005-11-12T21:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Stewardson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@John\_Stewardson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stewardson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/1 "2005-11-12T21:38:12Z")
I was at Ft. Sill OK in 1968 for artillery training. It was a ritual of all to visit Geronimo’s grave which was near one of the firing ranges. As I recall the grave was marked by a simple military type tombstone. I do not recall a concrete slab though it may have been covered by grass. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/2 "2005-11-13T02:15:32Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, John. When commenting on one of Cecil’s online columns, it is appreciated if you could provide a link to the same. Doing so can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051111.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051111.html) ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/3 "2005-11-13T07:30:27Z")
> [@John Stewardson](#): > > I was at Ft. Sill OK in 1968 for artillery training. It was a ritual of all to visit Geronimo’s grave which was near one of the firing ranges. As I recall the grave was marked by a simple military type tombstone. I do not recall a concrete slab though it may have been covered by grass. The article says that the slab was put there between 1918 and the present (to discourage grave robbers perhaps? or maybe just so they wouldn’t loose track of the burial site if the marker blew over), so it may very well not have been there in '68. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/4 "2005-11-13T20:40:40Z")
On the flip side of the question: Presumably, there is a real human skull at the S&B clubhouse (I love that term… It has exactly the right amount of _gravitas_, I think). OK, so maybe it’s not Geronimo’s. But the fact remains, _ **IT’S A FRIGGIN’ HUMAN SKULL!** _ So whose skull _is_ it, and how did it come to be in the posession of a bunch of Yale students? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/5 "2005-11-13T21:45:11Z")
There are number of members of that society who have no need for… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/6 "2005-11-13T23:12:03Z")
Alas, poor Yorick. They knew him… ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/7 "2005-11-14T21:31:39Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Alas, poor Yorick. They knew him… Apparently not; at least, not well enough to know his name. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/8 "2005-11-15T00:45:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so maybe it’s not Geronimo’s. But the fact remains, _ **IT’S A FRIGGIN’ HUMAN SKULL!** _ So whose skull _is_ it, and how did it come to be in the posession of a bunch of Yale students? They could tell you, but then they’d have to kill you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/9 "2005-11-15T01:21:56Z")
Skulls aren’t as difficult to come by as one might think (or hope). I assume Yale has a med school, and one could have easily been swiped. Hell, we had multiple complete skeletons at my high school. You can probably also order them online… I just want to see what the Google ad is! ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/10 "2005-11-15T02:36:58Z")
> [@John Stewardson](#): > > Geronimo’s grave He’s worse than grave, he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/11 "2005-11-15T20:57:53Z")
Come morning, you will find him a grave man. As for the skull, even if it was from the med school or the like, aren’t there laws about the posession and transfer of human remains? While a med school or a museum can, of course, legally own human remains, I have a hard time believing that a random bunch of undergrads could. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/12 "2005-11-15T23:56:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Come morning, you will find him a grave man. You’re taking that for granite. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/13 "2005-11-16T04:26:28Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > You’re taking that for granite. Rather than the way you should, with a gran of basalt. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/14 "2005-11-16T15:18:21Z")
You guys just kill me. But then, a corpse is a corpse, of course, of course. I want my mummy. RR ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/15 "2005-11-16T17:46:06Z")
Garnet all, people, play gneiss. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/16 "2005-11-16T19:02:26Z")
With all these bad puns, I’m outta here! Geronimooooooooooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766/17 "2005-11-25T07:15:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While a med school or a museum can, of course, legally own human remains, I have a hard time believing that a random bunch of undergrads could. Well, you can certainly legally keep the ashes of your dearly departed in your house (or secret club, I’d assume) if they’ve been cremated, so it’s legal for a private individual to own at least some types of remains. I’d imagine this is extended to any sort of remains that aren’t a health hazard (can’t keep the rotting carcase of your dear aunt, or the corpse of your mom after she was killed by Bird Flu), and were gotten legally. The skull meets the first condition, and after almost a hundred years, it would be hard to prove that it didn’t meet the second.