The letter is dated June 7, 1918 — written within weeks of the alleged grave robbery.

It was written by Winter Mead, a member of Skull and Bones in the class of 1919, to F.

Trubee Davison, a Skull and Bones member of the class of 1918.

Davison was an important figure in Yale’s World War I aviation program and later became a trustee of the university.

The relevant portion of the letter, as it has been published and quoted in multiple sources, reads:

“The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club and Knight Haffuer, is now safe inside the T— together with his well-worn femurs, bit and saddle horn.”