Indian Frontier
The Indian Frontier of the American West tells a story of the different Indian tribes and whites from 1846 to 1890. This period of time is very famous in American history. It produced some of the most widely heard of names in the battles between Indians and whites. These names include Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, Sitting Bull of the Oglala Sioux, Cochise, Geronimo, and Mangas Coloradas, and John Ross of the Cherokee Nation. These names are still very respected among historians and are seen throughout history books used in schools across the nation. These names were involved in many battles with whites in the middle of the nineteenth century. In this book, Robert Utley describes how many different Indian cultures survived between 1846 and 1890. Utley also spent some time in discussing how Americans felt about Indians. This book also talked about how the American government was run, and how they dealt with the different Indian cultures. This book had a couple of interesting stories in it also. The dozens of cultures depicted in this book really made it somewhat interesting to read. One story that I truly liked in the book was that of Yellow Wolf. Yellow Wolf was an extremely strong and wise Cheyenne Indian.
He was a man that was known for his leadership in battles with the Utes, Pawnees, Kiowas, and Comanches. Yellow Wolf also played an important role in helping William Bent, also known as "Little White Man", as to where to set up his trading post along the river. After Bent had set up his fort, Yellow Wolf traveled there in the summer. He watched as tens of thousands of white men move in and through the Indian country. This made him worry about the future of his people, something no other Cheyenne leader would even consider for years. In discussing his fears with an army officer he talks of how his people and the buffalo are disappearing. He also says that his people will become extinct unless they change and adopt the habits of white people. Yellow Wolf lived for eighteen years amongst the white man. In his final year of his life, Yellow Wolf watched his worst fears come true. Through all of this, he continued to believe that the only hope his people had was if they learned from the white man. On November 29, 1864, a white man from General Stephen Watts Kearney's army gunned down Yellow Wolf. He was 85 years old. Another part of the book that I truly enjoyed reading was the section on Grant's Peace Policy. While Grant served as General in Chief of the United State Army a group of Quakers, know as the Friends, urged him to adopt a new peace policy. This policy was to be founded on Christianity and peace, rather than on force of arms. The policy also called for men of religious conviction to be appointed to agency posts. Grant quickly embraced this idea and pretty soon Grant's Peace Policy was adopted. Grant
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Approximate Word count = 1102
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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