"CONFIDENCE GOES A LONG WAY TOWARDS SUCCESS,
"AND THE CONFIDENCE OF THESE WESTERNERS IS SUPERB.
"I HAPPENED, IN SEPTEMBER OF 1883,
"TO BE IN THE CITY OF BISMARCK IN DAKOTA,
"WHEN THIS YOUNG SETTLEMENT
"WAS LAYING THE CORNERSTONE OF ITS CAPITOL.
"THE TOWN WAS THEN ONLY SOME FIVE YEARS OLD
"AND WAS GAILY DECORATED FOR THE OCCASION.
"IN ONE OF THE SPEECHES,
"IT WAS PROVED THAT AS BISMARCK WAS THE CENTER OF DAKOTA,
"DAKOTA THE CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES,
"AND THE UNITED STATES THE CENTER OF THE WORLD,
"BISMARCK WAS DESTINED TO BE
"THE METROPOLITAN HEARTH
"OF THE WORLD'S CIVILIZATION.
"HOWEVER, THE FEATURE OF THE CEREMONIAL
"WHICH STRUCK US EUROPEANS MOST
"WAS THE SPOT CHOSEN FOR THE CAPITOL.
"IT WAS NOT IN THE CITY,
"NOR EVEN ON THE SKIRTS OF THE CITY.
"IT WAS NEARLY A MILE OFF,
"ON THE TOP OF A HILL
"IN THE BROWN AND DUSTY PRAIRIE.
"WHY HERE? WE ASKED.
"IS IT BECAUSE YOU MEAN TO ENCLOSE THE BUILDING
"IN A PUBLIC PARK?
"BY NO MEANS, WAS THE ANSWER.
"THE CAPITOL IS INTENDED TO BE
"IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY.
"IT IS IN THIS DIRECTION
"THAT THE CITY IS TO GROW.
"IT IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE
"FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE MISSISSIPPI.
"MEN SEEM TO LIVE IN THE FUTURE
"RATHER THAN IN THE PRESENT.
"THEY SEE THE COUNTRY NOT MERELY AS IT IS,
"BUT AS IT WILL BE 20, 50,
A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE."
LORD JAMES BRYCE.
BY 1877,
THE AMERICAN CONQUEST OF THE WEST WAS NEARLY COMPLETE.
FOR EVERY INDIAN IN THE WEST, THERE WERE NOW NEARLY 40 WHITES.
AND AS THE INDIAN WARS DREW TO A CLOSE,
THE LAST OBSTACLES TO AMERICAN DOMINATION DROPPED AWAY,
AND THE COUNTRY READIED ITSELF TO ASSERT CONTROL
OVER THE ENTIRE REGION.
BETWEEN 1877 AND 1887,
FOUR AND A HALF MILLION MORE PEOPLE CAME WEST.
ALMOST HALF SETTLED ON THE WESTERN PLAINS,
CREATING NEW TOWNS IN A REGION ONCE THOUGHT TOO HARSH
FOR HUMAN HABITATION--
BISMARCK AND CHAMPION,
EPIPHANY, WAHOO, AND NICODEMUS.
SOME CAME SEEKING FREEDOM,
LAND OF THEIR OWN,
AND OPPORTUNITIES THEY COULDN'T FIND
IN THE EAST,
WHILE OTHERS FOUND IN THE WEST
A PLACE TO CHANGE THEMSELVES--
BECOME SOMEONE ELSE...
START OVER.
BUT AS MORE AND MORE AMERICANS ARRIVED,
THERE WAS LESS AND LESS ROOM FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T CONFORM.
INDIANS WERE EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVERNIGHT...
TO FORGET THEIR OLD WAYS AND MAKE THEMSELVES OVER
IN THE IMAGE OF THEIR CONQUERORS.
THE CHINESE, WHO HAD DONE MORE THAN ALMOST ANYONE
TO CONNECT THE WEST TO THE REST OF THE NATION,
WOULD BE TOLD THAT THEY WERE NO LONGER WELCOME
ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES.
MEXICAN-AMERICANS WERE OVERWHELMED BY THE NEWCOMERS,
EVEN IN TOWNS THEY HAD LIVED IN FOR CENTURIES...
WHILE THE MORMONS WERE FORCED TO SURRENDER
PART OF THEIR RELIGION
IN ORDER TO SAVE THE REST OF IT.
BUT EVEN AS AMERICANS TRIED TO TAME THE WEST,
THEY PREFERRED TO REMEMBER A GAUDIER VERSION
FULL OF VIOLENCE, ADVENTURE,
AND MOST OF ALL, ROMANCE--
A WILD WEST.
AND YET BETWEEN 1877 AND 1887,
AMERICANS WOULD COME TO LEARN FIRSTHAND
JUST HOW WILD THE WEST COULD REALLY BE...
AND THAT NO CONQUEST COULD EVER BE COMPLETE.
THE WEST IS ABOUT POSSIBILITIES.
AND SOMETIMES THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
OF ONE GROUP'S POSSIBILITIES
IS GOING TO BE THE ENDING OF POSSIBILITIES
FOR ANOTHER GROUP.
AMERICANS AREN'T WRONG IN SEEING THE WEST
AS THE LAND OF THE FUTURE,
OF SEEING A LAND IN WHICH ASTONISHING THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
WHAT THEY OFTEN ARE WRONG ABOUT
IS THAT THERE'S NO PRICE TO BE PAID FOR THAT--
THAT EVERYBODY CAN SUCCEED
OR THAT EVEN WHAT SUCCEEDS IS NECESSARILY THE BEST
FOR EVERYONE CONCERNED.
THE WEST IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
♪ DOWN ON ME ♪
♪ LOOKS LIKE EVERYBODY IN THE WHOLE ROUND WORLD ♪
♪ DOWN ON ME ♪
"IN A FIT OF MADNESS,
"I ONE DAY SAID TO THE MAN I WAS RENTING FROM,
"IT'S NO USE. I WORKS HARD
"AND RAISES BIG CROPS,
"AND YOU SELL IT AND KEEPS THE MONEY
"AND BRINGS ME MORE AND MORE IN DEBT.
"SO I WILL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE
"AND TRY TO MAKE HEADWAY LIKE WHITE WORKING MEN.
"SO I TOLD MY WIFE, AND SHE SAYS,
"LET US TAKE TO THE WOODS IN THE NIGHTTIME.
"WELL, WE TOOK TO THE WOODS,
"MY WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN,
"AND WE WAS THREE WEEKS LIVING IN THE WOODS
"WAITING FOR A BOAT.
"THEN A GREAT MANY MORE BLACK PEOPLE CAME,
"AND WE WAS ALL TOGETHER AT THE LANDING.
"BEFORE LONG, THE GRAND TOWER HOVE UP,
"AND WE GOT ON BOARD.
"SAYS THE CAPTAIN, WHERE'S YOU GOING?
SAYS I, KANSAS."
JOHN SOLOMON LEWIS.
IN 1877, THE LAST FEDERAL TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN FROM THE SOUTH,
RECONSTRUCTION COLLAPSED,
AND NEW STATE LAWS BEGAN TO RESTRICT
THE RIGHTS OF FREED SLAVES.
AFRICAN-AMERICANS FOUND THEMSELVES ONCE AGAIN
IN THE POWER OF THEIR FORMER MASTERS.
SOME FAVORED EMIGRATING TO LIBERIA IN AFRICA
OR NORTHWARD INTO CANADA.
TO OTHERS, THE OPEN SPACES OF THE WEST
SEEMED TO OFFER MORE IMMEDIATE HOPE.
"CONDITIONS MIGHT BE BETTER A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW,
"WHEN ALL THE PRESENT GENERATION'S DEAD AND GONE,
"BUT NOT AFORE, SIR, NOT AFORE.
"AND WHAT'S GOING TO BE A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW
"AIN'T MUCH ACCOUNT TO US.
"THE WHITES HAS THE LANDS AND THE SENSE,
"AND THE BLACKS HAS NOTHING BUT THEIR FREEDOM,
AND IT'S JUST LIKE A DREAM TO THEM."
PAP SINGLETON.
BENJAMIN "PAP" SINGLETON WAS AN EX-SLAVE FROM TENNESSEE
WHO BELIEVED HIMSELF APPOINTED BY GOD
TO RESCUE HIS PEOPLE.
HE HAD BECOME CONVINCED THAT THERE WAS NO FUTURE FOR BLACKS
UNLESS THEY LEFT THE SOUTH
AND FORMED THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITIES
IN THE WEST.
KANSAS SEEMED LIKE
AN IDEAL PLACE
FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE DISILLUSIONED
WITH THE BLACK CODES
THAT HAD BEEN PASSED IN THE SOUTH,
THE MEANNESS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN,
THE MEANNESS OF THE SHARECROPPERS,
WHO REALLY WEREN'T SHARING THE WAY THEY HAD AGREED,
AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO PAID $5.00,
FIVE BUCKS TO PAP SINGLETON
TO COME UP THE RIVER TO A NEW LIFE IN KANSAS.
THE WEST HAS ALWAYS BEEN SEEN
AS A PLACE OF OPPORTUNITY,
AND THIS WAS CERTAINLY AS TRUE FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
AS FOR ANYBODY ELSE.
SINGLETON AND OTHER LEADERS
WEREN'T NECESSARILY DOING IT FOR PURELY ALTRUISTIC REASONS.
LIKE A LOT OF GREAT WESTERNERS,
THEY WERE SPECULATORS IN LAND
AND HOPED TO MAKE THEIR FORTUNES.
BUT THEY DID HAVE A VISION OF A PLACE
WHERE PEOPLE OF COLOR COULD BREATHE FREE,
COULD BE A PART OF THE WEST
AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT THE WEST HAS COME TO MEAN
BOTH AT THAT TIME AND SINCE.
THE BLACK EMIGRANTS CALLED THEMSELVES "EXODUSTERS" BECAUSE,
LIKE THE OLD TESTAMENT HEBREWS,
THEY BELIEVED THEIR SALVATION LAY IN REACHING A PROMISED LAND.
SOON BLACKS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS,
AND THEIR HOPEFUL LETTERS HOME
WERE BEING READ ALOUD IN BLACK CHURCHES.
THEN, IN THE SPRING OF 1879,
A RUMOR RACED THROUGH AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
THROUGHOUT THE DEEP SOUTH
THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD SET ASIDE ALL OF KANSAS
FOR FORMER SLAVES,
PROVIDING EVERY BLACK FAMILY THAT COULD GET THERE
WITH FREE LAND AND $500.
IT WASN'T TRUE, BUT IT WAS ENOUGH
TO CONVINCE SOME 6,000 PEOPLE TO START WEST.
SOME WENT BY RIVERBOAT AS FAR AS ST. LOUIS.
OTHERS, TOO POOR TO PAY THEIR PASSAGE,
WALKED THE WHOLE WAY.
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR IN THE MORNING ♪
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ ALL AROUND THE SON OF GOD ♪
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR IN THE MORNING ♪
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ ALL AROUND THE SON OF GOD ♪
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR IN THE MORNING ♪
♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪
♪ ALL AROUND THE SON OF GOD ♪
"GOVERNOR'S MANSION, TOPEKA, KANSAS.
"LAST SATURDAY, I HAD A CALL FROM A DELEGATION
"OF A HUNDRED LEADING COLORED MEN
"FROM THE STATES OF MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA.
"THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD RATHER DIE
"IN THE ATTEMPT TO REACH THE LAND
"WHERE THEY CAN BE FREE
THAN TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE SOUTH ANY LONGER."
GOVERNOR JOHN P. ST. JOHN.
BY 1880, MORE THAN 15,000 AFRICAN-AMERICANS
HAD MIGRATED TO KANSAS.
MOST OF THEM SETTLED ON FARMS AND IN SMALL COMMUNITIES
LIKE JUNIPER TOWN, DUNLAP,
RATTLEBONE HOLLOW, AND NICODEMUS.
"WHEN I LANDED ON THE SOIL OF KANSAS,
"I LOOKED ON THE GROUND,
"AND I SAYS, THIS IS FREE GROUND.
"THEN I LOOKED ON THE HEAVENS, AND I SAYS,
"THEM IS FREE AND BEAUTIFUL HEAVENS.
"THEN I LOOKED WITHIN MY HEART, AND I SAYS TO MYSELF,
I WONDER WHY I WAS NEVER FREE BEFORE?"
"I SAID, LET US HOLD A LITTLE PRAYER MEETING
"ON THE RIVERBANK.
"IT WAS RAINING, BUT THE DROPS FELL FROM HEAVEN
"ON A FREE FAMILY,
"AND THE MEETING WAS JUST AS GOOD AS SUNSHINE.
"WE WAS THANKFUL TO GOD,
"AND WE PRAYED FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT COME.
"I ASKED MY WIFE DID SHE KNOW THE GROUND SHE STANDS ON.
"SHE SAID NO.
"I SAID, IT IS FREE GROUND,
AND SHE CRIED FOR JOY."
THE WEST HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS BE
A PLACE WHERE THERE'S A STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE
AND WHERE NATURE STRIKES HEAVY BLOWS AT YOU,
BUT I THINK THAT'S...
THAT'S PART OF THE WEST.
THAT'S...
THAT'S GEOGRAPHY,
AND I THINK PART OF THAT CONQUERING OF THE WEST
SEEPED INTO THE AMERICAN CHARACTER.
IN MANY WAYS,
THE WEST HAS BEEN A GEOGRAPHY OF HOPE
FOR THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE.
FOR 40 YEARS, AS AMERICANS MOVED WEST,
THE WESTERN PLAINS OF KANSAS, NEBRASKA, AND THE DAKOTAS
WERE PASSED OVER.
WITH BETTER LAND AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE,
THEY WERE CONSIDERED TOO DRY FOR HOMESTEADING.
BUT NOW, THE HUNGER FOR LAND
REACHED EVEN INTO THESE INHOSPITABLE PLACES.
THE RAILROADS AND THE STATES OUTDID THEMSELVES
TO LURE NEW SETTLERS.
IT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST CON JOBS IN HISTORY.
THEY HAD A PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN IN NEBRASKA
THAT I THINK WAS SPENDING A MILLION BUCKS A YEAR,
BACK WHEN YOU COULD BUY A FANCY FIVE-COURSE DINNER FOR $1.25.
I MEAN, IT WAS ADVERTISING.
THEY HAD THEIR OWN MAGAZINES, BROCHURES.
THEY HAD JOURNALISTS ON THE TAKE.
I MEAN, IT WAS A PHENOMENON.
AND, UH, IN ORDER TO SELL IT,
THEY DESCRIBED THESE--THESE, UH, YOU KNOW,
BEAUTIFUL REGIONS WHERE YOU COULD RAISE A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST
OF PRACTICALLY ANYTHING,
AND, UH, SUMMER LINGERED INTO NOVEMBER,
AND BY FEBRUARY IT WAS ALREADY SPRING,
AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEBRASKA AND PLACES LIKE THAT.
AS IT HAPPENED,
THE 1870s AND EARLY 1880s
WERE UNUSUALLY WET YEARS IN THE WEST.
THE PRAIRIES, PLOWED AND PLANTED FOR THE FIRST TIME,
YIELDED BUMPER CROPS.
PROMOTERS MADE THE MOST OF IT.
THE PLAINS MIGHT ONCE HAVE BEEN DESERT-LIKE, THEY SAID,
BUT NO LONGER.
THE CLIMATE ITSELF, THEY PROMISED,
HAD CHANGED FOR GOOD,
AND IT WAS THE VERY PRESENCE OF SETTLERS
THAT HAD CHANGED IT.
"THE PLOW WILL GO FORWARD.
"GOD SPEED THE PLOW.
"BY THIS WONDERFUL PROVISION,
"WHICH IS ONLY MAN'S MASTERY OVER NATURE,
"THE CLOUDS ARE DISPENSING COPIOUS RAINS.
"THE PLOW IS MORE POWERFUL IN PEACE
"THAN THE SWORD IN WAR,
"THE INSTRUMENT WHICH SEPARATES CIVILIZATION FROM SAVAGERY
"AND CONVERTS A DESERT INTO A FARM OR GARDEN.
"TO BE MORE CONCISE,
RAIN FOLLOWS THE PLOW."
CHARLES DANA WILBER.
WITHIN 10 YEARS, NEARLY TWO MILLION PEOPLE
MIGRATED FARTHER ONTO THE PLAINS.
THE POPULATIONS OF COLORADO AND NEBRASKA DOUBLED--
SOUTH DAKOTA'S, MONTANA'S, AND WYOMING'S TRIPLED.
BUT AS IT TURNED OUT,
RAIN DID NOT FOLLOW THE PLOW.
THE WET YEARS CAME TO AN END.
MANY PLACES ON THE HIGH PLAINS EMPTIED
JUST AS QUICKLY AS THEY HAD FILLED WITH HOMESTEADERS...
BUT SOME STUBBORNLY HUNG ON.
THERE'S NO QUESTION IN MY MIND
THAT THE SETTLERS ARE THE REAL HEROES.
YES. YES, INDEED.
IN THIS HARSH COUNTRY--
MUCH OF IT HARSH AND FORBIDDING AND DEMANDING, TOUGH COUNTRY--
UH, THE FACT THAT PEOPLE COULD GO THERE
AND ESTABLISH COMMUNITIES AND MAKE A LIVING FOR THEMSELVES
AND BUILD UP SOCIETIES.
I THINK THAT'S-- THAT WAS A REAL TRIUMPH.
IN A YEAR'S TIME,
A HOMESTEADER WOULD ENCOUNTER
A CATALOGUE OF METEOROLOGICAL DISASTERS.
IN THE SPRINGTIME, THERE'D BE THE FLOODS
AND THE TORNADOES THAT WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT
TO GET INTO THE FIELDS TO PLANT A CROP.
ONCE THE CROP WAS PLANTED,
YOU MIGHT GO FOR SIX, EIGHT WEEKS AT A TIME
WITH NO RAIN AT ALL,
AND THEN IT WAS BAD ENOUGH THAT THE RAIN WAS HALF
OF WHAT THE HOMESTEADER MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED
IN HIS HOMELAND.
HERE, IT WOULD FALL ALL IN ONE DAY
AND FLOOD OUT THAT WHICH HAD MANAGED TO SURVIVE
THROUGH THE DROUGHT.
THERE WERE THE GRASSHOPPER STORMS
AND THE WIND STORMS.
HAIL STORMS WOULD POUND A CROP INTO THE GROUND,
IN SOME CASES FREEZING A CROP IN JULY
WHEN YOU THOUGHT THERE WAS NO CHANCE
OF ANYTHING HAPPENING LIKE THAT AT ALL.
IN THE FALL AT HARVEST TIME,
FIRE COULD TAKE IT AS THE FIRE SWEPT ACROSS THE GRASSLANDS.
THROUGH THE WINTER, IT WOULD BE A MATTER OF SURVIVING THE COLD.
AND THEN IN THE SPRING,
YOU STARTED THE WHOLE MESS ALL OVER AGAIN.
WE LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE
SITTING IN FRONT OF THEIR SOD HOUSES,
AND WE THINK, "WHAT SQUALOR, LIVING IN A DIRT HOUSE."
WE SEE WOMEN IN MAYBE AN ELEGANT DRESS
BUT WITHOUT SHOES ON,
AND WE THINK, "THESE PEOPLE WERE POOR,"
BUT WHAT I SEE IS PRIDE.
WHAT THEY'RE REALLY SAYING IS,
"LOOK HOW RICH WE ARE.
"WE'RE STINKING RICH.
"OUR MUSKMELONS ARE THIS BIG.
"WE HAVE TWO HORSES, WE HAVE A COW,
AND THERE SHE IS PEGGED RIGHT BACK THERE."
THEY'RE SHOWING US THAT THEY'VE MADE IT.
THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE EMBARRASSED BY THEIR SITUATION.
THEY ARE DRENCHED IN PRIDE.
♪ AH, NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪
WHAT'S REMARKABLE TO ME IS THAT THEY WERE SINGING
AND THAT THEY WERE LAUGHING WHILE THEY WERE SINGING.
"WELL, WE'VE REACHED THE LAND OF DESERT SWEET
"WHERE NOTHING GROWS FOR MAN TO EAT.
"THE WIND, IT BLOWS WITH FEVERISH HEAT,
ACROSS THESE PLAINS SO HARD TO BEAT."
BUT THAT'S NOT A SAD SONG.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BLUES WHEN I SAY IT,
BUT IT WAS A SONG OF LAUGHTER AND REJOICING
BECAUSE THEY WERE LAUGHING AT THEMSELVES
IN THIS CRAZY SITUATION THEY WERE IN.
"WE DO NOT LIVE.
WE ONLY STAY 'CAUSE WE'RE TOO POOR TO MOVE AWAY."
♪ WE HAVE NO WHEAT ♪
♪ WE HAVE NO OATS ♪
♪ WE HAVE NO CORN TO FEED OUR SHOATS ♪
♪ OUR CHICKENS ARE SO VERY POOR ♪
♪ THEY BEG FOR CRUMBS OUTSIDE OUR DOOR ♪
♪ IN NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪
THE NOBLEST PART OF THE WEST
IS THE FACT THAT IT GAVE HOPE TO PEOPLE
IN WAYS THAT WE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO HAVE BEFORE.
IT WAS A FORCE IN THE SHAPING OF THE NATIONAL CHARACTER,
AND AN IMPORTANT ONE.
AND I THINK WHEN AND IF WE EVER LOSE
THAT SENSE OF HOPE THAT THE WEST HOLDS FOR US,
WE WILL HAVE LOST BY JUST THAT MUCH
OUR SENSE OF OURSELVES AS AMERICANS.
BUT WHAT WE DID WHEN WE CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI
AND ENTERED THIS LAND AND TOOK IT AS OUR OWN
WAS TO TURN OUR BACKS ON OUR OWN BEST HISTORY.
THERE IS VERY LITTLE THAT IS PRESUMABLY DEAR
TO THE AMERICAN PSYCHE
IN TERMS OF THE CONSTITUTION,
IN TERMS OF CIVIL RIGHTS,
IN TERMS OF OUR HIGHEST IDEALS,
THAT WAS NOT AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER
SYSTEMATICALLY VIOLATED DURING THE HISTORY OF THE WEST.
AND SOMETIMES IN WAYS
THAT HAD NEVER BEEN MATCHED BEFORE--
AT AN INTENSITY, AT A LEVEL OF VIOLENCE,
AT A LEVEL OF...
OF, UH, THOUGHTLESSNESS.
"THE FARTHER MY PEOPLE KEEP AWAY FROM THE WHITES,
"THE BETTER I SHALL BE SATISFIED.
"THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE WICKED.
"I WANT YOU TO TEACH MY PEOPLE TO READ AND WRITE,
"BUT THEY MUST NOT BECOME WHITE PEOPLE IN THEIR WAYS.
"IT IS TOO BAD A LIFE.
"I COULD NOT LET THEM DO IT.
"I WOULD RATHER DIE AN INDIAN
THAN LIVE A WHITE MAN."
SITTING BULL.
BY THE SPRING OF 1881,
THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS
HAD ALL BUT LOST THEIR STRUGGLE TO REMAIN FREE.
ONLY SITTING BULL AND FEWER THAN 200 OF HIS FOLLOWERS,
MANY OF THEM MEMBERS OF HIS OWN FAMILY,
REMAINED DEFIANT, IN CANADA.
BUT ON JULY 19, 1881,
HE LED A HANDFUL OF HIS HUNGRY PEOPLE
SOUTH ACROSS THE BORDER AND GAVE UP.
"I SURRENDER THIS RIFLE TO YOU
"THROUGH MY YOUNG SON,
"WHOM I NOW DESIRE TO TEACH IN THIS MANNER
"THAT HE HAS BECOME A FRIEND OF THE AMERICANS.
"I WISH HIM TO LEARN THE HABITS OF THE WHITES
"AND TO BE EDUCATED AS THEIR SONS ARE EDUCATED.
"THIS BOY HAS GIVEN MY RIFLE TO YOU,
"AND HE NOW WANTS TO KNOW
HOW HE IS GOING TO MAKE A LIVING."
SITTING BULL STILL WANTED
THE RIGHT TO CROSS BACK AND FORTH
INTO CANADA AT WILL,
TO LIVE ON THE LITTLE MISSOURI, NEAR THE BLACK HILLS,
AND TO HUNT WHEREVER HE WISHED.
THE ARMY GRANTED NONE OF SITTING BULL'S REQUESTS.
THEY EVENTUALLY ORDERED HIM
TO GO TO THE STANDING ROCK RESERVATION,
HUNDREDS OF MILES TO THE EAST IN NORTH DAKOTA,
AND LIVE THERE AS HIS PEOPLE LIVED.
AT STANDING ROCK,
HE WAS REUNITED WITH HIS DAUGHTER
AND WEPT TO SEE AGAIN THOSE WHO HAD BEEN WITH HIM
AT THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
THE LIFESTYLE OF THE LAKOTA PEOPLE HAD CHANGED SO MUCH.
HERE YOU HAD THIS FREE-ROAMING PEOPLE
THAT WERE DEPENDENT UPON THE BUFFALO
FOR A WAY OF LIFE, UM...
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN,
NOW THEY ARE CONFINED IN THESE SMALL AREAS,
THEY'RE LIVING OFF OF RATIONS,
AND PEOPLE ARE STARVING.
IT'S ALMOST LIKE BEING IN A PRISON CELL.
EVEN THOUGH RESERVATIONS WERE A PRETTY GOOD SIZE,
THE IDEA OF COMPACTING PEOPLE INTO THAT AREA
AND SAYING "YOU CAN'T MOVE OUTSIDE THIS AREA,
"YOU CAN'T TRAVEL OUTSIDE THIS AREA,
AND IF YOU DO, YOU NEED A PASS."
THE WHOLE IDEA OF CONFINING LAKOTA PEOPLE
WAS SO DEVASTATING TO THEM.
IT WAS LIKE BEING CONFINED TO
A TINY ISLAND
WITH NO WAY TO NAVIGATE
AMONG THIS ENORMOUS SEA OF WHITE STRANGERS.
EVERY TWO WEEKS,
A FEW SCRAWNY STEERS WERE BROUGHT TO THE RESERVATION,
WHERE MEN WHO ONLY A FEW YEARS EARLIER
HAD HUNTED BUFFALO ON THE OPEN PLAINS
NOW SHOT CATTLE FOR THEIR FOOD.
"ANY INDIAN WHO SHALL ENGAGE IN THE SUN DANCE,
"SCALP DANCE, OR WAR DANCE
"SHALL BE DEEMED GUILTY OF AN OFFENSE,
"AND UPON CONVICTION THEREOF
"SHALL BE PUNISHED BY WITHHOLDING OF HIS RATIONS
NOT EXCEEDING 10 DAYS."
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
LIKE INDIANS ON ALL THE OTHER RESERVATIONS,
THE LAKOTAS WERE ORDERED TO GIVE UP THEIR LANGUAGE
AND SPEAK ENGLISH,
ABANDON THEIR FAITH,
PUT BEHIND THEM ALL THEIR RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.
LAKOTA MEN WERE RECRUITED TO SERVE AS POLICE,
EMPOWERED TO HELP KEEP THE PEACE
AND TO ENFORCE THE NEW RULES.
WELL, THE IDEA WAS IF WE COULDN'T PRAY,
IF WE COULDN'T BEHAVE THE WAY WE DO--
HAVE OUR SOCIAL CUSTOMS-- AND WE COULDN'T SPEAK,
WE'D VERY QUICKLY BECOME WHITE PEOPLE,
AND WE WOULD NO LONGER BE A MILITARY PROBLEM.
SO THE IDEA WAS CORRUPT THEM FROM THE INSIDE.
YOU KNOW, MAKE THEM GIVE UP WHO THEY ARE.
IF THEY DON'T TALK THEIR LANGUAGE,
THEY WON'T PRACTICE THEIR CULTURE AND RELIGION.
WHAT AMERICANS WERE TRYING TO DO INITIALLY
WAS TO MOVE INDIANS OUT OF THE WAY,
BUT AT THE SAME TIME,
THEY'VE PROMISED INDIANS A PERMANENT EXISTENCE.
RESERVATIONS WERE GOING TO BE A PLACE
IN WHICH INDIAN PEOPLES WERE GOING TO BE ALLOWED
TO SLOWLY ADJUST TO THE LARGER WHITE SOCIETY AROUND THEM.
THE LAKOTAS LIVED IN LOG CABINS NOW
AS WELL AS TEEPEES,
AND THEY WERE EXPECTED TO FARM.
EVEN SITTING BULL FOUND HIMSELF AT WORK,
HOE IN HAND.
IN AUGUST OF 1883,
A DELEGATION OF UNITED STATES SENATORS VISITED STANDING ROCK
WITH A PLAN FOR OPENING PART OF THE RESERVATION
TO WHITE SETTLEMENT.
SITTING BULL PROTESTED BITTERLY.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
"I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT IF THE GREAT SPIRIT
"HAS CHOSEN ANYONE TO BE THE CHIEF OF THIS COUNTRY,
IT IS MYSELF."
"YOU WERE NOT APPOINTED BY THE GREAT SPIRIT.
"APPOINTMENTS ARE NOT MADE THAT WAY.
"YOU HAVE NO FOLLOWING, NO POWER, NO CONTROL,
"AND NO RIGHT TO ANY CONTROL.
"IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE GOVERNMENT,
"YOU WOULD BE FREEZING AND STARVING TODAY
IN THE MOUNTAINS."
JUST ACROSS THE GRAND RIVER FROM HIS CABIN,
SITTING BULL COULD SEE THE SPOT WHERE HE HAD BEEN BORN
INTO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD.
TO FILL THE EMPTY HOURS, HE COMPOSED HIS OWN SONG.
"A WARRIOR I HAVE BEEN," HE SANG.
"NOW IT IS ALL OVER.
A HARD TIME I HAVE."
"UNLEARNED AS YOU MAY THINK US TO BE,
"WE ARE NOT WHOLLY IGNORANT OF YOUR HISTORY.
"WE CHINESE ARE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE
"THAT YOUR GOVERNMENT IS FOUNDED AND CONDUCTED
"UPON PRINCIPLES OF PURE JUSTICE
"AND THAT ALL OF EVERY RACE AND CREED ARE HERE
SURELY PROTECTED IN PERSON, LIBERTY, AND PROPERTY."
CHUNG SUN.
IN OCTOBER OF 1871,
AN EAGER AND AMBITIOUS YOUNG CHINESE MAN NAMED CHUNG SUN
ARRIVED IN THE WEST.
HE CARRIED $600 WITH HIM
AND DREAMED OF STARTING A TEA PLANTATION
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA,
BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY,
HE FOUND HIMSELF CAUGHT UP IN A RIOT IN LOS ANGELES.
IT STARTED AS A QUARREL BETWEEN TWO CHINESE MEN OVER A WOMAN
BUT QUICKLY TURNED INTO AN ARMED STRUGGLE
BETWEEN THE SMALL CHINESE COMMUNITY
AND THE REST OF THE CITY.
BEFORE IT WAS OVER,
AT LEAST 23 CHINESE IMMIGRANTS
HAD BEEN HANGED OR STABBED OR SHOT TO DEATH.
CHUNG SUN WAS BEATEN AND ROBBED OF HIS SAVINGS.
THERE WERE MORE THAN 300,000 CHINESE IN THE COUNTRY
BY THE TIME CHUNG SUN ARRIVED--
HELPING TO BUILD THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD,
RUNNING LAUNDRIES AND RESTAURANTS,
PLANTING VINEYARDS,
AND OPERATING FISHING FLEETS UP AND DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST,
BUT WHEN DEPRESSION STRUCK,
WHITE WORKERS CAME TO BLAME THE CHINESE FOR THEIR TROUBLES.
"WE INTEND TO TRY AND VOTE THE CHINAMAN OUT,
"TO FRIGHTEN HIM OUT, AND IF THIS WON'T DO,
"TO KILL HIM OUT,
"AND WHEN THE BLOW COMES,
"WE WON'T LEAVE A FRAGMENT FOR THE THIEVES TO PICK UP.
"THE HEATHEN SLAVES MUST LEAVE THIS COAST,
IF IT COSTS 10,000 LIVES."
DENIS KEARNEY, THE WORKINGMEN'S PARTY.
ANTI-CHINESE VIOLENCE BROKE OUT ALL ACROSS THE WEST.
IN ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING, WHITES MURDERED 28 CHINESE.
IN TACOMA, STATE MILITIAMEN HAD TO BE CALLED IN
TO RESTORE ORDER.
THE CHINESE IN SEATTLE WERE ROUNDED UP,
PUSHED ONTO BOATS,
AND FORCED OUT TO SEA.
THE LOS ANGELES RIOT HAD LEFT CHUNG SUN PENNILESS,
BUT HE HADN'T GIVEN UP.
HE MADE HIS WAY NORTH TO THE LITTLE TOWN OF WATSONVILLE,
WHERE HE MANAGED TO FIND A JOB DIGGING DITCHES
AND LAYING A GAS LINE FOR $1.50 A DAY.
"BEING A MAN OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE,
"I AM CAPABLE OF OTHER WORK THAN DIGGING IN THE STREETS,
"BUT MY PHILOSOPHY TEACHES ME
"ANY USEFUL WORK IS MORE HONORABLE THAN IDLENESS.
"I SHALL, THEREFORE, WITH PATIENCE,
CONTINUE TO DIG WITH AN ABIDING HOPE FOR SOMETHING BETTER."
BUT WHEN THE DITCH WAS FINISHED,
CHUNG SUN COULD NOT FIND ANOTHER JOB.
NO ONE WOULD HIRE HIM.
A NEW CALIFORNIA LAW MADE HIRING A CHINESE WORKER ILLEGAL,
PUNISHABLE BY FINES AND JAIL TERMS.
THEN, IN 1882,
WESTERN POLITICIANS AND LABOR UNIONS
MANAGED TO PERSUADE CONGRESS TO PASS THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT.
FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,
THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO EXCLUDE A GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS
ON THE BASIS OF RACE,
AND IT SET A PRECEDENT NOW BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME,
YOU HAVE THIS NEW THINKING INTRODUCED--
WELL, WE CAN NOT ONLY DETERMINE
WHO COULD BECOME CITIZENS IN THIS COUNTRY,
BUT WE COULD DETERMINE WHO COULD COME TO THIS COUNTRY.
THE YEAR BEFORE THE EXCLUSION ACT PASSED,
NEARLY 40,000 CHINESE ENTERED THE UNITED STATES.
THE NEXT YEAR, JUST 23 WERE ALLOWED IN.
BUT CHUNG SUN HAD HAD ENOUGH OF AMERICA.
HE SET SAIL FOR HOME.
"I HOPE YOU WILL PARDON
"MY EXPRESSING A PAINFUL DISAPPOINTMENT.
"THE ILL TREATMENT OF MY OWN COUNTRYMEN
"MAY PERHAPS BE EXCUSED
"ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE,
"COLOR, LANGUAGE, AND RELIGION,
BUT SUCH PREJUDICE CAN ONLY PREVAIL AMONG THE IGNORANT."
"IN CIVILITY AND POLITE MANNERS,
"AMERICANS ARE WHOLLY WANTING
AND ARE VERY PROPERLY STYLED BARBARIANS."
AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1883,
A 24-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK ASSEMBLYMAN
STEPPED DOWN FROM THE TRAIN AT THE LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER
IN THE HEART OF DAKOTA TERRITORY.
HE HAD ALREADY EARNED A REPUTATION FOR HIMSELF BACK EAST
AS A NOISY BUT ENERGETIC REFORMER.
NOW HE HAD COME WEST
TO BUILD HIMSELF UP AFTER A BOUT OF CHOLERA,
AND HE WAS DETERMINED TO SHOOT A BUFFALO
BEFORE THE SPECIES DISAPPEARED.
HIS NAME WAS THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
AND HE SEEMED THE QUINTESSENTIAL DUDE--
SHRILL, NEARSIGHTED,
HARVARD-EDUCATED, WHEEZING WITH ASTHMA,
AND INSISTENT UPON BEING CALLED MR. ROOSEVELT.
STILL, DESPITE DAY AFTER DAY OF COLD RAIN SO FIERCE
THAT EVEN HIS SEASONED GUIDE URGED HIM TO ABANDON THE CHASE,
HE FOUND AND SHOT HIS BUFFALO.
ROOSEVELT FELL IN LOVE WITH THE WEST
AND WITH THE PROSPECT OF QUICK RICHES
IT SEEMED TO OFFER VIRTUALLY FREE OF CHARGE.
HE WAS JUST ONE OF HUNDREDS
OF EAGER ENTREPRENEURS
HOPING TO CASH IN
ON THE BEEF BOOM
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.
EVERYTHING SEEMED TO SUGGEST IT WAS A SURE THING.
"A GOOD-SIZED STEER,
"WHEN IT IS FIT FOR THE BUTCHER MARKET,
"WILL BRING FROM $45 TO $60.
"THE SAME ANIMAL AT ITS BIRTH WAS WORTH BUT $5.00.
"HE HAS RUN ON THE PLAINS
"AND CROPPED THE GRASS FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
"FOR FOUR OR FIVE YEARS,
"AND NOW, WITH SCARCELY ANY EXPENSE TO ITS OWNER,
"IS WORTH $40 MORE
THAN WHEN HE STARTED ON HIS PILGRIMAGE."
ALL ONE NEEDED TO DO WAS BUY A HERD
AND TURN IT LOOSE ON GRASSLANDS
THAT SEEMED AS LIMITLESS AS THE PROFITS THEY PROMISED.
"COTTON WAS ONCE CROWNED KING,"
WROTE A WESTERN NEWSPAPER EDITOR,
"BUT GRASS IS NOW."
FORTUNE-SEEKERS FROM ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND EUROPE
INVESTED AFTER READING NEWSPAPER STORIES
THAT PROCLAIMED ROUTINE PROFITS OF 40 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR.
MARSHALL FIELD, THE CHICAGO DRY GOODS KING,
BOUGHT A HERD.
SO DID WILLIAM K. VANDERBILT, THE RAILROAD MAGNATE,
AND JOSEPH GLIDDEN, THE MAN WHO MANUFACTURED BARBED WIRE.
"RICH MEN'S SONS FROM THE EAST
"WERE NOTHING NEW AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED.
"THE RANGE IN THE EIGHTIES WAS AS FULL OF THEM
"AS A DOG'S HAIR OF FLEAS,
"AND SOME OF THEM WERE GOOD FELLOWS,
AND SOME WERE DAMN FOOLS."
TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT.
BUT FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
THE WEST WAS MUCH MORE THAN A CHANCE TO GET RICH.
IT WAS ALSO A CHANCE TO ESCAPE THE SORROWS OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE.
IN 1884,
WHEN HIS MOTHER AND WIFE DIED WITHIN HOURS OF ONE ANOTHER,
HE DEALT WITH HIS GRIEF IN LONG, SOLITARY RIDES
ACROSS THE BADLANDS.
"NOWHERE ELSE DOES ONE FEEL SO FAR OFF FROM MANKIND.
"THE PLAINS STRETCH OUT
"IN DEATHLESS AND MEASURELESS EXPANSE,
"AND AS HE JOURNEYS OVER THEM,
"THEY WILL, FOR MANY MILES,
"BE LACKING IN ALL SIGNS OF LIFE.
"BLACK CARE RARELY SITS BEHIND A RIDER
WHOSE PACE IS FAST ENOUGH."
OVER THE COURSE OF THREE SUMMERS
ON HIS DAKOTA RANCHES,
ROOSEVELT ROUNDED UP CATTLE, HUNTED DOWN RUSTLERS,
AND REVELED IN THE RUGGED LANDSCAPE
AND EQUALLY RUGGED LIFE.
"LIKE ALL AMERICANS, I LIKE BIG THINGS--
"BIG PRAIRIES, BIG FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS,
"BIG WHEAT FIELDS, RAILROADS, AND HERDS OF CATTLE, TOO.
"I AM, MYSELF, AT HEART
AS MUCH A WESTERNER AS AN EASTERNER."
IN THE WEST, ROOSEVELT HAD TRANSFORMED HIMSELF.
"HERE," HE SAID LATER,
"THE ROMANCE OF MY LIFE BEGAN."
"IT WAS THE CUSTOM OF THE TOWN OF LOS ANGELES
"IN ALL OF THE FAMILIES OF THE EARLY SETTLERS,
"FOR THE OLDEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
"TO RISE EVERY MORNING AT THE RISING OF THE MORNING STAR
"AND AT ONCE TO STRIKE UP A HYMN.
"FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE, STREET TO STREET,
"THE SINGING SPREAD,
"AND THE VOLUME OF MUSICAL SOUND SWELLED
UNTIL IT WAS AS IF THE WHOLE TOWN SANG."
TO THE CASUAL VISITOR, LOS ANGELES IN THE 1870s
SEEMED MUCH AS IT HAD BEEN
WHEN THE UNITED STATES HAD TAKEN CALIFORNIA FROM MEXICO IN 1846--
AN OLD HISPANIC FARMING TOWN
WITH A POPULATION OF FEWER THAN 10,000 PEOPLE.
BUT LIFE FOR ITS NATIVE INHABITANTS
HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO CHANGE.
BULLFIGHTS AND BEARBAITING HAD BEEN OUTLAWED.
BASEBALL HAD BECOME THE CITY'S MOST POPULAR SPORT.
POLITICAL POWER HAD LONG SINCE PASSED
FROM THE OLD CALIFORNIO FAMILIES
INTO THE HANDS OF ANGLOS.
THEN THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD
AND ITS COMPETITOR,
THE ATCHISON, TOPEKAbr/& SANTA FE,
BUILT THE FIRST RAILROAD LINES INTO LOS ANGELES
AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN A FARE WAR.
FOR A TIME, PASSENGERS COULD MAKE IT
ALL THE WAY TO LOS ANGELES FROM ST. LOUIS
FOR AS LITTLE AS ONE DOLLAR.
"THE PURITY OF THE AIR OF LOS ANGELES IS REMARKABLE.
"VEGETATION DRIES UP BEFORE IT DIES
"AND HARDLY EVER SEEMS TO DECAY.
"MEAT SUSPENDED IN THE SUN DRIES UP,
"BUT NEVER ROTS.
"THE AIR, WHEN INHALED,
"GIVES TO THE INDIVIDUAL A STIMULUS AND VITAL FORCE
"WHICH ONLY AN ATMOSPHERE SO PURE
CAN EVER COMMUNICATE."
NOW EASTERNERS AND MIDWESTERNERS,
DRAWN BY REPORTS OF WARM SUNSHINE AND CHEAP LAND,
BEGAN ARRIVING IN LARGER AND LARGER NUMBERS--
120,000 IN 1887 ALONE.
SPECULATORS POURED IN--
SO MANY, THE HOTELS RAN OUT OF BEDS
AND RENTED THEM BATHTUBS TO SLEEP IN.
IN JUST TWO AND A HALF YEARS,
60 NEW TOWNS WERE FOUNDED IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY.
BY 1890, THE ANGLO POPULATION OF LOS ANGELES
WAS FIVE TIMES LARGER THAN IT HAD BEEN JUST 10 YEARS BEFORE,
AND THE TOWN'S MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEART,
NOW KNOWN AS THE BARRIO,
HAD BEEN SURROUNDED.
THE CHANGE WAS SO DRASTIC,
WE HAD TO TURN INWARD
AND FIND THE STRENGTH WITHIN OUR FAMILIES--
A CIRCLE OF SAFETY
TO PRESERVE OUR TRADITIONAL WAYS,
AND ONE WAY TO DO THAT
IS TO FALL BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY,
INTO THE FAMILY, INTO THE BARRIO,
AND TRY TO HANG ON TO WHAT YOU HAVE OF YOUR HISTORY.
THERE IS MUSIC. PEOPLE WALK IN THE STREETS.
PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER.
YOU BELONG IN A BARRIO,
AND YOU'RE PROUD OF YOUR BARRIO.
WHAT'S OUTSIDE IS AN ALIEN LAND,
WHERE THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN MAKES A DIFFERENCE,
WHERE THE WAY YOU SPEAK MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
IN THE BARRIO, THAT DOESN'T MATTER, YOU KNOW.
YOU'RE ACCEPTED, AND, UH, OUT THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD.
"I TELL YOU THAT MORMONISM
"IS ONE GREAT SURGE OF LICENTIOUSNESS.
"IT IS THE BROTHEL OF THE NATION.
"IT IS HELL ENTHRONED.
"THIS MISERABLE CORPSE OF MORMONISM
"HAS BEEN ROTTING IN THE SUN
"AND ROTTING AND ROTTING FOR 40 YEARS,
"AND THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
HAS NOT HAD THE COURAGE TO BURY IT."
REVEREND T. DeWITT TALMAGE.
THE SAME YEAR THAT
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT WAS PASSED,
CONGRESS ALSO TOOK ACTION AGAINST THE MORMONS OF UTAH.
FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY,
THEY HAD STRUGGLED TO CARVE OUT
THEIR OWN UNIQUE SOCIETY IN THE WEST,
RESISTING FEDERAL CONTROL AT EVERY TURN.
THE CHURCH OWNED THE TERRITORY'S BIGGEST BUSINESSES,
HAD ITS OWN POLITICAL PARTY,
AND OFTEN CARRIED OUT ITS OWN LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS
IN DEFIANCE OF FEDERAL JUDGES.
BUT CONGRESS' MAIN TARGET
WAS THE MORMON PRACTICE OF PLURAL MARRIAGE.
NOW POLYGAMY WAS DECLARED A FEDERAL CRIME.
POLYGAMISTS WERE BARRED FROM VOTING, HOLDING OFFICE,
AND SERVING ON JURIES,
AND THOSE FOUND GUILTY OF THE PRACTICE
COULD BE SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON.
MANY MORMON FAMILIES FLED TO CANADA OR TO MEXICO.
OTHERS STAYED AT HOME AND TOOK THEIR CHANCES.
THE THING TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT
POLYGAMY WAS A SACRED CALLING,
THAT THIS WAS A COMMANDMENT OF GOD,
THAT THEY WERE FULFILLING A VERY IMPORTANT CHURCH PRINCIPLE
IN DOING THIS,
AND THAT WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LAW.
NOT THAT THEY HAD CONTEMPT FOR THE LAW,
BUT THEY WOULD DO IT
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IT WAS RIGHT.
TWO MONTHS AFTER POLYGAMY BECAME A FELONY,
DAVID KING UDALL, A PROMINENT 30-YEAR-OLD MORMON
IN CHARGE OF A NEW COLONY IN ARIZONA,
MARRIED HIS SECOND WIFE, IDA HUNT.
"TODAY I HAVE MADE THE MOST SOLEMN VOWS
"AND OBLIGATIONS OF MY LIFE.
"MARRIAGE UNDER ORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES
"IS A GRAVE AND IMPORTANT STEP,
"BUT ENTERING INTO PLURAL MARRIAGE
IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES IS DOUBLY SO."
IDA HUNT UDALL.
"THE PERSECUTIONS BECAME UNBEARABLE.
"A NEWSPAPER WAS PUBLISHED WHOSE SOLE MISSION
"WAS TO MISREPRESENT AND VILIFY OUR PEOPLE.
"EVERY ISSUE CONTAINED LOW, VULGAR ARTICLES.
"MY NAME FREQUENTLY CAME OUT IN GLOWING COLORS,
CALLING ME A PROSTITUTE, MISTRESS, ET CETERA."
ON JULY 10, 1884,
TWO MONTHS AFTER LEARNING SHE WAS PREGNANT,
IDA WAS TOLD THAT FEDERAL MARSHALS WERE IN ARIZONA
ARRESTING MEN AND SERVING THEIR PLURAL WIVES
WITH SUBPOENAS.
UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS,
SHE SLIPPED OUT OF TOWN
AND ENTERED WHAT THE MORMONS CALLED "THE UNDERGROUND"--
SHUTTLING FROM ONE HIDING PLACE TO ANOTHER,
OFTEN USING ASSUMED NAMES
WHILE SHE WAS HARBORED BY CHURCH MEMBERS.
AFTER BEING SEPARATED FROM HER FAMILY
FOR MORE THAN HALF A YEAR,
SHE LEARNED THROUGH A NEWSPAPER THAT HER MOTHER HAD DIED.
THAT SAME DAY, SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER.
"DEAR DAVID, TODAY I HAVE HAD A LETTER
"SAYING THAT THE APOSTLES WILL NOT CONSENT
"FOR ME TO RETURN TO ARIZONA
AND SAY THAT I MUST LOSE MYSELF AGAIN IF POSSIBLE."
"OH, DADE...I NEVER MISSED YOU
AS I DO TONIGHT.
THE WORLD SEEMS SO LONELY,
SO LOVELESS WITHOUT YOU."
"HOW LONG WILL THE LORD REQUIRE HIS POOR, WEAK CHILDREN
TO BE THUS TRIED?"
"MY DEAR GIRL,
"BETTER THAT I HAD SUFFERED IMPRISONMENT
"THAN TO HAVE YOU GOING BY ANOTHER NAME
"AND RUNNING HERE AND THERE FOR FEAR OF BEING KNOWN.
"IT TOUCHES THE MANLY FEELINGS OF ANY MAN
TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT IT IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE."
"GOD BLESS YOU IN YOUR WANDERING."
"FEBRUARY 26, 1886.
"AS I WRITE, PAULINE IS LAYING IN BED,
"LAUGHING, TALKING, AND BITING HER TOES.
"DEAR LITTLE REFUGEE-- HOW SHE WOULD LOVE HER PAPA
"IF SHE COULD EVER HAVE THE PRIVILEGE
"OF MAKING HIS ACQUAINTANCE.
"BUT HOW UTTERLY SHE IS EXILED FROM HIS HEART,
"FOR IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE A CHILD
WHOM YOU NEVER SEE."
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INTENSIFIED ITS PRESSURE
ON THE MORMONS.
MORE LEADERS WERE SENT TO JAIL.
ALL MORMONS, POLYGAMISTS OR NOT,
WERE TO BE PROHIBITED FROM VOTING.
FEDERAL MARSHALS THREATENED TO CONFISCATE CHURCH PROPERTY.
THE CHURCH WAS BEING DRIVEN TOWARDS BANKRUPTCY.
IT WAS CLEAR THEY HAD TO MAKE A CHANGE,
AND I THINK THIS WAS A VERY PRAGMATIC DECISION TO SAY,
"POLYGAMY IS DRAGGING THE CHURCH DOWN,
AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GIVE IT UP."
FINALLY THE CHURCH PRESIDENT, WILFORD WOODRUFF,
RETIRED TO HIS STUDY IN SALT LAKE CITY
AND EMERGED WITH A REVELATION.
HE ADVISED ALL MORMONS TO OBEY CONGRESS
AND REFRAIN FROM ENTERING INTO PLURAL MARRIAGES.
HE AND THE OTHER MORMON LEADERS NOW BELIEVED
THEIR BEST HOPE LAY IN STATEHOOD.
TO WIN IT,
THEY DISBANDED THE CHURCH'S POLITICAL PARTY,
DIVESTED THEMSELVES OF MOST OF THE CHURCH'S BUSINESSES,
AND DREW UP A STATE CONSTITUTION
THAT FINALLY SEPARATED CHURCH FROM STATE
AND OUTLAWED POLYGAMY.
ON JANUARY 6, 1896,
UTAH, WHICH HAD BEEN FOUNDED AS A REFUGE FROM THE UNITED STATES,
WAS ADMITTED TO THE UNION AS THE 45th STATE.
IDA HUNT UDALL SPENT TWO AND A HALF YEARS IN EXILE.
DAVID, WHO REFUSED TO GIVE UP EITHER OF HIS WIVES,
HAD GONE TO JAIL FOR A TIME,
BUT HIS AND IDA'S COMMITMENT TO THEIR BELIEFS AND EACH OTHER
NEVER WAVERED.
THEY WERE FINALLY REUNITED
AND HAD FIVE MORE CHILDREN TOGETHER--
THREE OF THEM AFTER THE MORMON CHURCH
RENOUNCED POLYGAMY.
"THE CHURCH COULD NOT UNDO
"WHAT HAD BEEN DONE IN PRACTICING PLURAL MARRIAGE.
"THE LORD TOOK CARE OF US
"AND WILL CONTINUE TO CARE FOR US.
"THOSE WHO LIVED THAT ORDER OF MARRIAGE RIGHTEOUSLY
WILL HAVE GLORY ADDED TO THEIR POSTERITY."
THERE'S A SENSE
IN THE WHOLE LATE 19th-CENTURY UNITED STATES
THAT, UM, THE COUNTRY CAN BE MADE INTO
A SINGLE, UNIFIED, COHERENT PLACE,
AND AT THE SAME TIME,
THERE'S A SENSE THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT INTO--
IN THIS 19th-CENTURY PHRASE--
A WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY,
AND THE WEST IS A VERY MIXED PLACE.
IT'S FULL OF CHINESE. IT'S FULL OF MORMONS.
IT'S FULL OF MEXICANS WHO HAVE BECOME MEXICAN-AMERICANS.
IT'S FULL OF INDIAN PEOPLES.
AND THE QUESTION BECOMES,
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THEM?
"LET US FORGET ONCE AND FOREVER THE WORD INDIAN
AND ALL THAT IT HAS SIGNIFIED IN THE PAST..."
"AND REMEMBER ONLY THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH
SO MANY CHILDREN OF A COMMON FATHER."
CHARLES C. PAINTER.
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1883,
A GROUP OF WHITE PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE
IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.
THEY WERE CLERGYMEN, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, SOCIAL WORKERS,
AND ALTHOUGH SOME OF THEM HAD NEVER BEEN TO THE WEST
OR ACTUALLY MET AN INDIAN,
THEY WERE CONVINCED THEY KNEW HOW TO BRING NATIVE AMERICANS
INTO THE MAINSTREAM OF AMERICAN LIFE.
THE DECISIONS THEY WOULD MAKE WOULD CHANGE THE LIVES
OF ALL THE INDIAN PEOPLES OF THE WEST... FOREVER.
THE NAME REFORMERS HAD FOR THEMSELVES WAS
"FRIENDS OF THE INDIANS."
IT'S A VERY REVEALING NAME.
WHAT THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS DOING
WAS SHARING THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIANITY
AND THE BLESSINGS OF MODERN CIVILIZATION
WITH PEOPLE WHO DID NOT YET HAVE IT.
THEY WERE GOING TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS.
THEY WERE GOING TO RAISE THEM UP TO THE LEVEL OF OTHERS
IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,
AND THEY WERE GOING TO TRY TO ABSORB THEM
INTO WHAT THEY SAW AS THE BEST QUALITIES
OF AMERICAN PROTESTANT CIVILIZATION.
AND AS THEY SAW IT, WHO COULD ARGUE WITH THAT?
THE FRIENDS OF THE INDIAN
WANTED TO TRANSFORM THE YOUNGEST GENERATION
AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE.
INDIAN CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5
WERE TO BE TAKEN FROM THEIR FAMILIES
AND SENT HALFWAY ACROSS THE CONTINENT
TO THE UNITED STATES INDIAN TRAINING AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
AT CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA.
IT WAS A MILITARY SCHOOL,
AND THEY WERE TRYING TO MAKE WHITE PEOPLE OUT OF THEM.
THEN WHEN THEY TOOK THE CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE MOTHERS,
THEY JUST KNEW THEY'D NEVER SEE THEIR CHILDREN ANYMORE.
AND THEN THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT SCHOOL.
THEY WERE THINKING--
THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THEY REALLY WENT TO SCHOOL
OR WERE GOING TO BE KILLED.
"OUR BELONGINGS WERE TAKEN FROM US,
"EVEN THE LITTLE MEDICINE BAGS OUR MOTHERS HAD GIVEN US
"TO PROTECT US FROM HARM.
EVERYTHING WAS PLACED IN A HEAP AND SET AFIRE."
LONE WOLF.
"ALL THE BOYS IN OUR SCHOOL
"WERE GIVEN ENGLISH NAMES
"BECAUSE THEIR INDIAN NAMES
"WERE DIFFICULT FOR THE TEACHERS TO PRONOUNCE.
"BESIDES, THE ABORIGINAL NAMES
"WERE CONSIDERED BY THE MISSIONARIES AS HEATHENISH,
"AND SO, IN THE PLACE OF TAE-NOO-GA-WA-ZHE
"CAME PHILIP SHERIDAN,
AND THAT OF WA-PAH-DAE, ULYSSES S. GRANT."
HALT!
WITHIN 20 YEARS,
THERE WERE 24 OTHER OFF-RESERVATION SCHOOLS LIKE CARLISLE
AND 81 BOARDING SCHOOLS
AND 147 DAY SCHOOLS ON THE RESERVATIONS--
DOG CREEK, FOREST GROVE, POCATELLO,
FORT DEFIANCE, FORT CONCHO.
DESPITE THEIR GRIM REALITY,
MANY INDIANS SAW THEM AS THE BEST AVAILABLE WAY
TO PREPARE THEIR CHILDREN
FOR A NEW LIFE IN THE WHITE MAN'S WORLD.
EVEN SITTING BULL MADE SURE HIS CHILDREN WERE SENT TO SCHOOL,
INCLUDING HIS SON CROW FOOT,
WHO HAD SURRENDERED HIS FATHER'S RIFLE TO THE ARMY
AT FORT BUFORD.
ALL INDIAN SCHOOLS SHARED THE SAME GOAL--
"EDUCATION," SAID ONE REFORMER,
"SHOULD SEEK THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE TRIBES.
"THEY SHOULD BE EDUCATED NOT AS INDIANS,
BUT AS AMERICANS."
EVEN IF ONE WAS SUCCESSFUL AT INDIAN SCHOOL--
LET'S SAY THAT ONE WENT OFF TO CARLISLE
AND GRADUATED AND CAME BACK--
WHAT PLACE DID THAT MAN HAVE
IN A SOCIETY THAT-- NOT CHANGED,
THAT DIDN'T NEED TO HAVE SOMEBODY
THAT KNEW HOW TO PLAY THE FRENCH HORN
OR DO THE IRISH JIG.
THEY HAD NO VALUE IN THAT SOCIETY.
I THINK ONE OF THE CONTRASTS WAS,
WHAT KIND OF SHOE DO YOU WEAR?
YOU KNOW, DO YOU WEAR A MOCCASIN,
OR DO YOU WEAR THE WHITE MAN'S SHOE?
YES, THEY TOOK OUR DIALECT AWAY.
WHEN I WENT TO CONCHO, MY LITTLE FRIENDS,
WE ALL SPOKE OUR DIALECT,
AND WE WERE TOLD NOT TO TALK IT.
SPEAK ENGLISH.
SO OUR MATRON, A BIG, HUSKY WHITE LADY--
HER NAME WAS GARRETT--
AND SOMEBODY SAID, "MOTHER GARRETT'S COMING!"
WELL, WE ALL TRIED TO KEEP QUIET,
BUT SHE HEARD ME.
MOTHER GARRETT JERKED ME BY MY COLLAR OF MY DRESS
AND DRUG ME IN THE BATHROOM.
THAT LYE SOAP WAS ABOUT THAT BIG
AND ABOUT THAT HIGH.
SHE BROKE OFF A PIECE,
AND SHE WASHED MY MOUTH WITH LYE SOAP.
SHE SAID, "DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK INDIAN AGAIN,
OR I'M GOING TO WASH YOUR MOUTH AGAIN."
AND MY TONGUE GOT BLISTERED FROM THAT LYE.
"THE ZUNI FAITH IS AS A DROP OF OIL IN WATER,
"SURROUNDED AND TOUCHED AT EVERY POINT,
"YET IN NO PLACE PENETRATED
"OR CHANGED INWARDLY BY THE FLOOD OF ALIEN BELIEF
"THAT DESCENDED UPON IT.
"THE ZUNI ADJUSTS OTHER BELIEFS AND OPINIONS
"TO HIS OWN
"BUT NEVER HIS OWN BELIEFS AND OPINIONS TO OTHERS.
"IN RELIGIOUS CULTURE,
"THE ZUNI IS ALMOST THE SAME
AS ERE HIS LAND WAS DISCOVERED."
FRANK CUSHING.
IN 1879, A FRAIL BUT EAGER 22-YEAR-OLD
NAMED FRANK HAMILTON CUSHING
ARRIVED AT THE ZUNI PUEBLO IN NEW MEXICO.
THREE AND A HALF CENTURIES EARLIER,
THE ZUNIS HAD BEEN AMONG THE FIRST INDIANS OF THE WEST
TO MEET A EUROPEAN, THE EXPLORER CORONADO,
WHO HAD STORMED THEIR VILLAGE IN 1540.
CUSHING HAD ARRIVED FOR AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REASON.
HE HAD BEEN FASCINATED BY TALES OF INDIANS
EVER SINCE HE HAD DISCOVERED AN ARROWHEAD
NEAR HIS HOME IN CENTRAL NEW YORK AS A BOY.
NOW HE WAS PART OF THE FIRST EXPEDITION
OF THE NEWLY FORMED U.S. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY,
SENT TO SURVEY INDIAN TRIBES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE
ON THE BELIEF THAT NATIVE AMERICANS AND THEIR CUSTOMS
WERE ABOUT TO DISAPPEAR.
TO THE SHOCK OF HIS EASTERN COMPANIONS,
CUSHING IMMEDIATELY MOVED INTO ONE OF THE INDIANS' HOMES
AND ANNOUNCED HE INTENDED TO STAY.
"THE BEST WAY TO UNDERSTAND INDIANS," HE SAID,
"WAS TO LIVE THE WAY THEY DID."
CUSHING LEARNED POTTERY MAKING, COOKING,
AND THE ZUNIS' LANGUAGE.
HE WORE ZUNI CLOTHING, GREW HIS HAIR LONG,
HAD HIS EARS PIERCED, AND ADOPTED A ZUNI NAME:
TENATSALI--
MEDICINE FLOWER.
THE ZUNIS ACCEPTED CUSHING
INTO THEIR SACRED PRIESTHOOD OF THE BOW
BUT ONLY AFTER HE WENT THROUGH
THE LENGTHY AND TORTUROUS INITIATION,
WHICH INCLUDED DAYS OF FASTING,
SITTING MOTIONLESS ON A HILL OF FIRE ANTS,
AND TAKING AN ENEMY'S SCALP.
CUSHING WAS NOW AN INFLUENTIAL MEMBER OF THE TRIBE.
HE TOOK PART IN THEIR COUNCILS,
AND HE JOINED A WAR PARTY AGAINST NAVAJO RAIDERS,
ENRAGING THE NAVAJOS' INDIAN AGENT.
"MR. GALEN EASTMAN, NAVAJO INDIAN AGENCY,
"FORT DEFIANCE, ARIZONA TERRITORY.
"SIR, IT IS QUITE TRUE
"THAT I FIRED NOT TWICE, BUT THREE TIMES
"INTO TWO DIFFERENT BANDS OF HORSES
"BELONGING TO THE NAVAJO INDIANS.
"IT IS POSSIBLE THAT, AS I INTENDED,
"I KILLED ONE OR TWO OF THEM,
"ALTHOUGH OF THIS I CANNOT BE CERTAIN.
"REST ASSURED, SIR,
"THAT WHEN ALL OF OUR GRIEVANCES
"ARE SET RIGHT BY THE NAVAJOS,
"WE SHALL BE THEN VERY READY TO SAY AMEN
"AND TO ACT ALL THINGS ARIGHT ON OUR SIDE.
"VERY RESPECTFULLY YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT,
"F.H. CUSHING,
"FIRST WAR CHIEF OF ZUNI,
U.S. ASSISTANT ETHNOLOGIST."
CUSHING CONTINUED TO QUARREL
WITH MISSIONARIES AND INDIAN AGENTS
INTENT ON CHANGING THE ZUNIS.
BUT WHEN HE EXPOSED A SCHEME
BY RELATIVES OF A POWERFUL U.S. SENATOR
TO BUILD A RANCH ON ZUNI LAND,
HIS SUPERIORS ORDERED HIM BACK HOME.
HE HAD BEEN SENT TO STUDY THE ZUNIS,
NOT BECOME ONE.
IN 1884, CUSHING RETURNED TO WASHINGTON.
MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY LATER, IN 1938,
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST REPORTED THAT OLDER ZUNI PEOPLE,
NOT KNOWING THAT CUSHING HAD DIED IN 1900,
STILL WONDERED WHY THEIR GOOD FRIEND MEDICINE FLOWER
HAD NEVER RETURNED.
"IN 1886,
"THE ONLY NEW RANGE LEFT IN MONTANA
"WAS NORTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.
"THE NORTHERN PACIFIC
"WAS RUNNING THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA,
"AND THE SETTLERS HAD COME IN SO THICK,
"THEY WAS CROWDING THE CATTLEMEN EVERYWHERE,
CAUSING THE RANGE TO BE OVERSTOCKED."
TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT.
BY THE SUMMER OF 1886,
THE ONCE-BOOMING CATTLE BUSINESS WAS IN TROUBLE.
7.5 MILLION HUNGRY CATTLE WERE NOW COMPETING FOR GRASSES
WHICH EVERY YEAR GREW LESS PLENTIFUL FROM OVERGRAZING.
IN SOME PLACES WHERE IT HAD ONCE TAKEN
JUST 5 ACRES OF LAND TO SUPPORT A STEER,
IT NOW TOOK MORE THAN 90.
BIG HERDS OF VORACIOUS SHEEP
WERE BEGINNING TO MOVE ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE,
AND FARMERS WERE APPEARING, TURNING GRASSLANDS INTO FIELDS,
PUTTING UP BARBED WIRE FENCES,
DRIVING CATTLE FROM THEIR CROPS.
MEANWHILE, BEEF PRICES WERE DROPPING.
THE SUMMER OF 1886 WAS HOT AND DRY.
ON THE OVERGRAZED RANGES, THE CATTLE GREW THIN AND WEAK.
THEN CAME WINTER.
"IN NOVEMBER, WE HAD SEVERAL SNOWSTORMS,
"AND I SAW THE FIRST WHITE OWLS
"I HAVE EVER SEEN.
"THE INDIANS SAID THEY WERE A BAD SIGN--
"HEAP SNOW COMING, VERY COLD.
"IT GOT COLDER AND COLDER.
IT WAS HELL WITHOUT THE HEAT."
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
IT BEGAN SNOWING ON NOVEMBER 13, 1886,
AND DID NOT STOP FOR A MONTH.
THE CATTLE STRUGGLED TO STAY ALIVE,
NOSING THROUGH THE SNOW
IN SEARCH OF WHAT LITTLE GRASS REMAINED.
JANUARY 1887 WAS THE COLDEST MONTH
ANYONE ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS COULD RECALL.
"THE SNOW FELL SO HARD DURING ONE 72-HOUR BLIZZARD,"
A SURVIVOR WROTE,
"THAT IT SEEMED AS IF ALL THE WORLD'S ICE
"FROM TIME'S BEGINNINGS
"HAD COME ON A WIND WHICH HOWLED AND SCREAMED
WITH THE FURY OF DEMONS."
"IT WAS ALL SO SLOW...
PLUNGING AFTER THEM THROUGH THE DEEP SNOW THAT WAY."
"THE HORSES' FEET WERE CUT AND BLEEDING
"FROM THE HEAVY CRUST,
"AND THE CATTLE HAD THE HAIR AND HIDE WORE OFF THEIR LEGS
"TO THE KNEES AND THE HOCKS.
"IT WAS SURELY HELL TO SEE BIG 4-YEAR-OLD STEERS
JUST ABLE TO STAGGER ALONG."
THE UNSHELTERED, HELPLESS CATTLE BEGAN TO DIE.
SOME, TOO WEAK TO STAND,
WERE SIMPLY BLOWN OVER BY THE SAVAGE WIND.
OTHERS, THEIR FEET FROZEN INTO THE ICE,
DIED LIKE STATUES.
WHEN THE SNOW AND ICE FINALLY BEGAN TO MELT,
CATTLEMEN UNDERSTOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME
THE MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
DEAD ANIMALS WERE EVERYWHERE,
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF THEM
SPRAWLED ACROSS THE HILLSIDES AND ALONG FENCE LINES,
HEAPED AT THE BOTTOM OF COULEES,
WHERE THE SNOW HAD TRAPPED THEM,
SWOLLEN AND BOBBING IN THE RUSHING RIVERS.
"I SAW COUNTLESS CARCASSES OF CATTLE
"GOING DOWN WITH THE ICE,
"ROLLING OVER AND OVER AS THEY WENT,
"SOMETIMES WITH ALL FOUR STIFFENED LEGS
"POINTED SKYWARD.
"FOR DAYS ON END,
"TEARING DOWN WITH THE GRINDING ICE CAKES,
WENT DEATH'S CATTLE ROUNDUP."
RANCHERS SCOURED THE PRAIRIES FOR SURVIVORS.
"THE FIRST DAY I RODE OUT," ONE REMEMBERED,
"I NEVER SAW A LIVE ANIMAL."
CATTLEMEN WOULD REMEMBER THE WINTER OF 1886-1887
AS THE GREAT DIE-UP.
IN THE END, THE ONLY MEN WHO MADE MUCH MONEY
ON THE NORTHERN CATTLE RANGES THAT SPRING
WERE SCAVENGERS,
GATHERING BONES TO SELL TO FERTILIZER COMPANIES.
LIKE THE HOMESTEADERS WHO WOULD LEARN
THAT THEY COULD NOT CHANGE THE CLIMATE OF THE WEST,
THE RANCHERS WHO HAD RUSHED IN DURING THE BEEF BONANZA
HAD LEARNED THEY COULD NOT IGNORE IT.
"IN ITS PRESENT FORM,
"STOCK-RAISING ON THE PLAINS IS DOOMED
"AND CAN HARDLY OUTLAST THE CENTURY.
"AND WE WHO HAVE FELT THE CHARM OF THE LIFE
"AND HAVE EXULTED IN ITS ABOUNDING VIGOR
"AND ITS BOLD, RESTLESS FREEDOM
"MUST ALSO FEEL REAL SORROW
"THAT THOSE WHO COME AFTER US
"ARE NOT TO SEE AS WE HAVE SEEN
"WHAT IS PERHAPS THE PLEASANTEST,
"HEALTHIEST, AND MOST EXCITING PHASE
OF AMERICAN EXISTENCE."
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
"THE SHOW IS WORTH SEEING.
"IT IS WORTH ANYBODY'S WHILE
"TO PUT HIMSELF INTO SOME TROUBLE
"TO GO AND SEE IT.
"A BETTER IDEA OF THE DANGERS PIONEERS CONFRONT,
"OF THE RESOURCES AND SKILL THAT DIFFICULTIES BRING OUT,
"OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE WILD WEST
"HAS BEEN SETTLED AND CIVILIZED
"CAN BE OBTAINED FROM ONE VISIT
"TO THIS EXHIBITION...
"THAN BY READING A SCORE OF HISTORIES
AND A CARTLOAD OF DESCRIPTIONS."
FOR 30 YEARS,
TWICE A DAY, SIX DAYS A WEEK,
FROM CHICAGO TO PHILADELPHIA,
PARIS TO MUNICH,
BUFFALO BILL BROUGHT HIS GAUDY VERSION OF THE WILD WEST
TO THE WORLD.
WILLIAM F. CODY HAD DONE NEARLY EVERYTHING
A MAN COULD DO IN THE WEST.
HE'D BEEN A GOLD-SEEKER,
BUFFALO HUNTER,
CATTLE RANCHER,
AND INDIAN FIGHTER.
BUT MOST OF ALL, HE WAS A SUPERB PROMOTER
OF THE WEST AND OF HIMSELF.
ON STATEN ISLAND ONE SUMMER,
A MILLION PEOPLE ATTENDED HIS SHOWS.
ANOTHER MILLION PAID TO SEE HIM THAT WINTER
AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.
"EACH SCENE IS INSTRUCTIVE," ONE ADVERTISEMENT PROMISED.
"A YEAR'S VISIT WEST IN THREE HOURS."
IN EVERY PERFORMANCE,
A WAGON TRAIN WAS RAIDED BY INDIANS
AND SAVED BY BUFFALO BILL.
A SETTLER'S CABIN WAS ATTACKED
AND SAVED BY BUFFALO BILL.
THERE WERE PONY EXPRESS RIDERS, A BUFFALO HUNT,
MEXICAN VAQUEROS DISPLAYING THEIR SKILL WITH THE LASSO,
AND THE AUTHENTIC DEADWOOD STAGECOACH
SURROUNDED BY INDIANS AND SAVED
BY BUFFALO BILL.
BUT THE GRAND FINALE WAS A RE-ENACTMENT
OF THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN,
"SHOWING WITH HISTORICAL ACCURACY,"
THE HANDBILLS CLAIMED,
"THE SCENE OF CUSTER'S LAST STAND."
AND AT THE END, THERE WAS BUFFALO BILL HIMSELF
IN THE CENTER OF THE BATTLEFIELD
WHILE BEHIND HIM THE WORDS "TOO LATE"
WERE PROJECTED ONTO A SCREEN.
CROWDS COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT.
EVEN LIBBY CUSTER,
WHO HAD BEEN WIDOWED BY THE ACTUAL EVENT,
PROCLAIMED IT
"THE MOST REALISTIC AND FAITHFUL REPRESENTATION
OF A WESTERN LIFE THAT HAS CEASED TO BE."
SHE CAME BACK TO SEE IT MANY TIMES.
"IT WAS," THE SHOWMAN BOASTED,
"A NOISY, RATTLING, GUNPOWDER ENTERTAINMENT."
FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD,
WILLIAM F. CODY HAD BECOME THE EMBODIMENT OF THE WEST.
BUFFALO BILL, I THINK,
IS THE ONE TRUE GENIUS
THE 19th-CENTURY WEST REALLY PRODUCED.
BUFFALO BILL IS AN INCREDIBLE SELF-CREATION.
WHAT BUFFALO BILL KNEW ABOUT THE WEST
IS THAT, IN FACT,
IT GAVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE YOURSELF OVER,
AND THEN ONCE YOU'VE MADE A ROLE FOR YOURSELF, TO INHABIT IT.
THE LINES BETWEEN REALITY,
THE LIVED EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST,
AND THE MYTHIC WEST
THAT BUFFALO BILL PORTRAYED FOR A LIVING
BECOME VERY, VERY BLURRED.
IN 1885, SITTING BULL HIMSELF JOINED THE ENTOURAGE.
BILLED AS THE SLAYER OF GENERAL CUSTER,
HE WAS PAID $50 A WEEK
AND RESERVED THE RIGHT TO PROFIT DIRECTLY
FROM THE SALE OF AUTOGRAPHS AND PICTURES OF HIMSELF.
THE AGING CHIEF WAS REQUIRED
ONLY TO RIDE AROUND THE ARENA ONCE A SHOW
AND AFTERWARDS TO SIGN HIS NAME FOR THE AWESTRUCK VISITORS
WHO CAME TO PEER AT HIM IN HIS TEEPEE.
IT'S INTERESTING FOR SITTING BULL
BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL,
IT'S A CHANCE FOR HIM TO SEE THE REST OF THE WORLD
AND SEE WHAT AMERICA IS ABOUT
AND A LOT OF INDIAN PEOPLE THAT WENT WITH HIM,
INTERPRETERS AND EVERYTHING,
AND THEY REALIZED THAT THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE HAS CHANGED,
AND WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE RESERVATIONS
ISN'T NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF WHAT AMERICA COULD BE ABOUT.
I THINK HE WAS PROBABLY IN TURNS
AMUSED AND HUMILIATED BY THE EXPERIENCE.
THIS WAS SO MUCH UNLIKE THE REALITY THAT HE HAD LIVED
AS A YOUNG MAN,
AND YET IT WAS A BIZARRE REFLECTION
OF THAT REALITY, TOO,
SO HE MUST HAVE SEEN HIS EXPERIENCE
FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE
WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILD WEST SHOW.
SITTING BULL LIKED BUFFALO BILL,
WHO GAVE HIM A HANDSOME HAT
AND THE GRAY HORSE HE'D RIDDEN IN THE SHOW
AS GIFTS.
BUT HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND
WHY BEGGARS WERE LEFT TO DRIFT ABOUT THE STREETS
OF BIG CITIES,
AND HE GAVE MUCH OF HIS PAY AWAY
TO NEWSBOYS AND HOBOS HE MET ON THE TOUR.
THIS IS A SHOW ABOUT CONQUEST.
THIS IS A SHOW ABOUT THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST.
BUT EVERYTHING THAT THE AUDIENCE SEES
IS INDIANS ATTACKING WHITES.
THIS IS THE STRANGE STORY OF AN INVERTED CONQUEST.
IT'S A CELEBRATION OF CONQUEST
IN WHICH THE CONQUERORS ARE THE VICTIMS.
AND THERE'S SOMETHING AT ONE LEVEL
THAT STILL IS DEEPLY WEIRD ABOUT THIS.
WHAT IS GOING ON WHEN YOU CELEBRATE A CONQUEST
AND YOU ONLY SHOW YOURSELF BEING VICTIMIZED?
IT'S CONQUEST WON WITHOUT THE GUILT.
WE DIDN'T PLAN IT.
THEY ATTACKED US, AND WHEN WE ENDED UP,
WE HAD THE WHOLE CONTINENT.
BUFFALO BILL SAYS THE WILD WEST IS OVER,
IT'S FINISHED, IT'S DONE.
THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST HAS NOW TAKEN PLACE,
AND ALL HE CAN DO IS RE-ENACT IT FOR YOU.
THE WEST IS STILL OUT THERE,
BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME WEST
THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 10 OR 20 YEARS AGO.
AFTER FOUR MONTHS WITH THE WILD WEST SHOW,
SITTING BULL RETURNED TO HIS HOME
AT THE STANDING ROCK RESERVATION.
THERE HE HAD ANOTHER
OF HIS MYSTICAL VISIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE.
IN 1876, ONE VISION HAD WARNED HIM
THAT THE ARMY WAS MARCHING AGAINST THE LAKOTA.
ANOTHER VISION HAD PREDICTED
THAT CUSTER'S SOLDIERS AT THE LITTLE BIGHORN
WOULD FALL INTO HIS VILLAGE UPSIDE DOWN.
BUT NOW HE HAD A NEW VISION.
THIS ONE WAS EQUALLY CLEAR.
WANDERING ALONE NEAR HIS HOME ONE MORNING,
HE WATCHED A MEADOWLARK FLUTTER DOWN ONTO A HILLOCK.
THEN THE BIRD SPOKE TO HIM.
IT SAID, "YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAKOTAS, WILL KILL YOU."
SITTING BULL HAD FAITH IN HIS VISIONS.
THEY HAD ALWAYS PROVED TRUE BEFORE.
♪ AH, NEBRASKA LAND, SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪
♪ WE'VE REACHED THE LAND OF DESERT SWEET ♪
♪ WHERE NOTHING GROWS FOR MAN TO EAT ♪
♪ AND THE WIND, IT BLOWS WITH FEVERISH HEAT ♪
♪ ACROSS THOSE PLAINS ♪
♪ SO HARD TO BEAT ♪
♪ THAT'S NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪
♪ WE HAVE NO WHEAT, WE HAVE NO OATS ♪
♪ WE HAVE NO CORN TO FEED OUR SHOATS ♪
♪ OUR CHICKENS ARE SO VERY POOR ♪
♪ THEY BEG FOR CRUMBS OUTSIDE OUR DOOR ♪
♪ IN NEBRASKA LAND, SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪
♪ OUR HORSES ARE A BRONCO RACE ♪
♪ STARVATION STARES THEM IN THE FACE ♪
♪ WE DO NOT LIVE, WE ONLY STAY ♪
♪ 'CAUSE WE'RE TOO POOR TO MOVE AWAY ♪
♪ FROM NEBRASKA LAND, SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪
♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL I STAND ♪
♪ AND I LOOK AWAY ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪
♪ AND I WONDER WHY IT NEVER RAINS ♪