The West (1996): Season 1, Episode 7 - The Geography of Hope - full transcript
The conquest of the West was nearly complete by the 1870s. In one remarkable decade, with Indians effectively confined to reservations, over four million new settlers arrived to stake their claim to the future.
"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 ♪
♪ 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 ♪
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 ♪
♪ 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 ♪