. Prairie traveler : a hand-book for overland expeditions, with maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific. of turn-ing them back, but he should never draw triggerunless he finds that his life depends upon the shot;for, as soon as his shot is delivered, his sole depend-ence, unless he have time to reload, must be uponthe speed of his horse. The Indians of the Plains, notwithstanding theencomiums that have been heaped upon their breth-ren who formerly occupied the Eastern States fortheir gratitude, have not, so far as I have observed,the
. Prairie traveler : a hand-book for overland expeditions, with maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific. of turn-ing them back, but he should never draw triggerunless he finds that his life depends upon the shot;for, as soon as his shot is delivered, his sole depend-ence, unless he have time to reload, must be uponthe speed of his horse. The Indians of the Plains, notwithstanding theencomiums that have been heaped upon their breth-ren who formerly occupied the Eastern States fortheir gratitude, have not, so far as I have observed,the most distant conception of that sentiment. Youmay confer numberless benefits upon them for years,and the more that is done for them the more theywill expect. They do not seem to comprehend themotive which dictates an act of benevolence orcharity, and they invariably attribute it to fear orthe expectation of reward. When they make apresent, it is with a view of getting more than itsequivalent in return. I have never yet been able to discover that theWestern wild tribes possessed any of those attributeswhich among civilized nations are regarded as vir- liiiiii. IXDLAN FIGHTING. 211 tues adorning the liiuaian character. They have yetto be taught the first rudiments of civiHzation, andthey are at this time as far from any knowledge ofChristianity, and as worthy subjects for missionaryenterprise, as the most untutored natives of theSouth Sea Islands. The only way to make these merciless freebootersfear or respect the authority of our government is,when they misbehave, first of all to chastise themwell by striking such a blow as will be felt for a longtime, and thus show them that we are superior tothem m war. They will then respect us much morethan when their good-will is purchased with pres-ents. The opinion of a friend of mine, who has passedthe last twenty-five years of his life among the In-dians of the Rocky Moimtains, corroborates theopinions I have advanced upon this head, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectwestusd, bookyear1859
