Hi Ho Silver... No Tonto

Alright, so the Lone Ranger and several other Rangers were double crossed and rode into an ambush. Everyone but ht eLone Ranger died. He was then nursed back to health by Tono, and Indian man the Ranger saved many years before.
He then pledged himself to the destruction of crime. He was assumed dead, and would remain as such. He donned a mask, and was then known as the Lone Ranger.
The man who double crossed him was perched on the side of the ravine, and was firing upon him and Tonto. They managed to almost get to him and the episode ended with the man holding a large rock in efforts to smash the Lone Ranger.

An Indian boy hates Tonto, because he looks like him. Tonto is not the typical cinematic Indian, and that bothers this boy. He wants to be a warrior, and he wants excitement.

What I got, papers, and such as this.

I think the biggest thing I got out of the group discussion is the same thing I will write about. We compared Jesse James to a modern day gangster. He had his "gang" and everyone listened to him, even his older brother. Most people were afraid of him, until the one day when the townspeople stood up for themselves. I think with some research I could make a compelling argument as to how he was the original G.

Jesse James-- More than a man?

When last I wrote, the Narrator was being held at gunpoint by the James Crew... he manages to get away and mames one of the members in the process.

He meets up with all the other people he knows trying to catch Jesse. They wait for them in a town whose bank they are supposed to rob. They get a telegram to go to another, and wind up seeing some cowboys running a bull with a Chinese man attached to its back. They go into the bank behind these cowboys, only to be told it was the James Crew. They go back to the other town, and behold, they got that bank too.

Just before this, one of Jesse's members got caught being a traitor, so Jesse was going to kill him. Instead, the guy shot Jesse in the neck, and he was thought to be dead. Two of his group tried to bring in his body for a reward, but they were caught... it was not Jesse's body.

Then the group of men trying to catch the James brothers, got on a train that was supposed to be robbed. They did indeed try to rob it, but it wound up being a fight of almost epic proportions. Several people were injured. They go away to a cabin and the detectives and their group set it on fire to get them out.

Our narrator gets wounded while trying to get information out of one of they Youngers, and he is gotten back to health.

He and another, met with someone who said he saw Jesse being followed by Ed. Said he was going to his treasure hiding place. They followed and found Ed shot fatally, but he was still alive enough to answer a few questions. Ed gave some nonsensical directions, that amounted to nothing.

The detectives are told of a bank robbery, and off they go. Jesse is told of the mutilation outside, and he does not get his booty. He exits and says, "Stand to it! [...] We'll be hanged if we're caught alive! Stand to it!"

Many were injured, and three were dead. They made off away from the towns people just in time for the detectives to show up. They were immediately after them on horseback. A few shots fired, a few more dead. Our Narrator gets the secret whereabouts of Blanche's child out of one of the dying Younger brothers (who did not die).

All three Youngers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

He goes off to find the boy, and is confronted by many women and rowdy children, two of which are "twins", one of which is Tip, Blanche's child. Jesse is asleep inside this very house. The narrator is told that Jesse will be moving the boy with no support from any of the band.

He is confronted by a "Jewish peddler", and the child runs to him to get a prize. He is napped, and Jesse is fired upon. He winds up getting away, but the boy is returned to his grandfather.

I'm not sure what to take away from this, except maybe Jesse James was a bit more than a mere man. Something or someone somewhere was constantly looking out for him. All of this could not have been simply luck. More than a man, that is all.

Gun Slingers and Trigger Fingers

The narrator of this story was stopped by two men. When asked why he didn't stop the first time he was asked to, he said, "...I didn't rein up because I'm neither a darky nor a Chinaman, to be ordered about by you or anyone else..." This statement sets the timeframe for the plot. The narrator is actually a detective from Chicago, but is disguised as a doctor from Booneville. He runs into some other detectives who do not recognize him. They are all accosted by the James brothers. The narrator is left alive, and taken into the James crew, after two men are gunned down and left lying in the road.


The detective brings a packet of tokens from Jesse’s first love, Blanche. To Jesse, this was because she sent it by him on her death bed. It was, however, her father and uncle trying to help him get on Jesse’s good side and capture him alive, as well as bring back Blanche’s son-- fathered by another man before Jesse.

When he saw Jesse with his crew, it was obvious , “[he] was the natural leader of the wild crew, to whom the most implicit obedience was paid.”

When the boys captured one of the detectives and tied him to a tree, and they emptied their revolvers into him until 100 shots had been fired. They then left a note saying, “LET DETECTIVES TAKE WARNING! The James Brothers”.

They took the narrator to a cabin in the woods, and the next day it was obvious he was thought of as Jesse’s protégé. Jesse asked him if he could be trusted, and he assured him he could, because he knew if he couldn’t, he’d find a bullet in his own head. Once he felt he was ‘in’ with the crew he was, “half appalled at the risk upon which I had entered.”

The narrator is sent to a fair the next day to gather information on the James brothers, for the James brothers. He was, of course, followed by a few men to make sure he is on the up. Just after he finds out the fair has taken in $24,000, Jesse confronts the man with the money, and he takes off into the night with it.

After that, Jesse gives the narrator a lot of questions to figure out where he’s from and all things like that. He goes on to discuss his past with Blanche, how much he loved her, and he’d “rather be feared than liked.”

Jesse’s wife said about Blanche, “I hated her, and I’m glad she’s dead.”

They all go and rob a train, and manage not to kill anyone in the process.



When the narrator gets back to the house after being asked to hang back, there are men there. Jesse grabs him and throws him against the porch pillar. He is then told that James knows he is not a doctor. All of a sudden four guns are pointed at his heart…..

To be continued….

... and Then There Was Tea.

Did you know no one tried to stop the Boston Tea Party? People just stood around and watched those dressed in Native American garb. The Tea Party was “... the first drumbeat in the long cadence of rebellion through which Americans redefined themselves as something other than British colonists.” American's are still struggling to define themselves. A lot of them don't even know where their heritage lies. They are all too concerned with making a new identity apart from that.


Throughout history “... white Americans needed either to destroy Indians or to assimilate them into a white American world.” If this is the case, and it is, why did the people tossing tea feel the need to dress as Native Americans? Is it simply a disguise? Doubtful. Is is to be closer to the land or depict rebellion? I'm not sure. I cannot tell you why these people donned the dress on Indians.

I do know people feel they are able to do things in costume or disguise that they normally would not be able to do. For example, a man in a wig, dress, and high heels can be quite a bit more comfortable with being flamboyant. Maybe it's a bit of extra confidence... I do not know. Whatever it is, it works. This could be the idea behind the costumes, but it says nothing as to why they chose the clothing they chose.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     RuPaul

Your God Did Not Help Me.

Charlot was a principle chief of the Kalispel band of Flathead Indians. They traditionally lived in Idaho, northwest Montana, and northeast Washington. Charlot's father was chief before he was. He signed a federal government treaty giving a large portion of their land. This was done on the condition that the Bitterroot Valley would be the site of the Flathead reservation. Of course, the government did not assign the Flatheads the Bitterroot Valley. Most of the tribe dispersed to different reservation locations. Charlot and several others, feeling strongly, did not budge. The government started pressuring them to leave, so some of them did. Charlot stayed until the government sent troops to force them out. He went to the Jocko reservation where he died a decade later.


In 1876 the government wanted reservation Indians to pay taxes. Charlot spoke about this issue and the white people's greed. He says, basically, that no matter what white men do, they are not ashamed. He gave the example of bad breath and false teeth after the loss of real ones. He goes further saying that, “... his course is destruction; he spoils what the Spirit who gave us this country made beautiful and clean. But this is not enough; he wants us to pay him...”

Charlot had a point. The white man came in, took their land, sent them away, ruined most of the land they took, and they expect the Native Americans to pay them for doing this. How does that make sense? You can't (in a perfect world) just go into another people's country, run them off their land, steal their horses and food, rape their women, and murders thousands; then turn around and expect them not to fight back and to pay you for their trouble. He also said that, “To take and to lie should be burnt on his forehead.”

Charlot had been made promises of things to be had that were never given and actions upon which no one ever intended to act. When will the white man be satisfied? After all the lies and all he has taken, and without friendship, he still wants more. He wants to be paid by those whose lives he has made miserable.

He talks about a story told to him, “He says one of his virgins had a son nailed to death on two cross sticks to save him. Were all of them dead then when that young man died, we would be all safe now and our country our own.” This, of course, is the story of Christianity. It is true; if all white men died when Christ was crucified, the Native Americans would not have been put through so much turmoil at their hands. “We owe him nothing; he owes us more than he will pay, yet says there is a God.”

I will leave you with one last quote, and it happens to be the last line in the speech. “You know he comes as long as he lives, and takes more and more, and dirties what he leaves.”

Selfishness, Falsehood, and Treachery-- Oh My!

In December of 1890 and January 1891, Frank L. Baum wrote two editorials about Native Americans for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. The first of these was written about Sitting Bull, a Lakota Sioux holy man. Baum refers to Sitting Bull as “... the greatest Medicine Man of his time...” He says that he shares the white man's spirit of hatred and need for vengeance on those who wronged him or his people. The white man is referred to as his natural enemy upon whom it is only natural to feel a need for revenge and burning fiery rage.


Baum says that by the justice of civilization are the masters of America, and whose best safety can only be achieved by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Natives have no glory, their spirit is broken, their manhood effaced, and they would be better off dead than live the miserable life they are now living. This is why we are not to regret their extermination.

The second editorial was written to follow the Wounded Knee Massacre. The only thing I really pulled from this text is, “Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”

No only did he realize this was wrong, he encouraged continuing anyway. This is a sure sign of prejudice and ignorance. His feelings are further driven, in my opinion, by insecurities in being able to protect his family and himself (if there was even a need). He would rather wipe out an entire race of people who had already experienced horrible trails, and death.

This The Wizard of Oz writer, is much the witch to the Native American's Dorothy.

From Apples to Arlington

Gertrude Simmons, or Zikala Sa, was a Native American activist and writer. When she started school, she was not allowed to speak her native language or wear the clothes of her people. She went to a white missionary school on Indiana, where she was acclimated to the white man's ways. "Kill the Indian and save the man!"
She then went to Earlham College where she began to showcase talents inwriting an music. She picked up the piano and violin.
She started working at Carlisle Indian Institute, and got engeged to Thomas Marshall. He was a converted Christian Indian.
Simmons began publishing literary works including her autobiography. She then married Raymond Bonnin who fought in WW1. He retired as Captain. Marshall was burried in Arlington National Cemetary. when he passed away from an undiagnosed illness.
 She talks about her childhood with her mother and the rawness of nature. She was raised to hate and distrust the white man, because that's how her mother felt. Simmons's mother felt that the only real man was a bronze Dakota.
Her mother spoke of her brother (uncle) ans how he was one of the nation's greatest warriors, and everyone loved him. Simmons was told stories of legend by her mother and grandmother.
She spoke a a man, Wiyaka-Napbina (wearer of a feather necklace), who was a lone man in the village. Her mother told her he was harmless. He was a handsome brave man who went into the hills after his ponies, and was taken over by the hill spirits. After that, he could not stay away from the hills. He wonders around wearing nothing but half of a basket around his waist. His hair is matted by wind and faded from black to red by the Summer sun. He always carried wild sunflowers and only entered a wigwam if he was desperately hungry. Even though her mother told her to pity him, Simmons was strangely afraid of the wonderer.
One day, her grandfather came into the wigwam, and Simmons decided to make him some coffee. She got the coffeepot and put water in on top of the coffee grounds, and she placed it on some dead cold ashes. Her grandfather drank it down. She was proud of herself for making coffee without ever doing it. Her mother came in and made fresh HOT coffee.
Then the pale faces came into their village. They wanted to take Indian children to school in the East where there were tons of big red apples. Her mother did not want her to go, so she tried to convince her not to. She then begged the great spirit to allow her to go. Simmons's aunt talked to her mother about allowing her to go, and she agreed.

Fire-Water and Murder

Helen Hunt Jackson

Jackson talks about a chief, Shoo-de-ga-cha, of the Ponca Indians. This chief, by account, is smart, respectful, and dignified. He is said to deserve a much greater empire. He tells her about how the white men have killed most of the buffalo on their land and run out all the rest. They are desperate for food, because they live on solid expansive prarie where nothing will grow. The men, who go into other tribes' territory, get killed and dismembered. They will either starve or drink themselves to death with "fire-water".
The government gave the Poncas housing per family, which also devastated them. They were used to living in large groups, not single family households.
They never got these homes, and were forced to recede into the small areas where the future homes were supposed to be, by the white men and other tribes fighting among themselves. They assumed the government treaty was valid, so they waited. It was not acted upon, so they threatened to go back to their other homeland, which had been mostly taken over by white men.
Then the government was forced to give them food to keep them from starving, and certain amount of money to pay what they owe and other things. They fell under attack and theft by the Sioux, and moved down river. Then they went on a hunt and found nothing. Some went to visit to other tribes and got a small amount of food.
While looking for food, a small family was gunned down by soldiers. One boy survived by diving into the frozen river through a hole in the ice.
I knew that white men ran Indians out of their homes and killed their food. I was also aware that it killed many of them. I had only heard this information through text books, so I did not know to what extent  the damage went. Hearing it through the words of the tribal chief is quite a different story. It brings a great deal of emotion with it. I feel sorry for the tribe's situation, and angry at the people who put them in it.

Noble Savage-- Really?

Does being uncivilized or nonreligious make someone more or less "gentlemanly"? I don't think so. I will tell you why.
Just because someone wasn't taught to be a gentleman, does not mean he will not pick up on it. Not only that, but he could also do it, because it feels like the right thing to do. I am not saying this is always, or even mostly, the case. Quite the contrary. I am only saying that it is possible.
Does religeoun make a man? I do not think so, at all. One does not have to believe in God or any other divine being to be a good person.

A lot of people tend to judge people based on how they, themselves, were raised. This is an issue, because it is based on one person's perspective. Those people do not usually take the time to get to know other individuals before deeming them uncivilizedor beneath them. When these same "uncivilized" people, generally treat people well. They treat people how they would want to be treated, respectfully.

Michel de Montaigne once said, "One calls 'barbarism' whatever he is not accustomed to." I agree with this statement very much. This article discusses several examples of this.


Charles Dickens did not believe in the Noble Scavage. He believed that indigenous people were  "dirty, cruel, and constantly fighting among themselves." Dickens excludes Eskimos in this statement by calling them “loving children of the north”, “forever happy with their lot,” “whether they are hungry or full”, and “gentle loving savages”, who, despite a tendency to steal, have a “quiet, aimiable character”. He, however, reversed his opinion when he found out that John Rae found cannibalism among the Eskimos.



I guess some people will assume what they want about anyone else.