Natives of the Western Frontier

We've talked about the image of the Western frontier depicted by the newspapers and magazines of the time - uncivilized, immoral, dangerous - but what about the picture painted of the Native Americans in the West, the Indian, the Red Man, the Savage?

Imagine for a moment that you and your family are about to set out for the open West, a new beginning, the chance to own land and experience the wide open spaces of an uncivilized country.  Along with that excitement is the fear of a people you have only heard about - those who inhabit that new land.  You and your family have been told they are barbaric heathens - dirty, mean, half naked, hostile and prone to attack defenseless pioneer families.  From all you have read about the Indian, he deserves to be destroyed by a progressive, civilized white society.

Let's look at the myths and "tall tales" carried back to the Eastern cities, and as we examine the true Indian (good and bad) that populated the Western frontier, we'll find, surprisingly,  that views were gradually changed by those we would least expect - the frontier women!!