The Hollywood Indian

The Indians of the High Plains were the stuff movies were made of - novels were written about...the American Legend.  Fearless, feathered warriors mounted on swift ponies, warring and raiding for bounty and glory.  They stretched from today's Canada to the American Southwest, from the Missouri River to the Rockies.  They weren't native to the area however...

Proud Cheyenne had farmed along the upper Missouri.  Ojibwa, Cree, and Blackfoot had been hunters of the eastern woodlands.  The Sioux and Crow had been agriculturalists on the prairies.  The Shoshone and Comanche had hunted and foraged the barren land beyond the Rockies.

By the 1700s they had all arrived  on the Plains, either pushed from the East or choosing to abandon the former way of living for the way of life with the horse.  They quickly evolved into a hunting-raiding-warring society.

They came to share similar values, worship similar spirits with similar rites, obey similar codes of conduct.  The Great Plains Indians developed a common language quickly and adapted well to a completely new way of life.

Next time...more of the life of the Great Plains Indians
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On April 25, 1831, the play The Lion of the West opens in New York City. It was the first of many plays, books, and movies celebrating Davy Crockett.