Page 107 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

FRONTIER P R O C E S S : VILIFYING

continued into the twentieth century, neither the degree of settlement
of western regions nor increasing white control and decimation of native
populations seemed to affect the nature or proportions of these
accounts. Rather, the legends were based on what whites living in
Europe or in non-frontier regions of America believed to be the situa­
tion in the W e st. Those f o lks who decided to move westward, in spite
ofIndian horror stories, f o und little escape fr om the tales once they had
embarked on their trek.
Migrants' concerns with more immediate issues, such as f o od and
water supplies, f a iled to deflect their worries about Indians. Not only
were guidebooks filled with dire warnings about Native Americans, but
the jumping-off places were hotbeds of rumor and gossip. One young
traveler Ofl852 wrote: "As we drew near Council Bluffs on the Missouri
River, the cry of'Indians, Indians,' turned me into stone . . . The air was
.
thick at Council Bluffs with tales of Indian massacres, starvation and
.
pestilence . . . The one refrain was that the plains were alive with Indians
on the war path."I3
Once on the trail, travelers were thrust into an even more intense
climate of dramatic reports regarding American Indian activities. They
soon learned that there was little relief fr om terrible and often ill­
f o unded portrayals of native peoples. Even during eras characterized by
reasonably good relations between whites and Indians, travelers related
concerns about Indians. During difficult periods, migrants related only
slightly more trouble. Perceptions of Indian problems depended more
on the traveler's jumpiness than on his or her actual circumstance.
Consequently, accounts of trail experiences almost always included
mention of rumor-mongering regarding American Indians and what
were termed their "depredations."
Male and f e male migrants recorded the alarms they encountered
as they progressed along one of the many westward trails. On the
Oregon Trail of the 1 8 40S and 1 8 50s, scarcely a traveler escaped receiv­
ing secondhand intelligence of a horrifYing nature.I4 Those heading
toward California were also recipients of f r equent rumors along their
route. IS As a case in point, in 1 8 49 Dr.Jonathan Clark,journeying fr om
Iowa to California, mentioned notes relating Indian activities "stuck up
in a conspicuous place near the road" by advance parties. 16

99