Page 134 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

C H APTER TH R E E

Frequently, a white prank involved potential physical danger to a
native. One such incident was related by a Colorado settler who
explained that a "future divinity student-although at that time he was
harboring no such holy intentions-loaded up some sticks of stove­
wood with healthy charges of powder and left them on the woodpile
in the hope that some of the roving Indians . . . would carry them off,
put them on a camp fire and receive the benefits." Subsequently, the
young man f o rgot which logs were doctored, carried some of them into
the house, put one in the kitchen stove, and when the smoke of the
explosion had cleared away he realized something was wrong. 166
Although that prankster received a just reward, most of the others did
not. Indians usually ended up suffering. For instance, a group ofIndians
contracted smallpox after trading with white men f o r infested bedding.
When the Indians realized what had happened, they retaliated by steal­
ing stock and keeping local settlers in a general state of upheaval. 167
Indians also received physical abuse at the hands of whites. Indians
f o und it difficult to believe that whites, who deplored such practices
among Indians, took scalps, hostages, and captives. 168 Indians thought
such whites to be vicious, savage, and barbarous. An early episode
demonstrated to Indians just how bestial white men could act. Shortly
after the r847Whitman massacre in Oregon, whites killed a chief named
Pe Pe Mox-Mox.A white man tied one end of a rope around the chief's
neck and the other to his saddle horn. He rode through camp shouting
at Indian prisoners that the same would happen to them if they killed
any more white settlers.White men then scalped the chief, which humil­
iated the Indians. 16 9 During subsequent years, Indians received all kinds
j
of in u ries from whites. For instance, Indian women and men were the
targets of white men's potshots. 170 As such events tend to do, they often
escalated to a pitch that caused not only bitterness and hostility but fr e­
quently the deaths of natives. As might be expected, Indians usually
sought revenge f o r the pointless murder of their companions. 171
Understandably, Native Americans f e lt misunderstood and misused.
For revenge, the more unscrupulous among them took advantage of
white superstitions and prejudices. For example, aware of white fe ars
regarding scalping, some Indian tormentors were not above deriving
amusement fr om threatening to take scalps. When a number of Indian

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