Page 143 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

F R O N T I E R P R O C E S S : HUMANI Z I N G

the road. n her imagination, Cleaveland witnessed what she called "the
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swift, terrible slaughter of the surprised and helpless men; the oxen
driven away to their own slaughter, leaving behind them the remnants
of what had been human bodies and a fire that blazed fe arsomely ."7
What a surprise it must have been f o r these women to discover that
the "first" Indians they met were often fr iendly. This was the case, at
least, during the r 8 40s, r 8 50s, and r860s, when Native Americans had
limited exposure to whites. Indians had not yet fo rmed their own social
construction of whites.As Indians met mean-spirited, acquisitive whites,
their fo lklore adapted to include the rude invaders.8 The first meeting
between Indians and whites usually occurred just beyond the Missouri
River, since St. Joseph and Council Bluffs were the primary departure
points f o r migrants. Even as the American Indians in this region became
accustomed to a steady stream of travelers through their domain, they
were more curious than predatory. Consequently , women fr equently
remarked that the first Indians they met were not nearly as troublesome
as they had expected. In 1 8 46, fo r example, while Polly Purcell's f a mily
crossed the Missouri River on their way to Oregon they were sur­
rounded by what Polly described as "500 warriors." Although Purcell's
group prepared to defend themselves, they were astonished and relieved
that no battle ensued.9Three years later, Martha Morgan noted that the
Sioux her party met in the same area were " ostensibly very f r iendly." 10
During the next several decades, women continued to report that
the American Indians in the Missouri River region were peaceable,
f r iendly, and annoying only in their habit of begging. 11 W o men's fe ars
f r equently dissolved into curiosity or even amusement. When Pauline
W o nderly crossed the Missouri River at Kanesville (today Council
Bluffs, Iowa) in 1 8 52, she f e lt that she was entering "the domain of the
dreaded Indian." Instead of being attacked, however, she was treated to
an "exhibition of Indian markmanship in which native men shot their
bows and arrows at nickels which the gullible whites gladly threw into
the air." As they collected and counted their coins, Indians surely had
the final laugh after these encounters. I2 In r 853, while crossing the
Kansas River, Elizabeth Goltra was amazed to learn that her first Indians
accepted gifts of bread, meat, and a dime, thanked her, and went on their
way. I 3 In r 862,Ada Millington discovered that the first native Americans

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