Page 200 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

CHAPTER FIVE

American Indians. And they learned, in Catherine Haun's words, that
"the Indian is a financier of no mean ability." Bargains and good deals
were not easy to come by, according to Haun: "natives had as strong a
streak of a nkee cunning as the Yankees themselves." She added that
Y
"though you may, f o r the time congratulate yourself upon your own
sagacity , you'll be apt to realize a little later that you were not quite equal
to the shrewd redman." II 9 Katherine Dunlap, on her way to Montana
in 1 8 64, said that Indian traders not only differentiated between "coin"
and "greenbacks," but took "the latter at 50¢ on the dollar," 12 o this in an
era where white f a rm laborers in the East made $0.88 a day and firemen
$ 1 .33 a day and probably lacked the same sagacity the Indians
demonstrated. 121
Men also personally traded with Indians. Although some coveted
moccasins, buckskins, and buffalo hides, they spent more time dealing
in arms, ammunition, tobacco, horses, and other animals. 122 The more
accommodating men paid Indians cash or such items as shirts, caps, and
ammunition. 12 3 T o white men's credit, the men were judicious in dis­
tributing liquor or refused to do so at all. 12 4 Men also employed, or even
kidnapped, Indians to serve as guides because they knew the best trails,
grass, and water. 12 5 Occasionally, men even entrusted their stock to an
individual Indian hired to act as a herder. 126 It was not uncommon f o r
men to pay natives "rewards" f o r locating "lost" stock, but it is impossi­
ble to determine whether this was simply a variation of the age-old pro­
tection racket. 127
White men f r equently thought amounts of money or goods
charged by American Indians were excessive, whereas others viewed the
employment of Indian guides, pilots, and herders as extortion. 128
Because of these men's commitment to colonialism, they saw no need
to compensate natives fo r the assistance, land, or other resources they
wrested f r om them. Assuming that whites were superior and Indians
were inferior-and perhaps not even human-men regarded all aspects
of the e st as belonging to them. Due to their belligerent attitudes, such
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men left resentment in their wake. Moreover, because they refused to
pay f o r Indian assistance, they f r equently met with disaster. 129
White women also hired natives to perf o rm chores f o r them.
Californian Mary Ackley employed some Paiute men to shovel, cut

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