Gyroscopic Investing

[quote=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/h ... 180953403/]Another casualty of Sand Creek was any remaining hope of peace on the Plains. Black Kettle, the Cheyenne chief who had raised a U.S. flag in a futile gesture of fellowship, survived the massacre, carrying his badly wounded wife from the field and straggling east across the wintry plains. The next year, in his continuing effort to make peace, he signed a treaty and resettled his band on reservation land in Oklahoma. He was killed there in 1868, in yet another massacre, this one led by George Armstrong Custer.

Many other Indians, meanwhile, had taken Sand Creek as final proof that peace with whites was impossible and promises of protection meant nothing. Young Cheyenne warriors, called Dog Soldiers, joined other Plains tribesmen in launching raids that killed scores of settlers and paralyzed transport. As a result, says the historian Ari Kelman, the massacre at Sand Creek accomplished the opposite of what Chivington and his allies had sought. Rather than speed the removal of Indians and the opening of the Plains to whites, it united formerly divided tribes into a formidable obstacle to expansion.

Sand Creek and its aftermath also kept the nation at war long after the South’s surrender. Union soldiers, and generals such as Sherman and Sheridan, were redeployed west to subdue Plains Indians. This campaign took five times as long as the Civil War, until the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee, in 1890, all but extinguished resistance.

“Sand Creek and Wounded Knee were bookends of the Plains Indian Wars, which were, in turn, the last sad chapter of the Civil War,” Kelman says. [/quote]

MachineGhost wrote:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/horrific-sand-creek-massacre-will-be-forgotten-no-more-180953403/ wrote:Another casualty of Sand Creek was any remaining hope of peace on the Plains. Black Kettle, the Cheyenne chief who had raised a U.S. flag in a futile gesture of fellowship, survived the massacre, carrying his badly wounded wife from the field and straggling east across the wintry plains. The next year, in his continuing effort to make peace, he signed a treaty and resettled his band on reservation land in Oklahoma. He was killed there in 1868, in yet another massacre, this one led by George Armstrong Custer.

Many other Indians, meanwhile, had taken Sand Creek as final proof that peace with whites was impossible and promises of protection meant nothing. Young Cheyenne warriors, called Dog Soldiers, joined other Plains tribesmen in launching raids that killed scores of settlers and paralyzed transport. As a result, says the historian Ari Kelman, the massacre at Sand Creek accomplished the opposite of what Chivington and his allies had sought. Rather than speed the removal of Indians and the opening of the Plains to whites, it united formerly divided tribes into a formidable obstacle to expansion.

Sand Creek and its aftermath also kept the nation at war long after the South’s surrender. Union soldiers, and generals such as Sherman and Sheridan, were redeployed west to subdue Plains Indians. This campaign took five times as long as the Civil War, until the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee, in 1890, all but extinguished resistance.

“Sand Creek and Wounded Knee were bookends of the Plains Indian Wars, which were, in turn, the last sad chapter of the Civil War,” Kelman says.

We should petition to have obama apologize for the long past actions of those he knew not. 

... M

Mountaineer wrote: We should petition to have obama apologize for the long past actions of those he knew not. 

I do think we ought to pay those repatriations for the massacre that was promised way back in 1865.  That's a damn shameful disgrace.  Do we honor our committments or do we not?

Clearly, our history of dealing with Native Americans shows that we don't honor our commitments.

And, it is shameful.

I'm not saying what Chivington did was right, assuming this is not an article aimed at rewriting history as so many Smithsonian and National Geographic articles seem to be in the past several years (my opinion).  I would really like to know the rest of the story.  Why was the attack was made?  Were the indians where they were supposed to be?  Were there really white flags?  Had white flags been used previously to mislead the Federal troops?  Why were the indians perceived as a threat that needed to be addressed?  Was Chivington a mad man based on his past history?  Was he a glory hunter?  Was Soule a whistleblower or a coward that did not want to risk his life?  What is Soule's history?  What did Chivington have to gain by attacking?  What did Soule have to gain by going against Chivington?  Etc., Etc. 

... M

Those may all be good questions, but the pattern isn't an isolated incident - there are a lot of examples of promises we made and didn't keep.

jafs wrote: Those may all be good questions, but the pattern isn't an isolated incident - there are a lot of examples of promises we made and didn't keep.

That I agree with ... and it continues whole heartedly with our current administration.  Some things never change. 

... M