Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/368

360 an agency in the Otoes' country and was doing something in the line of improvement, as they were hemmed in by hostile tribes that kept them away from the buffalo country. Here the Missouri River was the western boundary of civilization, which was with difficulty restrained from invading the Indian territory.

And here, as at every other point where the white and red man met, their attitude was one of personal antagonism lead- ing to destructive physical conflict. And when we go further back and inquire into the antecedents of the contestants, there should be no wonder as to the result ; in the nature of things it could not be otherwise. As we have shown, civilization, devoid of personality, is essentially aggressive, and when we add to this the education of the white man, the explanation is complete.

From the cradle up he was the recipient of folk lore which placed the Indian as his hereditary and implacable enemy. To the childish request, "Grandma, te.ll me a story," it was bear or Indian, ghost stories being too tame for frontier life, and that the bear and Indian did not stand upon the same plane as objects to be exterminated, seldom entered into the thoughts of the grandmother or the little one soon to take part in the conquest of the wilderness. When older, his read- ing was of a like kind, Western Adventures, Border Wars, etc., in which the Indian was pictured as a war demon isolated from every human affection, and the white warrior as battling for family, kindred, home and country. Granny might bring tears to the eyes of her little auditors by telling how the bear's cubs moaned over their dead mother, but no tears flowed for the Indian children made destitute by this perpet- ual conflict. No thought was taken of them. With such tuition isn't it to the credit of the white man that his side of the story is no worse?

Daniel Boone, when an old man and entertaining some young admirers with his hunting experiences, spoke of the grand excitement the hunter feels when in the pursuit of "big game" deer, bear, elk, buffalo, etc. "But boys," said