Page:The Red Man and the White Man in North America.djvu/123

Rh Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth, — that the early chronicler Mourt wrote, that he was “very personable, gentle, courteous, and fair-conditioned; indeed, not like a savage, save for his attire,” — probably the lack of it. Governor Winslow wrote to a friend in England: “We have found the Indians very faithful to their covenants of peace with us, very loving and ready to pleasure us. We go with them in some cases fifty miles into the country, and walk as safely and peaceably in the woods as in the highways of England. We entertain them familiarly in our houses, and they are friendly in bestowing their venison upon us. They are a people without religion, yet very trusty, quick of apprehension, humorous, and just.” And Winslow's friend, Robert Cushman, wrote: “To us they have been like lambs, — so kind, so trusty, and so submissive that many Christians are not so kind and sincere.” When the Sachem Chicatabot visited Boston in 1631, we read that, “being in English clothes, the Governor (Winthrop) set him at his own table, where he behaved himself as an English gentleman.”

A few more estimates of Indian personality and character, as made in our own time, may serve to acquaint us with the wide diversity of judgment which has from the first found strong expression, and then we may attempt to account for this discordance of view. The chivalrous and heroic General Custer may be regarded as a typical authority among military men for his estimate of Indian character. He knew the Indian well in war and peace. He had made the savage the object of an intelligent and closely and keenly observant study. He was one of the most conspicuous victims of Indian warfare. Though the General is classed as among the most effective “Indian fighters,” and came to his early death at their hands in a fearful massacre, he was a man of a humane and kindly heart. In his “Life on the Plains,” referring to the romantic, gentle, and winning view which Cooper and other