Preface 



"On the question of the character of the Indians I am in 

 absolute accord with you on everything that I beUeve any one 

 would consider a basic point. In speech after speech I have 

 fought the idea that Indians were cruel or lazy or vicious, and 

 dwelt on their positive virtues — among these their sense of 

 humor, and their deep reverence."* 



The portions of the manuscript called "Spartans of the West, " 

 and " Campfire Stories of Indian Character, " have been sub- 

 mitted to George Bird Grinnell, of New York, whose life has 

 been largely spent among the Indians, and have received from 

 him a complete endorsement. 



In a similar vein I have heard from Dr. Charles A. Eastman, 

 and from nearly all of the many who have seen the manuscript. 

 Some of my friends at the Smithsonian Institution take excep- 

 tion to certain details, but no one denies the main contentions 

 in regard to the character of the Indian, or the historical ac- 

 curacy of the "Campfire Stories." 



Gen. Nelson A. Miles, for example, writes me: "History can 

 show no parallel to the heroism and fortitude of the American 

 Indians in the two hundred years' fight during which they 

 contested inch by inch the possession of their country against a 

 foe infinitely better equipped with inexhaustible resources, and 

 in overwhelming numbers. Had they even been equal in 

 numbers, history might have had a very different story to tell." 



I was taught to glorify the names of Xenophon, Leonidas, 

 Spartacus, the Founders of the Dutch Republic or the Noble 

 Six Hundred at Balaclava, as the ideals of human courage 

 and self-sacrifice, and yet I know of nothing in all history that 

 will compare with the story of Dull Knife as a narrative of 

 magnificent heroism and human fortitude. 



While I set out only to justify the Indian as a model for our 



*The great racial defects of the Indians were revengefulness and disunion, 

 and, latterly, proneness to strong drink. They taught the duty of revenge; 

 so that it was easy to begin a feud, but hard to end one. Instead of a 

 nation, they were a multitude of factions, each ready to join an outsider 

 for revenge on its rival neighbor. This incapacity for team play pre-i 

 vented the development of their civilization and proved their ruin. 



