Voices From the
Western Frontier
INTRODUCTION
In a plain old wooden
trunk, built in the days of Custer, one far-sighted Lakota family has been
saving newspapers and documents, with each successive generation adding
to the collection. Now that trunk is full, and its owner, Tatanka
Cante, has offered to freely share its contents with the world.
Rather than placing these valuable historical documents in a museum where
only some could be displayed under glass, and the rest hidden from view
for preservation, this wonderful man has asked us to put them on the internet
where they can be readily available to schools, libraries and homes all
over the country. It is his hope that through learning, unity might
be achieved.
This wooden trunk is a veritable treasure chest
of information for the student, historian and genealogist. American
history comes alive in these pages. There are first-hand accounts
of famous battles of the western frontier. Actual photographs, articles
by and about familiar characters of the day, new characters most of us
hadn’t met before, stories about the trials and tribulations of the first
pioneers to the western states. Most anyone who ever fought in one
of those Indian Wars is mentioned somewhere, from states all across the
nation.
There are many articles dealing with reservation
life and fascinating glimpses into cultures becoming suppressed and hidden
from the view of most Americans. But please understand that this
is not the history of the Plains Indians, who have been here for thousands,
if not millions, of years. Instead, this is the history of their
displacement and the settling of the white settlers in their territories.
Most of the accounts were written by the first
soldiers and Pioneers who came to the western frontier of America.
They are presented here as they were written, complete with the popular
opinions and prejudices of their times. We present no judgments or
opinions of our own. Some of these articles will make you laugh,
others will make you cry, and some will fill you with more anger than you
can bear. Since we rarely have the Indian’s side of the story, we’ve
opted to create a little balance by using artwork which depicts the First
Americans wherever appropriate.
Many exceptional people have worked hundreds
or even thousands of hours to make these documents available and every
word searchable. Some of the documents were scanned and sent to volunteers
to type into text format. Others were too fragile for scanning, so
Brooke
and Steve Schiavi
recorded those word for word orally, onto CD’s which
then went to volunteers for transcribing. Our transcribers did a
fabulous job under very difficult circumstances, and all deserve our undying
gratitude, as do Brooke and Steve.
This old trunk holds a seemingly endless supply
of documents still to be recorded and transcribed, so check back often
for new additions.
Enter
to find the contents of the trunk - or click on the trunk below ...
Website and transcriber coordinator is Kim Foltz
This site maintained by White Wolf Enterprises.
Webdesign, graphics and backgrounds were created by Sue Martin using Paint Shop Pro, and are copyright 1999.
Our thanks to the many volunteers who helped
transcribe our articles, including Marge, Soft Thunder, Barb, Glenda, Su'mer,
Xennia, Sharon, Sunny, Maggie, Nancy, William, and Atsila.
If I missed anybody I sincerely apologize.
Our special thanks to * Fred Sinkevich * for
the countless hours scanning the articles
and to * Peggy * for your endless help
(your name is in stars)
A very big thanks to Rootsweb for hosting our
site,
and to Joy Fisher and all the Rootsweb people
in helping us get set up and going!
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Generously hosted by Rootsweb
Graphics created with Paint Shop Pro
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since November 3, 1999