Re: history and speculations

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Posted by Petra on July 08, 1998 at 20:32:25:

In Reply to: Re: history and speculations posted by Gayle on July 08, 1998 at 09:16:51:

: Petra,

: This is a subject close to my heart, too. The greatest tragedy and irony, to me, is that the hunters and scouts and trappers, as well as the Indians, who loved the unblemished wilderness, were the ones who most contributed to the destruction of their own world. They guided the soldiers, fed the soldiers, killed the Indians on both sides of the conflict and made the territory safe for the onward progress of the speculators and profiteers of all stripes. Somebody had a world class artistic vision, even that early, of cementing over an entire continent and covering it with billboards. Somehow it seems the settlers themselves were allowed to expand only to serve the interim purpose of clearing the land so that it would be easier for the cement trucks to get through. (This is called "venting my spleen". Forgive me, if I get carried away.) As to whether or not it all could have been averted, beauty means different things to different people. Some love forests, some get turned on by cement.

: She of the Natty Bumppo mentality.

Gayle, yes, all the reports I've read keep emphasizing how the military could have never advanced and succeeded the way they did without the scouts. I probably wouldn't go so far to say that they contributed most to the destruction of their world (I still think that were the settlers, along with the goldrush people, while the army was only sent because of the settlers), but they helped make it possible. Even among a single tribe there seem to have been so many different groups and bands most of the time who didn't see each other as being on the same side and served as scouts for the military, instead of realizing that the military was their common enemy. Today, there are events that honor them, and I must admit that I wonder why they are not rather regarded as traders of their own people. The irony is that the army too has events nowadays to honor the Apache scouts, after they had them shipped off to Florida along with everyone else once the job was done.
Petra

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: : Petra,

: : This is a subject close to my heart, too. The greatest tragedy and irony, to me, is that the hunters and scouts and trappers, as well as the Indians, who loved the unblemished wilderness, were the ones who most contributed to the destruction of their own world. They guided the soldiers, fed the soldiers, killed the Indians on both sides of the conflict and made the territory safe for the onward progress of the speculators and profiteers of all stripes. Somebody had a world class artistic vision, even that early, of cementing over an entire continent and covering it with billboards. Somehow it seems the settlers themselves were allowed to expand only to serve the interim purpose of clearing the land so that it would be easier for the cement trucks to get through. (This is called "venting my spleen". Forgive me, if I get carried away.) As to whether or not it all could have been averted, beauty means different things to different people. Some love forests, some get turned on by cement.

: : She of the Natty Bumppo mentality.

:
: Gayle, yes, all the reports I've read keep emphasizing how the military could have never advanced and succeeded the way they did without the scouts. I probably wouldn't go so far to say that they contributed most to the destruction of their world (I still think that were the settlers, along with the goldrush people, while the army was only sent because of the settlers), but they helped make it possible. Even among a single tribe there seem to have been so many different groups and bands most of the time who didn't see each other as being on the same side and served as scouts for the military, instead of realizing that the military was their common enemy. Today, there are events that honor them, and I must admit that I wonder why they are not rather regarded as traders of their own people. The irony is that the army too has events nowadays to honor the Apache scouts, after they had them shipped off to Florida along with everyone else once the job was done.
: Petra

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