Best infantry from 1720-1820.

FF, I not only can't spell the name of Uncas' father but I can't pronounce it either. That photo looks to me like the trio was trying to mimic the movie,"Last of the Mohicans" The costume of the guy in the back looked like something that Daniel Day Lewis wore. The Indians, of course, in North Ameica, did not face nearly the problems the natives did in Central and South America. A lot more Amerindians perished accidently from diseases brought from Europe which they had no immunity to than from battle wounds. Some of the tribes received reservation land which turned out to be rich in natural resources. I was living in Durango, CO, and the Southern Ute tribe there is quite wealthy and members of the tribe individually have nice incomes. The Mountain Utes have pretty scenery but no oil and gas. In modern revisionist history, which is about all we have now, one seldom reads much about the many Amerindians who just melted into the white man's society and became just plain Americans. My attitude toward the Amerindian is colored by being a native Texan and my ancestors took part in a 200 year war against the Commanche, who were not native to Texas and who were a menace not only to Whites but also to many other Amerindians. The Indian apologists like to ignore the Commanch and his allies.

renrich said:

FF, I not only can't spell the name of Uncas' father but I can't pronounce it either. That photo looks to me like the trio was trying to mimic the movie,"Last of the Mohicans" The costume of the guy in the back looked like something that Daniel Day Lewis wore. .

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Mohawks , Seneca are the tribes being represented

A Few pics from the recreation of the Siege of Ft Erie for those of you not familiar with the Geography its directly across the Niagara River from Buffalo NY but on the Canadian side

renrich said:

Some of the tribes received reservation land which turned out to be rich in natural resources. I was living in Durango, CO, and the Southern Ute tribe there is quite wealthy and members of the tribe individually have nice incomes. The Mountain Utes have pretty scenery but no oil and gas. In modern revisionist history, which is about all we have now, one seldom reads much about the many Amerindians who just melted into the white man's society and became just plain Americans. My attitude toward the Amerindian is colored by being a native Texan and my ancestors took part in a 200 year war against the Commanche, who were not native to Texas and who were a menace not only to Whites but also to many other Amerindians. The Indian apologists like to ignore the Commanch and his allies.

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My Great great grandpa fought the Utes for years and lost his arm during the Utah Blackhawk War. He also learned the language and became an interptretor and close friend of the Utes after the hostilities eased. That is how things were done in the old days. The Utes, among many native tribes, were a war making culture. Many of the settlers were not warlike people but learned to deal with the hostile natives. I don't think many people these days can understand the brutality of the Native American tribes in their everyday life. I would recommend to those that revise history also look at the wars,torture and cannabalism that was prevalent in North America prior to the arrival of Western Civilization.

Of course, the British did terrible things to the native inhabitants of the Empire - that's why we were at war almost constantly between 1815 and 1914, and I hold the same opinion of those actions as I do of American actions against the Indians. My intention wasn't to US-bash as such, just to point out that social Darwinism is not, IMHO, a justification for eliminating a population and taking their property. Nor do I subscribe to the idea that the native population was barbaric and needed to be eliminated because it was not capable of joining 'civilised' society, whatever that may be. It is true that the Indians fought each other, tortured each other and practiced cannibalism to some extent. But I hardly think that it can be said that the persecution of their race was for their own good. Stamping out cannibalism would naturally be a good thing, but I think it would be hypocritical of Western Civilisation to try to stop anybody fighting or torturing each other. I'm not attempting to be an apologist - I would not know nearly enough about the subject to do that - but I do feel that popular culture glorifies the reduction of the Indian population while conveniently failing to recognise the evil inherent in attempting to wipe out a whole race. I personally find that a little worrying.

We did not take their "property" They had no concept of property rights. Their concept was that the land belonged to no one but could be used by everyone except that a certain tribe had a loosely defined area of hunting grounds and if another tribe intruded, war ensued. This worked well when there was lots of land and few people. I would imagine that many outdoor sportsmen in today's "civilisation" would welcome an arrangement like that but it is hardly practical in modern society. The real crime aginst the Amerindians was to solemnly grant them ownership of reservation land in various places and then turn right around and let railroads, settlers, miners, etc intrude on that land. The least cruel policy toward the Amerindians would have been to tell them to "root hog or die," assimilate and learn to live like a white man and give them limited help to make the transition. The two ways of life could not exist together except when the tribes finally were given absolutely "worthless" land.