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In his latest book, Larry McMurtry, master of the western genre, takes a look at a disturbing aspect of our nation's history.
The battle for supremacy between Native Americans and Westward expansion of "civilized" Americans has been a "popular" topic over the past generation. OH WHAT A SLAUGHTER: Massacres in the American West: 1846-1890, examines several such occurrences (although one was perpetrated by "whites" against "whites," for lack of a politically correct expression).
Beginning with the Sacramento River massacre in 1846, McMurtry leaves little to the reader's imagination in this slim volume. Descriptions of atrocities by both sides can make for some uncomfortable reading.
A standard feature in most of these attacks seems to be the indiscriminate murder of everyone in sight: women, children, and the elderly. "Nits breed lice," John Milton Chivington decreed, as a rationalization for killing Cheyenne non-combatants at Sand Creek, Colorado in 1864.
This preemptive philosophy was shared by many of the leaders who carried out these atrocities. In 1870, the Piegan Blackfeet tribe in the area now known as Montana was already decimated due to smallpox. It was just a matter of time until they were all wiped out. But that didn't matter to Colonel E.M. Baker. "...Baker arrived at the Blackfeet encampment...he killed the raiders he had come to kill," writes McMurtry. "Many of them no doubt would have died, but Colonel Baker was not disposed to leave it to chance, his reasoning being that those who managed to recover would soon be able to be troublesome again."
The author of such critically acclaimed novels as LONESOME DOVE is also obsessed with statistics. How many victims constitute a massacre? McMurtry downplays, or at least questions, the accuracy of casualty figures quoted by witnesses and reporters of the day. The combination of careful body counts in the midst of the chaos of blood and gore, he believes, is anathema.
His research --- without citations --- is admirable, as he introduces lesser-known characters in a history studded with such famous names as Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Kit Carson, and George Armstrong Custer.
Needless to say, OH WHAT A SLAUGHTER is a truly sad account. There were no winners in the encounters, only more pathetic losers.
--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan (RonK23@aol.com)
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