”With regard to the narrative enclosed [on the death of Colonel William Crawford by Native Americans], I subjoin some observations with regard to the animal, vulgarly called Indians… What use do these ringed, streaked, spotted and speckled cattle make of the soil? Do they till it? Revelation said to man, ‘Thou shalt till the ground.’ This alone is human life… I would as soon admit a right in the buffalo to grant lands, as in Killbuck, the Big Cat, the Big Dog, or any of the ragged wretches that are called chiefs and sachens. What would you think of going to a big lick… and addressing yourself to a great buffalo to grant you land?... I am so far from thinking the Indians have a right to the soil, that not having made a better use of it for many hundred years, I conceive they have forfeited all pretense to claim, and ought to be driven from it.”
- Henry Brackenridge, a prominent citizen of Pittsburgh (then a frontier village), 1782
Source:
Stephens, John Richard. “Alternative Views.” Weird History 101: Tales of Intrigue, Mayhem, and Outrageous Behavior. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2006. 78. Print.
Further Reading:
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