War Dance at Fort Marion: Plains Indian War Prisoners.War Dance at Fort Marion Fort Marion, now called The Castillo de San Marcos, built 1672–1695, served primarily as an outpost of the Spanish Empire, guarding St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, and also protecting the sea route for : Plains Indian Plains Indian Any member of various Native American tribes that formerly inhabited the Great Plains of the U.S. and southern Canada. Plains Indians are popularly regarded as the typical American Indians. War Prisoners. By Brad D. Lookingbill. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. It has been in operation for over seventy-five years, and was the first university press established in the American Southwest. , c. 2006. Pp. xiv, 290. $29.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-8061-3739-8.) At the close of the Red River War on the southern High Plains in 1875, government officials decided to imprison im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- some of the leading Indian participants and others who they had determined were reservation malcontents or troublemakers. Thereupon there·up·on adv. 1. Concerning that matter; upon that. 2. Directly following that; forthwith. 3. In consequence of that; therefore. , the officials arrested seventy-one people from among the Cheyenne, Arapahos, Kiowas, and Comanches plus one Caddo leader and sent them to Fort Marion in Saint Augustine Saint Augustine (sānt ô`gəstēn), city (1990 pop. 11,692), seat of St. Johns co., NE Fla.; inc. 1824. Located on a peninsula between the Matanzas and San Sebastian rivers, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by Anastasia Island; , Florida. In addition, three "non-prisoners"--the wife and child of Black Horse (Comanche), and Dick, a black captive of Lone Wolf (Kiowa)--were part of the group sent to Florida. The Plains Indian prisoners, having been selected without a trial, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, at the end of April 1875. After spending three years at Fort Marion those prisoners who had survived confinement began returning to Oklahoma in April 1878. Some, mainly bachelors, chose, rather than returning to Oklahoma, to attend school at such places as Hampton Institute in Virginia or the army barracks bar·rack 1 tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters. n. 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and they did not return to their homeland until a later date, most between 1880 and 1882. Captain Richard Henry Pratt Best known as the founder and longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he profoundly shaped Indian education and federal Indian policy at the turn of the twentieth century. , who became famous for his work with Indian education at Carlisle, took charge of the prisoners. He escorted them to Fort Marion, which Spanish officers with native help had built in 1672 as a medieval-type fortress to help guard the Florida coast. Acquired by the United States in 1821 and renamed for General Francis Marion, the place was one of the oldest masonry strongholds in the country. It was also damp, dark, and covered with mold and mildew, thus making it a difficult place for Plains Indians who were accustomed to a dry, sunny climate. Pratt encouraged the Plains Indian war prisoners to keep active, attend educational sessions at the fort, perform physical exercise, draw and paint, study Christianity, and otherwise keep busy. Many did indeed keep active, but many others, suffering from depression, loneliness, homesickness, or various other health problems, died in the damp confines of Fort Marion. In most ways the story is not a pleasant one, but the author, Brad D. Lookingbill, a historian at Columbia College in Missouri, has presented the dark tale in as positive a light as possible. He does not ignore the pain and suffering, but he stresses the ways in which Indian people coped with the difficult circumstances in which they found themselves. Pratt, who receives a good bit of attention, comes across as an Indian friend who encouraged and guarded his charges rather than the military-style educator he later became. The book is thoroughly researched, well organized, and presented in a pleasing fashion. Its emphasis on Indian people as individuals rather than on U.S. government policy is its great strength. PAUL H. CARLSON Texas Tech University |
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