Bill Cross's reading of my remarks caused him to come to conclusions
different from what I wrote and intended. It was not my purpose to
give offensive or to express a superior attitude, but rather to
caution list members not to accept questionable information uncritically.

I do have some professional expertise in the history of the Federal
Government's Indian relations, and in the development and
implementation of Federal agency tribal relations policy and
procedures. In the past I did look into the smallpox issue to see if
there was anything to it. I suspected that it was an example of what
we now call "urban legends" -- a seemingly plausible tale that might
not endure closer examination.

There has been a recurring low-grade rumor for a long time that "germ
warfare" (a recent label) was practiced against Indians, a rumor that
stems from Lord Amherst's letters written in the 1760s, which I
mentioned in my earlier post. Like other rumors, it becomes unclear
as it gets handed around who did what to whom, when and where. I
recall one of my grade-school teachers (I think it was in 1951 or
'52) retelling a vague story of that kind, without taking a moral
position, about Americans giving Indians "gifts" of smallpox-infected
blankets somewhere on the frontier. (Back in those pre-correctness
days it was okay even for teachers to tacitly approve killing hostile
savages by whatever means.)

Ward Churchill, a besieged tenured faculty member at the University
of Colorado, began promoting his version of the genocide-by-smallpox
story in the early 1990s. In a paper published in 1994 he cited
sources and presented his case that the U.S. Army purposely started
the smallpox epidemic of 1837, which spread from the Mandan to other
Plains tribes and had ruinous results. Churchill's case doesn't hold
up to scholarly scrutiny. The hal.lamar.edu counter-argument that
Bill Cross cites is a good starting place for those who would like to
research the matter for themselves. (By the way, I didn't call
Churchill a "radical Indian," but a "radical Indian rights activist,"
i.e., an Indian rights activist of the radical variety. Actually,
there are questions about his Indian identity and status; he is not
an enrolled member of an Indian tribe, although he has claimed that
he is. The tribe repudiates his claim.)

I can't guess where Mr Cross got the idea that I think European
diseases were not disastrous to American Indians, or that I think the
U.S. Government's centuries of changing policies toward and treatment
of Indians has been good for them. I don't think those things. And I
don't have any idea where he saw "political invective" in what I wrote.

My ending lines that Mr Cross took such exception to ("Be careful
...") apply equally to the smallpox-blankets story, the Jefferson
controversy, and my ongoing difficulties in identifying my gg-gf
William Crawford. In historical and genealogical circles, claims and
beliefs are far weaker than evidence. I stand by my cautions.

John Douglas

At 06:38 PM 4/4/2006, Bill Cross wrote:
> > Be careful about confusing fanciful claims with history; be
> careful about substituting belief for knowledge.
>
>I find this kind of superior attitude offensive, as if you're in
>possession of the truth and others aren't. Most of us on this list
>are non-professionals, so unless you are an established authority on
>this topic, I feel it's more polite (and helpful) to cite evidence
>rather than simply bludgeon an opponent with political invective.
>
>Two sources with something to say on this topic can be found at:
>
><http://hal.lamar.edu/~browntf/Churchill1.htm>http://hal.lamar.edu/~browntf/Churchill1.htm
>
>and
>
><http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_066.html>http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_066.html.
>
>Apparently the charge of using smallpox to kill off the plains
>Indians did not originate with Ward Churchill or other "radical
>Indians," but was common during the 19th Century. That doesn't make
>it true, but it also doesn't change the fact that European diseases
>decimated Native American populations, or that the U.S. government
>has been anything approaching benevolent to them.
>
>Bill Cross

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