The red man was almost eradicated by the time the south provoked the north.
So far I have stayed out of this one as I believe GB and Cabin 4 have taken care of it just fine but this one just brought me into it!
Being 1/4 CHEROKEE (my Great Grandmother was full CHEROKEE) I say the above quote is pure BS!!!
There were still plenty of them left.
The great buffalo slaughters of the early 1870's
(just a few short years) should be proof of that.
The Government wanted to expand and settle the west so they could gain controll of it and all of the mineral rights there in.
To do this they also needed the railroad.
This could not be done safely because of the resistence from the INDIANS so they tried to wipe them out by force but was losing to many soldiers doing so.
That is when the government and the railroad hired professional hunters to wipe out the great herds to try to starve the INDIANS into submission and to feed the vast army of workers needed to build the railroad.
If they had been mostly eradicated by the time the south provoked the north (1860-1861) there would have been no need for the massive buff kills a full 10 years latter just to feed the workers!!!
If there were so few INDIANS left the soldiers should have had no trouble getting rid of them.
Remember, the favorite rifle of the INDIAN was the new lever actions from WINCHESTER ie: 1866 YELLOWBOY as they called them.
Let's see, 1866, I believe that was after the war ended (1865)!
LONGTOM
