On this day, January 23, 1870, the Marias massacre occurred.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Thu Jan 23, 2020: On this day, January 23, 1870, the Marias massacre occurred.

Marias Massacre

Date: January 23, 1870
Location: Marias River, Montana Territory
Result: 173-217 killed; Ulysses S. Grant's "Peace Policy"

The Marias Massacre (also known as the Baker Massacre or the Piegan Massacre) was a massacre of Piegan Blackfeet Indians carried out by the United States Army as part of the Indian Wars. The massacre took place on January 23, 1870, in Montana Territory. Approximately 200 Indians were killed, most of whom were women, children and elderly men.

As part of a campaign to suppress Mountain Chief's band of Piegan Blackfeet, the U.S. Army attacked a different band led by Chief Heavy Runner, to whom the United States government had previously promised their protection. This resulted in public outrage and a long-term shift towards a "Peace Policy" by the Federal Government, as advocated by President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant kept the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a division of the Department of the Interior although the War Department was trying to regain control. He then appointed men recommended by various religious clergy—including Quakers and Methodists—as Indian agents, in hopes that they would be free of the corruption he had previously found in the department.

{snip}

[niyad]

1. Heartsick KNR

[Lonestarblue]

2. Our treatment of Native Americans was genocide. Sickening, and may policies to this day still

hurt these people.

[The Jungle 1]

3. You can bet this will not be taught in public schools!

[mountain grammy]

4. President Grant is still one of the most underrated presidents in history

A true man of the people who tried to do the right thing in a country that rarely did.

[jaxexpat]

5. While busy uninforming us about native and African American.....

history all through public school the texts never missed a chance to point out the corruption during Grant's term. Between uninformation and misinformation, it's a wonder any American knows anything about anything but cell phones.

[mountain grammy]

6. My high school American History teacher

was a fan. We learned about US Grant and why he was a great American.
When we studied the Depression, he had us read The Grapes of Wrath. When we studied the westward expansion, he had us read Black Elk Speaks and the writings of Chief Seattle. This was 1963-64, 11th grade and news of the ongoing Civil Rights movement and Dr King were always discussed at some point in the classroom.

I'll always be grateful for that teacher.

Of course, November 22, 1963 was the biggest lesson of all. Don't be a unabashed liberal president.. it'll get you killed. He didn't say those words, but the lesson was clear.

[jaxexpat]

7. That sounds exceptional to me.

None of my teachers from 1-12 were even close to "woke", though my 6th grade teacher did break down and cry on Nov 11, 1963. It was a strange afternoon. The principal, several teachers and even some lunchroom women were all emotional and gathered together in the halls. You could tell which were not Kennedy fans by the looks on their faces but there was universal shock that it could happen in a peacetime America. Ultimately there were only 2-3 teachers throughout my public-school education who had any negative comment about the Viet-Nam fiasco, and they were too afraid to say things out loud. That is until some of them were drafted.