Opening the West at the Great Smog Conference

185 1 year, American Congress invited Indian tribes scattered in the west to hold a grand peace conference in Fort Laramie, Nebraska. 1836, Thomas Fitzpatrick, an Irish immigrant, and david mitchell, the head of the West Indies, conceived and organized this * * *, which Indians called "the Great Smog". Congress wants white settlers on Oregon Trails to pass safely. For them, the Indians want to officially recognize their homeland, that is, the land in the western United States 165438+ 10,000 square miles, and ensure that the United States will protect their land from white people. During the month-long feast and negotiation, they all realized their wishes. Celebrations marking the end of the Massey Peace Committee, with gongs and drums, singing and dancing, and endless banquets, lasted for two days and two nights. On the evening of September 20, the long-awaited supply train of the Treaty Mission appeared on the eastern horizon, and it caused great joy in the Indian refugee camps lined up on the North Pratt Mountain. The next day, Ambassador david mitchell stood up early and raised the American flag on the Treaty Tree. For the last time, he fired a gun and called the cat's nose, the blue land, the four bears and all the other leaders to the parliamentary circle under the pavilion. There, the dragoons worked until the early hours of the morning, unloading carriages full of gifts and food, and the Indians gathered quietly in the old place. Mitchell wore the happiest clothes, painted their precious vermilion color, and presented the chiefs with gold-plated swords and general uniforms. Then, he called each tribe to collect their gifts. Although the atmosphere was very exciting, the majority of Indians remained calm and respectful, and there were no signs of impatience and jealousy during the whole ceremony.

In the past few weeks, 65,438+05,000 nomads from western tribes camped at the intersection of North Platte River and Maxi River in Nebraska and lived their ancient life in a peaceful and friendly spirit. Legendary mountain man Jim Brij, Jesuit priest Pierre Demet, brave adventurer and businessman Thomas fitzpatrick met with the leaders of twelve tribes every day, and carved the initial boundary into the vast western region of the United States, which was marked as "unknown territory" on the map at that time. This is a well-thought-out process, a difficult process. Day after day, a river, a mountain range, a valley and a new American west gradually formed a map different from any previous one. Bridger and Desmet found themselves involved in a world of oral history, which has subtle geography and mystery, all of which must be arranged as neatly as possible on a piece of parchment, which shows the geographical features known to dozens of white people.

When the task was completed, the political border established a dozen new tribal homes, covering a large area of neighboring real estate, more than the whole Louisiana purchase. The western tribes claimed to own 65,438+065,438+million square miles of land in the treaty negotiated by Maxi (and approved by the US Senate the following year), which will one day surround 65,438+02 western states and connect Denver with future cities such as fort collins, Kansas City, Billings, Cheyenne and Xie Lidan, Cody and Bismarck, Salt Lake City, Omaha and Lincoln.

Thomas fitzpatrick conceived and organized a meeting of Indian tribes in the west, and held a grand peace committee in Fort Laramie, Nebraska. (Missouri Historical Society/Old West Publishing Company) Congress wants white settlers on Oregon Trail to pass safely. (albert bierstadt) david mitchell was an Indian Soviet serving the West. (Missouri History Museum in St. Louis) Pierre Desmet was a Jesuit priest. He worked with tribal leaders to draw the first border into the western region. Jim Bridger is a legendary mountaineer. (Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis) Pierre Jean Demeter's map of the northern plains and the Rocky Mountains. By the end of the month, 50,000 huge Indian horses had gnawed the last short grass into dust and roots in Fiona Fang a few miles away. In the evening, the west wind blew up a suffocating wall, which was full of flying garbage and human excrement, and swallowed up this huge camp composed of rotating debris. So, once the tribal leader touched the pen of the last document and Mitchell distributed gifts on the tree, the women quickly knocked on the dome tent, loaded their things into the grassland carriage and took their children home for a long trip.

Thomas fitzpatrick, an old friend of the white-haired Irish and Indians, was called Duanshou with quiet joy and watched the last Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho attack their village in the loneliness of the camp. Although fitzpatrick was full of contradictions about the future of Indians, he had been trying to persuade the western tribes to meet the great white father in a formal peace committee for many years. Of course, no one's diplomatic skills or in-depth knowledge of tribes-their multi-languages, unique customs and habits and the country in which they live-played a greater role in making the Security Council a complete success. Old people like Cat's Nose and Grey Prairie Eagle know that this is the first such gathering in the history of the western United States, and it is likely to be the last. Events year after year will prove their insight, because no one can match its grandeur and its diplomatic commitment, and it will be held on the plateau of North America again.

However, at present, these reflect the luxury enjoyed by white people in distant towns, villages and cities, and their agents have finally won their coveted prize-white settlers can safely cross India and reach Oregon and California. This road to the fate of Canaan, without the legal burden and hostile threat from the plain tribes, is now open to the restless masses. For Indians, the real test of the great white father's solemn promise lies not in the words and lines drawn on parchment, nor in the ashes of the parliamentary fire, but in what he did in an unknown future and an unmarked day. The old people know that, no matter what, this test will soon be like flying snow across the short grass grassland.

Just as they left together, Cheyenne hunters rode back to the camp with exciting news. In the village of South Pratt, people saw a large herd of buffalo, and they planned to travel to the southeast for two days. A wave of excitement flooded into the village. Cheyenne and Sioux, with their huge camps, are particularly eager to catch up with them for the last time before the first snow drives them to the winter villages in Belfo and Shaxi. In the late afternoon, fitzpatrick, Mitchell and Demet watched the last members of "Earth Blue" leave their respective camps. Soon, the nomadic people left the rotating dust on a barren plain and merged with the southern horizon. The vast and familiar rural area of North Pratt suddenly became desolate and strangely silent. Just like the kaleidoscope of this event-a unique event in the rapidly unfolding story of the United States-it is just a colorful prelude to the skeleton feast of hyenas and raptors, a ruthless wolf.

(Excerpted from Savages and Villains: The Unknown Story of the United States Going to Empire through Indian Territory, by Paul Vanderville, Yale University Press, April 2009. Copyright 2009 Paul Vander Vader. Excerpt with permission of Yale University Press)