The Forgotten History of America’s Permanent Indian Frontier

A good plan thwarted by settlers

(By Seifert Gugler & Co. — “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1876 by Seifert Gugler & Co. with the librarian of Congress at Washington D. C.” File copied from http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15330coll22/id/35616, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15269312)

There was a time when no one conceivably believed that Americans would cross the Mississippi River in any great number. Today, that notion seems ridiculous, considering that Texas and California are two of the most populated states in the Union, but at the time, the idea of a mass migration westward seemed…