Battlefield and classroom : four decades with the American Indian, 1867-1904

Book

Battlefield and classroom : four decades with the American Indian, 1867-1904 / by Richard Henry Pratt ; edited and with an introduction by Robert M. Utley.

Pratt, Richard Henry, 1840-1924 (Author).

Summary:

In these memoirs, Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924) recounts the history he lived through and helped to make in 8 years of frontier army service and as founder of the Carlisle Indian School. In 1867, Captain Pratt arrived at Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory. The following 8 years culminated in the collapse of the hostile southern Plains tribes. Pratt's assignments as organizer and leader of units of Indian scouts led him to reflect on the condition of minority races in a social and political order that he regarded as otherwise perfect. He concluded that the Constitution guaranteed "fraternity and equal privilege for development" to all, and that this was all the Indian needed to cast off his aboriginal culture and be assimilated into American society. In 1875-78, Pratt served as jailor to 72 conquered Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne leaders imprisoned in Florida. His accomplishments in educating the prisoners helped to convince others that the experiment should be enlarged in a more favorable environment. In its first year (1879) Carlisle enrolled over 200 pupils from 12 tribes. During Pratt's 24-year tenure, the school educated 4,903 Indian children from 77 tribes. The curriculum emphasized both academic and manual instruction. The school's most famous feature, the Carlisle Outing, placed Indian children with white farm families during the summer. So determined and public was Pratt's attack on all who opposed his program that he was relieved of duty in 1904. Carlisle closed in 1918. This book contains 33 photographs, many letters, and an index.

Record details

ISBN: 0803236794
ISBN: 9780803236790
Physical Description: xix, 358 pages : illustrations, facsimile, maps, portraits ; 26 cm.
Publisher: New Haven : Yale University Press, 1964.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical footnotes and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Indian territory, 1867 -- Fort Arbuckle and the nomads -- Life at Fort Arbuckle -- The Washita campaign of 1868 -- Fort Sill and Camp Supply, 1870-72 -- Fort Griffin and the Texas frontier, 1873-74 -- The Red River war -- Campaigning on the Staked Plains -- Kicking Bird, Dangerous Eagle, and Big Bow -- Exile of the hostile leaders -- Prison life at Fort Marion -- Prison industries -- Anthropological interest in the prisoners -- The Kiowa escape plot -- Prison educational programs -- Opinions, progress, appeals -- Primitive correspondence and incidents of prison life -- Recruiting Indians for Hampton -- Mission to the Indians of Florida -- The founding of the Carlisle Indian School -- The first year at Carlisle -- Transformation -- Self-evident truths -- Progress in the school and in public sentiment -- Propaganda -- The world's Columbian exposition -- The Carlisle outing -- Compelling respect: football, baseball, and music -- The great heart of America -- End of service at Carlisle.