It is custers last stand that inspires americans to the conclusion weve got to eliminate native americans. So the settlement represents americas most shameful power. We went out and exterminate a race. We killed the buffalo to start them to death and those we didnt starve we shot until the west was open for settlement. You have to point a strong finger of guilt towards philip sherman. A great gentleman and the civil war but a man notorious for having said the only good indian is a dead indian. I devote a chapter to Wild Bill Hickok simply to show the absurdity of american mythmaking. These gunslingers so to speak were anything but gunslingers out in the west. They were mostly criminals who themselves had shot this year for something. They become share of a down and they are the judge, jury and executioner. They might catch or speak in the morning, and him that afternoon. That justice was swift. These guys were quick with guns because they were creating civilization out of a wild fronti