[Tupelo]

You might want to ask George Armstrong Custer about Indian tactics. The Seminole, the Shawnee, the Creek, the Apache and others also gave the US Army a rough time for a pretty long while. And the Comanche ran the Texas Rangers ragged for a couple or three decades. What? 125 years to completly subdue a people with stoneage technology. Methinks, they were over powered by sheer manpower and western technology not by tactics. Too many “B” westerns?

[Redcloak]

Bad dog. No biscuit.

[fullchroma]

They were doomed by their primitive culture. They hadn’t yet “discovered” the wheel and they had no written language for starters.

[advance_copy]

Barak Obama is just about the worst President this country has ever had.

[Krankor]

Well, you got it half right. Basically, Indians would first wait until there was a bunch of white people in a big group-sitting around a campfire or riding along a trail or something. Then they would shoot one of them (that was some kind Indian Marquis of Queensbury rule) with an arrow and immediately start hollering and yelling and stuff. Then all the white guys would go, "Oh, sh!t Indians!" Then they would duck behind some logs or horses. A favorite spot was underneath a wagon, shooting through a wheel. If you could hold out until nighttime, you were pretty safe because Indians were either afraid of the dark or else they couldn't go to a place known as The Happy Hunting Ground if they were killed after, say, 9:30 PM. (give or take a few hours depending on time zone). Anyway, your best bet was to shoot the chief because then they got all disorganized and stuff and kinda slipped away- I guess until they elected a new chief or something.

[Verginius Rufus]

The poor Indians. They haven't won a World Series since 1948, and now they're being dumped on again.

The Far Side had many great cartoons playing on the Hollywood images of Indians. One has them firing burning arrows at the Conestoga wagons to set them on fire, and one of the defenders asking another, "Can they do that?"

[texmexis best]

Our practice of attacking winter camps was quite good tactically as they Indian’s horses were nearly starved by that time.

Our horses were in much better shape because we hauled our own feed on cavalry forays. Our horses were better and most could run down an Indian pony in a fairly short distance.

They used repeaters such as lever actions late in the Indian Wars, whereas we used the Springfield Trapdoor single shot rifle that required more disciplined and coordinated rifle fire.

[texmexis best]

“My Life On the Plains” by General George Custer is a discussion of his part in the Indian Wars. Iti s a very good read and has been in print since 1873(?).