Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The Crook annals: Why the Army didn’t trust white settlers on the Western frontier

General George Crook distrusted the whites on the frontier, and believed they had a vested interest in riling up the Indians so the Army would stick around.

White_settlers_2014_poster
White_settlers_2014_poster

 

 

General George Crook distrusted the whites on the frontier, and believed they had a vested interest in riling up the Indians so the Army would stick around. This was, another general noted, because “almost the only paying business the white inhabitants have … is supplying the troops.” The result was that, “Hostilities are therefore kept up with a view to supporting the inhabitants.”

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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