I was taught at an early age that Columbus discovered America and that the Plymouth colony was founded by individuals seeking religious and personal freedom. Although learning that the United States of America was formed in an attempt to create a more perfect union, in which its citizens were vested with protected rights and freedoms, I soon realized that history is never as simple, straightforward, or biased as the text in a third grade book.

Lost in my thoughts, I arrived alone at Bearpaw Battlefield late in the afternoon, the shadows playing on the landscape as the day rapidly faded into dusk. I walked across the land, conscious of myself and the history that lay before my meager soul. Hundreds of grasshoppers took flight to avoid my footsteps. They sounded like people fleeing through the parched grasses. Sitting among the hills and valleys, lost in their physical beauty, the realization came that this was the last camp of the Nez Perce people. A final battle ground for their freedom and way of life. The Nez Perce never reached the safety of Canada.

Two weeks later, I found myself on the high plains of Colorado with the endless horizon melting in the distance. This was the site of the Sand Creek Massacre and everything seemed distant and haunting tome. I attempted to envision the Cheyenne camp and the arrival of Colonel Chivington's column of soldiers. Where do you hide or seek refuge when being attacked on the open plains? I  felt ashamed to be walking ground that had once been littered with bodies of children, women and men. The wind blew harshly upon my face, accentuating my inner recognition of the Cheyenne's terrible fate. Europeans were not the first people to inhabit this land. Ultimately, we lost the battle for individual freedom and destroyed a unique civilization under the guise of "manifest destiny". However, we were victorious in forcing western culture upon this beautiful land and its original people. Humbly departing, one question raced through my mind, where does it end?

jon o. holloway