My thoughts on Chapter 8

I found Chapter 8 really interesting and had to share a few thoughts about it. The first thing that really interested me was how the military was being used to travel west. The dragoons and other military protection seemed, to me, a bit extreme? I suppose the government wanted their goods to be as safe as possible. It made me wonder when the idea of a police force was first introduced. (I'm sure a police force, like it is today, wasn't introduced for a long, long time). I also found myself getting upset at the way the American government was basically forcing the Indian tribes to get along with each other, almost as if they were groups of kids fighting on a playground. Treaties were being forced upon them, and bribes were being made. I noticed that any time the Americans wanted the Indians to behave they gave them presents (again, like children). Obviously this isn't very fair at all, forcing the Indians out of their native lands and farther west. Many times alcohol was used as well when getting the Indians to "do what the government says." I was surprised at how big of an impact alcohol really had! Eventually William Bent did see how bad this really was and limited the amount allowed to the Indians.



My only other thought was that I loved how Bents' Fort had a pet grizzly bear :)