With us the individual
was supreme; all combination was voluntary in its nature; there was no
commerce worthy the name, no national wealth, no taxation for the
support of government, and the chiefs were merely natural leaders with
much influence but little authority. The system worked well with men who
were all of the same mind, but in the face of a powerful government and
an organized army it quickly disintegrated and collapsed. Could the many
small tribes and bands have formed a stable combination or league, they
might have successfully resisted the invader; but instead they stood
separately, though too weak to maintain their dignity by force, and in
many cases entered upon a devastating warfare with one another, using
the new and more deadly weapons, thus destroying one another. Since
there was no central government, but a series of loose confederations
of linguistic or allied groups, each of which had its titular head, able
to make treaties or to declare war, these bands were met and subdued one
at a time.

The original North American knew no fermented or spirituous drink. To be
sure, he used a mild narcotic--tobacco mixed with aromatic leaves or
bark, and smoked in strict moderation, generally as a semi-religious
ceremony. Though wild grapes were found here in abundance, none had ever
made wine from them. The introduction of liquor completed the ruin of
our race.

During a long period the fur trade was an important factor in the
world's commerce, and accordingly the friendship and favor of the
natives were eagerly sought by the leading nations of Europe. Great use
was made of whiskey and gunpowder as articles of trade. Demoralization
was rapid. Many tribes were decimated and others wiped out entirely by
the ravages of strong drink and disease, especially smallpox and
cholera. The former was terribly fatal. The Indians knew nothing of its
nature or treatment, and during the nineteenth century the tribes along
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers suffered severely. Even in my own
day I have seen and talked with the few desolate survivors of a
thriving village.

In the decade following 1840 cholera ravaged the tribes dwelling along
the great waterways. Venereal disease followed upon the frequent
immoralities of white soldiers and frontiersmen. As soon as the Indian
came into the reservation and adopted an indoor mode of life, bronchitis
and pneumonia worked havoc with him, and that scourge of the present-day
red ma