Scouts

For all the bravery that the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts displayed, there were dark ironies behind their role in the American West. From 1873-1881, the scouts played a major role in one of the country’s most mythologized events, the pacification of the Texas frontier. White heroes and cowboys would later receive almost all the credit, not just in dime novels and movies, but also in the state legislature and public memory of Texas. Regardless of who deserved credit, however, the pacification of the frontier was morally complex. Indians hunted down by black warriors were hardly likely to view the maroons as heroes, freedom fighters, or peace-keepers. For Kiowa chief Lone Wolf, whose favorite son was killed in an encounter with scouts in 1873, the black warriors were probably more akin to mercenaries.