The "Place in Time" feature for Chapter 17 describes efforts to school Native American children and destroy their Indian ways. It provides a basis for asking students to face a difficult question. Is adaptation morally superior to resistance? Have students prepare for the discussion of this issue by attempting to find out more about the history of a group of Indians near the college or university. Particularly in the East, information about local Indian groups may not be easy to obtain. Emphasis on mere emotional response is to be discouraged. Students must be helped to see how deeply held are people's views of the proper ordering of society, the relationship among humans and nature and the supernatural. They must see how futile the Indian resistance generally was. They must see that invasion and absorption of one people by another is a frequent event in human history. And they should wonder whether such a practical knowledge of history matters at all to someone whose very sense of self is threatened. For more background consult Frederick E. Hoxie, A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, 1880-1920 (1988), and Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Patriot Chiefs: A Chronicle of American Indian Resistance (1969). For the story from those directly affected, see Colin G. Calloway, editor, Our Hearts Fell to the Ground: Plains Indian Views of How the West Was Lost (1996).

Here is another and perhaps less profound part of the moral question. Is the "Indian sidekick" of song, story, and western movie a traitor? (Perhaps it's a put-on: the name of the Lone Ranger's sidekick, Tonto, means "stupid" in Spanish.)

The demythologizing lecture mentioned earlier will be assisted by having students do a little digging for themselves beforehand. Assign to students the problem of a particular identification, a brief thumbnail sketch of, for example, Jesse James, Juan Cortina, Virginia City, Tombstone, Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Belle Starr, Martha Jane Canary Burke (Calamity Jane), and others. Consider not recommending specific sources. Let students seek their own. By this point in the term, they will have some acquaintance with the library. Ask a few students to present statements in class and use them as a basis for agreement, refutation, or amendment in the lecture to follow.

Was life simpler in the days of the western frontier? What was life like for the average man or woman? Have students draw up a representative list of occupations that include such professions as miner, banker, entertainer, bartender, teacher, male farmer, female farmer, and so on. Have students write descriptions of an ordinary day for each occupation.

The Turner thesis deserves more attention. Its influence among historians is still quite significant. An interesting approach will be for the instructor to present the thesis as an accurate interpretation of the history of the United States and invite student comment. Ultimately the question may become, Why do we cherish the frontier of legend? See George Rogers Taylor, editor, The Frontier Thesis: Valid Interpretation in American History? (1966), one of the American Problem Studies Series; Ray Allen Billington, editor, The Frontier Thesis: Valid Interpretation of American History? (1966), one of the American Problem Studies Series; David J. Weber, "Turner, the Boltonians, and the Borderlands," American Historical Review 91 (February 1986): 66-81; and John M. Faragher, editor, Rereading Frederick Jackson Turner (1994).

Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (1987), argues for the replacement of Turner with a thesis based on cultural conquest and ascendancy. Richard White, "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A History of the American West (1991), approaches its subject in just such a way, as a history of relationships among the peoples of that vast region.