A flat tire and too many thoughts

A flat tire and too many thoughts

Was making really good time on the drive north Friday when my car started wobbling. Pulled over at the neighborhood historical marker and inspected the shredded remains of my right rear tire: just some steel belt and a few scraps of rubber.

So I pulled out the cell phone, made the call, and waited. And read the marker, and thought about what had happened there.

The Indians fought back with desperation, but little effect. The dense forest and underbrush, fallen logs, backwater sloughs and thick marsh grass offered numerous hiding places and slowed the attacking forces, but also caused confusion in which the army killed untold numbers of women and children. The soldiers' advances forced some Indians into the river, while others continued to resist fleeing down the floodplain onto a series of willow bars. Here more Indians were killed while others jumped into the river. "...many of them men, women and children fled to the river and endeavored to escape by swimming in this situation.

One man's battle is another man's genocide...