At one time the phrase "A good Indian" meant "A dead Indian," due to the 1860's phrase and mentality: The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian.
Newspapers ran headlines for decades that announced an American Indian's death in this manner, almost celebratory.
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1870, March 4 Weekly Oregon Statesman |
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1877, Dec 18 The Cincinnati Enquirer |
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1882, May 5 The Frankfort Bee |
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1885, Nov 13 Fort Worth Daily Gazette |
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1887, Dec 29 The Record Union |
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1890, Jan 17 Pittsburgh Dispatch |
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1890, Dec 31 Los Angeles Herald |
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1890, Dec 18 The Columbus Weekly Advocate |
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1892, May 11 Arizona Republic |
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1893, Feb 16 The Tiller and Toiler |
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1894, Nov 2 The Saint Paul Globe |
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1896, June 15 The Kansas City Gazette |
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1905, Oct 6 The Virginia Enterprise |
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1908, Dec 12 The Bismarck Tribune |
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1909, Feb 17 The Evening Kansan Republican |
I found this little ditty in the newspaper 8 years before his death, when he was still a POW and asking for release. He died a Prisoner of War, having been incarcerated for 23 years.
1901 The_Los_Angeles_Times_Sat__Apr_13__1901_
And, of course, it was all attributed to General Philip Sheridan.
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1873, April 15 The Star and Enterprise |
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1890, Dec 18 The Osage County Chronicle |