Great Northern Indian Postcards

A Streamliner Memories reader sent scans of these postcards. Most are undated but the first one is postmarked October 23, 1913 in Malta, Montana. A message to the recipient in Chicago says it was written “on board the Oriental Limited.”

Click image to download a 2.8-MB PDF of this postcard.

The person who sent the postcards noted that they would be considered politically incorrect today. While I think the political correctness movement often goes too far, I have to say I find many of these cards offensive as they portray Indians as foolish, ignorant, and even cowardly.

Click image to download a 300-KB PDF of this postcard.

In Great Northern’s defense, the Indian Wars were still fresh in people’s memories in 1913, and the railway no doubt wanted to make its passengers feel safe while traveling through the several Indian reservations along the GN route. According to Wikipedia, the last of the Indian Wars took place in 1924, although that was really just a theft of some horses in Arizona.

Click image to download a 324-KB PDF of this postcard.
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Actually, after the Great Sioux War of 1876 and 1877 (which included Custer’s Last Stand), most of what are regarded as major Indian battles were really just Native Americans who didn’t want to be imprisoned on reservations that had been agreed to by other Indians whose authority they didn’t recognize. For example, the Nez Perce War of 1877 was really just a group of peaceful Indians who objected to the loss of their lands signed away by another tribe and who were trying to get to Canada, where they would have more freedom.

Click image to download a 296-KB PDF of this postcard.

The last uprising of any sort in Great Northern territory was the so-called Crow War of 1887. This started out with some teen-age members of the Crow tribe showing off by stealing back some horses stolen by members of the neighboring Blackfeet Tribe, and then engaging in an over-exuberant celebration. None of the actions were approved by elders of the tribe.

Click image to download a 278-KB PDF of this postcard.

The last action of any sort in a state served by the GN was the Battle of Sugar Point. This was the U.S. Army’s fault as one of its soldiers started the battle when he accidentally fired a gun while the Army was trying to arrest a Chippewa Indian in Minnesota for what today would be regarded as specious or trumped-up charges. The battle was significant enough that an Army medic named Oscar Burkard had to rescue several wounded soldiers, for which he became the last man to receive a Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. No doubt events like this one made many white people nervous even though they were really the fault of the Army.


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