Thomas James’ Journal ‘Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans’.

Thomas James’ Journal ‘Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans’ (1809).

This particular account of settling into the Western USA is taken from Thomas James’ Journal ‘Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans’. As a ‘hunter and trapper’, he worked for the Missouri Fur Company. He was to join an expedition to contract the Mandan Chief in the Rocky Mountains for $10,000.

What is particularly striking about James’ movement Westward was the difference in landscape and setting. The prairie’s natural landscape compromised of “thick grass” where “game” of Buffalo and Elk was available in huge quantities. It really emphasised the agricultural prospects of the West and it is therefore understandable why the colonies wanted to move Westwards. James also reveals the reality of the West being full of different Indian Tribes. The variation of Mohaws, Sioux, and others, present how different the cultures can be within Indian tribes.

James also gave a further insight into the unpredictable nature of the Native Americans. From the beginning, James’ language of ‘lined with hundreds; they fired into the water before the forward barge’ suggested that the Indians posed as a dangerous threat to the new arrivals who had moved West. However, once landing, their defensive attitudes became more hospitable towards James and his company. They were taken to the Indians’ council house, provided them with a feast, and accommodated them for two days.

Another aspect that James’ journal reveals about settling into the American West, was the attitudes they had towards the Native American Indians. Repeatedly referred to as “savages” James took a very critical approach to the Indian tribes. He also referred to their hospitality and their food as that of the level of “dogs”. It suggests that both the industrial advancements and social etiquette they were accustomed to in their colonies was seen as far superior to that of the Indians.

Sources:
http://www.over-land.com/diaries.html
https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/james/jamesint.html