(283) REMEMBER WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN & SITTING BULL

In 1896, at the Nominating Convention, William Jennings Bryan captured the audience with a speech that is considered to be one of the great speeches in the history of the United States. He argued that silver should be the standard on which the currency was based, or, at the worst, a double standard with silver and gold being used to support the currency.

President Cleveland was a supporter of the gold standard, and, when the gold reserves fell to near bankruptcy levels in 1896, he appointed JP Morgan to oversee a bail-out. Morgan bought gold certificates from the government and turned around and sold them at an enormous profit. By then, Grover Cleveland had fallen out of favor with the public and was considered as a puppet for Morgan.

With Cleveland unelectable, the Democrats thought that the Populist Manifesto might enable them to remain in the White House, and the Populist/Democrat Party nominated Bryan as their candidate. His mantra was, "You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold."

This simplistic idea focused the country's attention on an issue that really wasn't a major issue. Nevertheless, at age 36, he became the youngest Presidential Nominee ever. The Democrats at rallies shouted, "Cross of gold, cross of gold!"

His opponent in the Presidential Election was William McKinley. McKinley won by out-spending Bryan $7,000,000 to $300,000.

Is there anything going on in Congress today that politicians are using to distract the populace from noting the real issues and the extreme financial condition the country is in?

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Also of interest, I have wondered for a long time how we were able to take this country from the Indians. We had better weapons, and we had a constant influx of settlers who were willing to use those weapons to acquire land. In the process of stealing the land that once belonged to the Indians, we initiated a Cavalry that was supposed to protect the settlers who had declared that this land belonged to us, not the Indians.

Despite all of the high-tech stuff we had available, a principal reason why the Indians lost was that there was treachery in the Tribe, and there was no unified Indian front. Most Tribes hated other Tribes, and it was a simple matter of enlisting the angry Tribe to track down the Tribes that were not cooperating. On December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull, who had been touring with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, was quietly living on a Reservation when the Cavalry sent the Indian Police to arrest Sitting Bull. The Indian Police were the snitches and informants of the day, and they gladly worked for the Calvary--good pay, good benefits, lots of women, and fire-water. On December 15, 1890, while trying to arrest Sitting Bull, a scuffle ensued and he was killed by the Indian Police who were sent to capture him. Was this the original Blackwater?

Respectfully submitted,
Donald M. Heavrin,
Historian for the day