Interrupted Odyssey: – Ulysses S. Grant and the American Indians
Ulysses S. Grant developed a comprehensive Indian policy before becoming president with the help of his friend Ely Parker, a Seneca Indian who became his first Commissioner of Indian Affairs, which was meant to rescue the tribes from certain destruction. Indians would move onto reservations where, under the watchful eye of the army, not Christian missionaries as historians have long asserted, they would learn modern ways and become American citizens. In the process, the executive branch would reassert its traditional control over Indian policy that had been upended after Andrew Jackson removed the eastern tribes.
But Congress soon overturned Grant’s policy by disallowing army officers from serving in civil posts, making the new Board of Indian Commissioners the supervisors of the Indian service, and abandoning the treaty system. Only then did Grant respond by placing missionaries in charge of reservations. After Congress falsely charged Parker with fraud, Grant lost faith in his original policy, and continued to do so after the Modoc War in 1873, the Red River War in 1874, and the Great Sioux War in 1876. Still, no matter how much his plans were “interrupted,” he never lost hope that one day all Indians would become American citizens.
Here's how the noted historian Ron White, author of American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant, describes Interrupted Odyssey: “This gripping narrative shines a much-needed bright light on President Ulysses S. Grant’s hopes for the American Indians and all that went wrong with his policy. Meticulously researched, in this brilliant book we are in the hands of a trustworthy guide. Mary Stockwell invites us into a complex, often misunderstood story filled with tragedy, irony, and courage.”
About Mary Stockwell (Toledo, Ohio Author)
Mary Stockwell has lived most of her life near the reserves carved out for the Ohio tribes after the War of 1812. She got her love of history from her father who was proud of his Irish descent and who took his children along the remnants of 19th century canals in northwest Ohio reminding them that their ancestors came into this country to build them and for the freedom and opportunity that America promised. She got her love of storytelling from her mother who was an actress, director, acting teacher, and prize winning poet.
In 1996, she was hired as the American History Professor at Lourdes University, and in 2001, she became the Chair of its Department of History, Political Science, and Geography. She won the Faculty Excellence Award for her superior teaching three times at Lourdes University and was nominated by her institution for national teaching awards. She said goodbye to her teaching and administrative career in 2012 to become a full-time writer and to accept the Earhart Foundation Fellowship at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan.
Mary Stockwell is the author of history books used by young people throughout the United States including The Ohio Adventure, A Journey Through Maine, and Massachusetts, Our Home, the 2005 winner of the Golden Lamp Award from the Association of Educational Publishers for Best Book. She is also the author of Woodrow Wilson: The Last Romantic In The First Men (America’s Presidents Series) for Nova Press and The American Story: Perspectives and Encounters to 1865 for Bridgepoint Education.
Her essays on George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt have appeared in major scholarly studies of these presidents. She has written for the website of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. She just completed Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America for the Yale University Press and is currently working on Interrupted Odyssey: Ulysses Grant and the Native Americans for the Southern Illinois University Press.
Dr. Stockwell is an excellent public speaker with an informative and engaging style of expression. She is a frequent lecturer at history events in the United States and Canada.
