Dear Larry and Forum Members,
Twenty-five years ago there appeared a good article on the gradual
evolution of Twain's eventually enlightened views toward the Native
American--James C. McNutt's "Mark Twain and the American Indian: Earthly
Realism and Heavenly Idealism," AMERICAN INDIAN QUARTERLY, 4 (August 1978):
223-242.
In many ways it might be said that Twain's own shifting attitudes very much
reflected the general ideas held by most Americans, decade by decade, as
fear and disparagement of the vanishing Native American was replaced by
concern for and belated (often harmful) efforts at preserving the remaining
tribes.
Regards,
Alan Gribben
Auburn University Montgomery