MovieChat Forums > Last of the Dogmen (1995) Discussion > Mythology of the American West

Mythology of the American West

posted 19 years ago by kyrik92
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The story about a lost tribe of Cheyenne is part of the history / mythology of the American old West. I heard it from a high school teacher of mine, in Lexington, Kentucky, around 1985; 10 years before the movie.

The teacher had family in Wyoming, and in his narrative a band of Cheyenne, fleeing U.S. troops, fled into the Absaroka range of Wyoming (not the "Oxbow" in MT) and just disappeared into thin air, a mystery unsolved to this day.

I surmise that this type of event - a band of Native Americans giving the U.S. soldiers the slip - was not uncommon. They probably either made their way to friendly territory, or died in the wilderness; no lost civilizations persisting undiscovered into the late 20th century.

[–] dbellmyer 19 years ago

Interesting story, kyrik92. Thanks for sharing that.

No doubt there are legends like this in more than a few areas of the West, and probably a bit of truth in them...at least the part where the indigenous people were running away, usually to Canada as in the case of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce.

Although Chief Joseph didn't make it to Canada, some of the Nez Perce did. It would be nice to imagine them living freely and retaining their old ways, but of course, that is impossible. In Canada, the indigenous people ended up on reserves, sharing a similar fate with the natives in the U.S.reservation system.

Also, if the indigenous people escaped into the wilderness, eventually they would have ended up starving and destitute, chased and harassed by whites, as related in the story of Ishi, the Last of the Yahi tribe in California.

The word "utopian" comes from Greek words meaning "that which does not exist anywhere." It's too bad that there isn't a utopia for the original/first Americans; but unfortunately, there isn't a place like that for anyone...natives or otherwise.

However, it makes a great premise for a movie, and I enjoyed this film very much.

[–] blakduke 18 years ago

I don't know if I would be so quick to dismiss the possibility. There were some truths in the movie. There are places in the Rocky mountains where no one has set foot in. It is unlikely that no one would not have seen some signs of lost tribes up there, but not impossible.

[–] JohnnyCash8818 18 years ago

very true. i, for one, think that this is a very possible thing. there are places in the Rockies in Montana and other places, where no one has ever set foot, 55,000 square miles of undisterbed wilderness, where an Indian tribe could live and no one would ever know. It makes my heart race thinking of these possabilities, and I wouldnt be so quick as to rule them out. There are places in Canada too, where no white men have gone, and alot of Indian tribes have simply disapeared into Canada and Alaska...I wouldnt doubt that some of the tribes are still living un-discovered today

-Travis-

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] efs2 18 years ago

I'd like to believe it also. But there's a reason why vast areas of the U.S. and Canadian West were and remain unsettled. They are too hostile to support even the most hardy of humans assembled in a rudimentary society.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

[–] JohnnyCash8818 18 years ago

but remmeber...."rough" by today's standards is nothing compared to the Indians..they ate, slept, killed, and lived "rough"