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Yours Truly,
DENNIS COLLINS
The Indians’ Last Fight
OR
THE DULL KNIFE RAID
BY
DENNIS COLLINS
COPYRIGHT RESERVED
BY
DENNIS COLLINS
PRESS OF
THE APPEAL TO REASON
GIRARD, KANSAS
PREFACE
The work of writing a book is one that requires a vast amount ofknowledge, natural ability and educational advantages, to producesomething that is reliable, as regards information imparted, unimpeachableauthority, and, at the same time, a power of expression that will presentthe matter to the reader in a manner that will convey the proper meaningof the author. I would not have undertaken the present work, were it notthat I was encouraged by the friends of former days who felt confident inmy ability to portray the scenes to be depicted in a fitting manner. Ishould probably be able to perform the task before me with greater successif I had some of the advantages of what is called Higher Education, but, Iset out on my journey through this new domain, encouraged particularly, bya statement made by a certain ex-President, that he did not believe in allthe “Ph’s”, and “Ch’s”, that are in common use in our language; that hebelieved in a plain, intelligent expression of ideas that conveys the fullmeaning of the speaker or writer, without any unnecessary verbiage.
My own personal qualifications for undertaking the task before me, mightbe considered too inadequate to many. True, I have not had the advantageof a University Education, but with a solid foundation of learning laid inthe little school of boyhood in Canada, supplemented by a wide course ofreading through all the years I have spent in the West, I feel that thedifficulties before me are not too great to be overcome, especially as Ihave the example of so many men before me who have become self-educated byan earnest application of time and energy to the opportunities presented.If I have developed any facility of expression, I must attribute it[Pg 6] tothe wealth of good books I have had the good fortune to have at mydisposal at various times.
Another motive that has impelled me to undertake the task of presentingthe “West” to the general reader, is that there has been so much writtenabout it that is not veracious, and that many have a false notion