|
|
Article: Grant staffer straddled Indian and white worlds.(Saturday)(The Civil War)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- June 21, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
When Gen. Ulysses S. Grant needed someone to write out the surrender terms at Appomattox, the assignment went to an old friend and one of the few men on his staff who could write legibly - Ely Parker, a Seneca Indian from New York state.
As Parker wrote out the terms, he was fulfilling part of the prophecy that an Indian dream interpreter had given his mother shortly before his birth in 1828:
"A son will be born to you who will be distinguished among his nation as a peacemaker; he will become a white man as well as an Indian, with great learning; he will be a warrior for the pale faces; he will be a wise white man, but will never desert his Indian ...