Some lovely new friends I made in Phoenix told me about the Steele Indian School Park, where the now-shuttered Phoenix Indian School still stands. It was a nice spot for a late afternoon-turned-dusky stroll, even though walking among the buildings and reading about the place made me think this was the site for a less brutal/more benign version of the "Trail of Tears," memorials to which I saw in Arkansas and Oklahoma weeks before. Maybe that's an unfair comparison. But it can't be doubted these were both part of a larger project to kill off, dispossess, then if necessary, assimilate the native populations. In the 1800s it was known as "pacification":
The Washita Massacre memorial I had seen in Oklahoma commemorated one such event that I had never even heard about. No doubt there are many more.Sheridan was ordered to pacify the plains and take control of the Natives there. His first order was to immediately called (sic) General Custer back to command. (American Indian Wars)
