The Contested West was a time of migration and displacement. During this time letters were found from Ida Lindgren. A Swedish immigrant speaking of her journey and the troubles she faced coming to the US. The next speech was to a white audience from Chief Joseph speaking of the displacement of his tribe to a reservation. Both speeches allowing us to see the negative aspects of this time period. Then information was uncovered from Richard Pratt about trying to civilize the Indians, followed by the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Both trying to colonize the US.
Ida Lindgren, her husband Gustaf Lindgren, and their five children migrated to America from Sweden to the Kansas Prairie, along with Ida’s brother and his family. Ida wrote to her mother and sister about experiences and events that she had endured. Her purpose was to inform her mother and sister about what was happening in the U.S during this time.…show more content… She felt this way due to the fact that the ride to the U.S was unpleasant. She went on to describe the conditions of the boat that they traveled on. She described they were sitting on boards in a work-wagon, and that they were packed in so uncomfortably that there was no room to move anything, not even a foot. While they were packed in this wagon so uncomfortably, she described the endless prairies, and the roads they drove on felt like tracks that went through an old field. Ida in another letter described her experience with a prairie fire. She told us the horror she felt while being alone with the young children. She described the action she took by gathering important items, as well as the children. Towards the end, she told us the damage of the fire, also luck for her and her family. Their property was almost untouched compared to other places. Ida and her family endured ups and downs of the prairie, although they came to America for a better
