"It is difficult to know exactly what is going on in the vicinity of Pierce, Okla., about 100 miles east of Oklahoma City, since reports started appearing in The Times two days ago that an Indian revolt was taking place there led by Chitti Harjo, a Creek chief who is constantly referred to in these articles by the name Crazy Snake. There have been headlines saying “Six Whites Killed” and “Many Negroes Are Killed; Twenty-four Dead Found.” The tone of the reports has been prejudicial and decidedly racist, using terms like “half-breeds” and “squawmen.” A Times editorial has referred to the incidents as “the strange anomaly of Crazy Snake’s war — a savage outbreak in the midst of civilization.” Perhaps the most believable headline so far has been “Chief’s Son Tortured,” on the news that a “deputy sheriff” had his charges put a rope around the neck of “young Harjo,” 22, and had them hang him in the air, strangling, until to save his life he provided information about his father’s whereabouts. What is sadly missing from these articles is any notion of the events from the points of view of the Native Americans and the African-Americans involved."

Get the Story:
The TimesTraveler: Divining the Oklahoma ‘Indian War’ Reports (The New York Times 3/31)

Related Stories:
NYT 100 Years Ago: Creek 'revolt' in Oklahoma (3/30)