Without Estate
And so it was in South Dakota,
The last of the frontier,
The massacre of the Lakota
Through ignorance and fear,
Occurred; so too to fill a quota
That had been preached, that here
Too many of the tribal band
Existed, that once roamed the land.
“Extinguished are the Redman’s ways,
Best to annihilate
The paltry pack that straggling stays
(Where go, without estate?),
Because the future have no space
For them—that we create,”
So went the common argument
That set the stage, for how things went!
The editor vociferous
Applauded the act done,
“’Tis good if we continue thus
And stamp out every one--
We’ll blunder through with blunderbuss
Until we own the sun.”
Said ownership attained by clause
They named the place the Land of Oz.