The piano comes to America/ part 7/ edit 2

The Piano comes to America-part 7/edit 2

fition
edward w pritchard

America's shame:

Olivia Sharp was sitting in the parlor reading the letter over and over. It had arrived by Wells Fargo a few hours ago and the letter and the remnants of the old blanket fascinated her. For the twentieth or more time she read the short letter. As she read Olivia pulled the old blanket across herself and wept quietly.

Dear Mrs. Sharp:

I hope you will forgive me for sending such an item to a minister's wife. I obtained the remains of this blanket at Wounded Knee which is in South Dakota. It is not something appropriate to send to a fine lady but I thought you had a right to have it returned as the legitimate owner. Please be assured I am not trying to profit or beguile you in any way. It was a difficult time in my life there at Wounded Knee and I feel better to do constructive things to help me forget it and to take positive actions to balance out the things that I saw there. I believe the reporting on the occurrence at Wounded knee was not accurately and fairly presented to the readers back where you are and in the rest of the Eastern part of our Country and what I do in sending the blanket to you comforts me.

The blanket was given me as quartermaster of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment on the December 30, 1890. I had it cleaned and decided to send it to you in Dover, Ohio. As you can see the remaining part of the blanket contains the caption: To Olivia Sharp, our new minister's wife from the Congregation of Dover Lutheran Church Dover, Ohio, and I have sent the blanket and letter care of the Church.

I am sorry but there is no delicate was to say this but that the blanket was found on one of the Indian victims who was probably following the teachings of the ghost dance and thought that the blankets and ghost dance would give them invincibility from soldiers bullets.

I am not sure how the blanket came to be here but I like to think you gave it to one of the Indians a long time ago back there in Ohio and someone brought it here. It looks like it was a fine warm blanket and I am sure it was appreciated; for it is very cold here at the Pine Ridge reservation and often a blanket was an Indians primary means to keep warm. Perhaps an Indian Mother wrapped her baby in the blanket on a cold winter night here In South Dakota.


God bless you
Sergeant William Teagarden; Moundsville, WVA
Quarter master
7th cavalry regiment
Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

Olivia now 67 years old sat at the piano for the rest of the afternoon playing Christian hymns of solace. As she played she clutched the blanket closely to her lap, holding it tightly with her elbows as her hands moved about the keyboard.

End