Comments - John Gregory Bourke: Part 1 - Warrior Anthropologist - The Wild Geese2024-03-29T10:21:18Zhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=6442157%3ABlogPost%3A179173&xn_auth=noThanks Joe. well done.tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-06-23:6442157:Comment:1939382016-06-23T11:26:45.891ZEdward Francis Jrhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/EdwardFrancisJr
<p>Thanks Joe. well done.</p>
<p>Thanks Joe. well done.</p> Great piece Joe, thankstag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-02-18:6442157:Comment:1835292016-02-18T01:18:06.696ZDavid Lawlorhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DavidLawlor
<p>Great piece Joe, thanks</p>
<p>Great piece Joe, thanks</p> I have just finished an artic…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-01-21:6442157:Comment:1807602016-01-21T12:31:54.097ZThat's Just How It Washttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/MaryThorpe
<p>I have just finished an article for The Wild Geese on Michael Collin's.... For me, he has to be one of the most iconic figures that emerged out of the ashes of the 1916 Easter Rising..... Bourke and Collin's would appear to be similar , in the fact that all they wanted was - what was morally and justifiably right for their country..... Colins knew that when he signed the Treaty of Ireland ... that his political life may be over .. and indeed his actual life ... still he persisted ... and…</p>
<p>I have just finished an article for The Wild Geese on Michael Collin's.... For me, he has to be one of the most iconic figures that emerged out of the ashes of the 1916 Easter Rising..... Bourke and Collin's would appear to be similar , in the fact that all they wanted was - what was morally and justifiably right for their country..... Colins knew that when he signed the Treaty of Ireland ... that his political life may be over .. and indeed his actual life ... still he persisted ... and his actual life came to a brutal end </p> I was browsing a list of Iris…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-01-21:6442157:Comment:1809302016-01-21T02:02:39.000ZJoe Gannonhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/JoeGannon
<p><span>I was browsing a list of Irish born Medal of Honor awardees when I saw Bourke's name. I started to research him online and was amazed at all he had accomplished in his life in addition to having been awarded the medal. No doubt he's well known to historians who specialize in the history of the Indian war period in the American west, because of his writing about some of the most famous campaigns of those wars, and to anthropologists who study Native American cultures of the west,…</span></p>
<p><span>I was browsing a list of Irish born Medal of Honor awardees when I saw Bourke's name. I started to research him online and was amazed at all he had accomplished in his life in addition to having been awarded the medal. No doubt he's well known to historians who specialize in the history of the Indian war period in the American west, because of his writing about some of the most famous campaigns of those wars, and to anthropologists who study Native American cultures of the west, because of his extensive collecting of information and artifacts from the various tribes, but the vast majority of Americans, even Irish-Americans who have read a lot about the Irish in US history like myself (until now), have never heard of him.</span></p>
<p><span>That led me to read Porters biography of Bourke, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806119845?creativeASIN=0806119845&linkCode=w01&linkId=VGU6EVNXB66VTQZC&ref_=as_sl_pc_ss_til&tag=thewildgeeset-20" target="_blank"><span>"Paper Medicine Man: John Gregory Bourke and His American West"</span></a> and Bourke's own <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1626365431?creativeASIN=1626365431&linkCode=w01&linkId=L3MYBACXVGM7AWMY&ref_=as_sl_pc_ss_til&tag=thewildgeeset-20" target="_blank"><span>"On the Border with Crook"</span></a>. This later work is the most well known of all his writings today, and should be read by anyone who has any interest in the Indians Wars of the late 19th century in the US. </span></p>
<p><span>To me the most amazing part of Bourke's life story was his ability to put aside any resentment he had toward the people he had been engaged in fighting for most of his adult life and try to help them. Today it's a nearly universal judgment of historians that the US government treatment of the western tribes was one of the most dishonorable acts our government ever under took. But in late 19th century working for justice for them was a highly unpopular course of action to take. If the only sacrifice Bourke had to make to do that had been expending time and effort in the attempt, that still would have reflected well on the man. It cost him far more than that, however. It most likely destroyed any chance he had for advancement in the US Army, and he must have known that it would. The one and only thing that could have compelled him to do it, was the simple moral imperative of doing what one knows it right and just, no matter the personal cost. We all like to think we'd do that when confronted with that sort of moral dilemma, but history gives few examples of people doing it. </span></p>
<p><span>I have seldom come away from researching anyone’s life with more admiration than I did Bourke. He had the physical courage to risk death in battle for his country time after time, and the integrity to oppose that government when he believed what it was doing was immoral even when nearly all his countrymen supported what was being done and that opposition would almost certainly harm his career. That is truly the definition of a hero.</span></p> Hello Joe Gannon ... lovely t…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-01-20:6442157:Comment:1807512016-01-20T18:06:49.071ZThat's Just How It Washttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/MaryThorpe
<p>Hello Joe Gannon ... lovely to read about our Irish ancestors helping America build his future... Like all the Irish around the world who helped build the infrastructure and its Army's of the varying Countries around the globe in which they settled. </p>
<p>John Gregory Bourke is another example of how we, as the Irish diaspora , had all of these skills and abilities to conquer other countries, and if the life chances had only been available in Ireland, we would not have had all the…</p>
<p>Hello Joe Gannon ... lovely to read about our Irish ancestors helping America build his future... Like all the Irish around the world who helped build the infrastructure and its Army's of the varying Countries around the globe in which they settled. </p>
<p>John Gregory Bourke is another example of how we, as the Irish diaspora , had all of these skills and abilities to conquer other countries, and if the life chances had only been available in Ireland, we would not have had all the misery of emigration over many centuries... !! </p>
<p>And he is said to be related to Grace O'Mally..... </p>
<p>There were a few Bourkes living in the Town where I grew up............. </p>