>It is worthwhile remembering that the slogan "Go West, Young Man" is not
>all that separate from the slogan, "The only good Indian is a dead
>Indian."
>
>And that latter slogan surely ranks in importance with any of the more
>polite slogans of u.s.
As does "nits make lice": --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the moment, the idea of taking the life of such an innocent, harmless being, seemed horrible to him. It held out its tiny hands to him, and in childish glee, seemed as if it would spring to his arms. Tom's heart was completely softened. He thought he would convey it to some white family, and have it taken care of properly, and fancied that it would be very pleasant to have such a pretty, innocent creature to fondle after he had been hunting, and when he returned to the settlements. But the fact suddenly thrust itself into his mind, that the child would in a few years become an Indian, and this so enraged him that he instantly dashed out its brains."
Tom Quick would later justify his act of infanticide with these three words.
"Nits make lice."
Perhaps that too is apocryphal. But it is intriguing to note that in 1864, seventy years after Tom Quick's death and 13 years after the quote ascribed to him first appeared in print, the notorious Col. John Chivington urged his men to spare no children during the infamous Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado with those same three words.
Legends, it seems, have a way of finding their own way to truth.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/tom_quick/8.html