Quote#God & Faith
The missionaries were vortices of force thrown out in advance by the…
Quote byBernard DeVoto · 1897–1955
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Across the Wide Missouri (1947), Ch. 13: Away, You Rolling River. 1838 (p. 371).
English (original)
The missionaries were vortices of force thrown out in advance by the force to the eastward that was making west. They thought that they came to bring Christ but in thinking so they were deceived. They were agents of a historical energy and what they brought was the United States. The Indians had no chance. If it looked like religion it was nevertheless Manifest Destiny.
— Bernard DeVoto
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