Puck — January 22, 1879 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the U.S. military campaign against Native Americans. Two caricatured military officers (likely Generals Sheridan and Schurz, named in the caption) are depicted as wheels—a metaphor suggesting they're mechanically grinding forward with their Indian policy. The caption states: "By the time Messrs. Sheridan and Schurz have finished, the Indians will also be about 'finished.'" The background shows Native Americans being attacked and killed by soldiers in a winter landscape. The cartoon mocks the military's brutal approach to the "Indian problem," suggesting that Sheridan and Schurz's strategy amounts to extermination rather than genuine resolution. The wheel imagery implies relentless, dehumanized destruction.