Ely Parker - True West Magazine
True West Magazine The highest ranking American Indian in the U.S. Cavalry was General Ely Parker, an Iroquois from Indian Falls, New York. His hopes for a career were stymied because he was an Indian until he made the acquaintance of Lewis Henry Morgan who helped him gain admission to study engineering at Rensselaer Polytech Institute at Troy, New York. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering. As an engineer he contributed to several upgrades on the Erie Canal. While working as a supervisor of government projects at Galena, Illinois he made friends with Ulysses S. Grant, something th...
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