Helen Hunt Jackson – 1830-1885

Jackson was a popular and prolific novelist, who was moved by the plight of the Indians, which she saw firsthand after she moved with her husband to Colorado in 1875. The result was a historical study called A Century of Dishonor (1881), which examined and condemned federal Indian policy. She was appointed to a federal commission to investigate conditions among Indians living on the western missions. This inspired her best-known novel, Ramona (1884), which was effective in raising public consciousness about the mistreatment of Native Americans.