Why do you think Dunbar asked to be sent to the frontier? There's something special about being first, going somewhere or doing something no one else has done. He specifically states that he wants to see the frontier before it disappears, so I am inclined to believe that he has an adventurous spirit similar to the famous Lewis and Clark who not long before this time passed through the same area. The film portrays Indian aggression after whites abused natural resources. Was this type of interaction common? For Native Americans, the misuse of natural resources caused a disruption in the natural order of the environment. They lived in harmony with nature, treating it with the mutual respect it deserved. After all, the abuse of land and wildlife could cause lasting repercussions that would be detrimental to their existence as a people. That their attack was directed at whites is purely arbitrary. The Sioux also carried out an attack against the Pawnee which also threatened their way of life, just in a different way