The line “the only good Indian is a dead Indian” is most commonly attributed to U.S. Civil War and Indian Wars General Philip Sheridan, but historians agree the exact origin is murky and the wording likely evolved from several similar racist remarks circulating in the late 1860s.

Who is usually credited?

  • The phrase is widely linked in popular history to General Philip Sheridan , a Union general who later led brutal campaigns against Native peoples on the Plains.
  • An oft‑repeated story claims that in 1869, a Comanche chief (usually named Tosawi/Tosahwi) told Sheridan, “Tosawi, good Indian,” and Sheridan allegedly replied that the only good Indians he had ever seen were dead.

Did Sheridan actually say it?

  • Sheridan denied making the remark during his lifetime, and his brother also rejected the quote in a later revision of Sheridan’s memoirs.
  • Researchers note that the line appears in print only later, often via a single officer’s anecdote repeated in secondary works, which makes the exact wording and attribution doubtful.

Earlier similar quote in Congress

  • In 1868, U.S. Representative James Michael Cavanaugh of Montana told Congress: “I like an Indian better dead than living. I have never in my life seen a good Indian except when I have seen a dead Indian.”
  • This shows that very similar wording was already in circulation in political speech before the Sheridan anecdote, suggesting the phrase became a broader frontier saying rather than a single person’s invention.

How the phrase became famous

  • By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the slogan “a good Indian is a dead Indian” had become a common racist proverb in U.S. culture, repeatedly tied to Sheridan’s image as an “Indian fighter,” even though the original remark cannot be firmly verified.
  • Modern historians argue that whether or not Sheridan literally said the line, it accurately reflects the violent policies and attitudes of U.S. expansion against Native nations at the time.

TL;DR: The saying is usually attributed to General Philip Sheridan, but a similar quote was recorded from Congressman James M. Cavanaugh in 1868, and evidence suggests it was a common racist frontier proverb rather than a reliably documented line from one person.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.