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First Woman
Beck was one of two men who drunkenly crashed into Leonard Crow Dog’s yard and started a fight with some of Leonard Crow Dogs’ relatives. In the fight, the other man, McClosky, got his jaw broken. Government officials arrested Leonard for breaking McClosky’s jaw, even though Leonard played no role in this skirmish. Later, Mary and Leonard discovered that the FBI staged Beck and McClosky’s crash to create a plausible reason to arrest Leonard. This incident speaks to the U.S. government’s dishonesty and corruption in their treatment of Native Americans.
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Beck Character Timeline in Lakota Woman
The timeline below shows where the character Beck appears in Lakota Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 15: The Eagle Caged
...of 1974, the government seized their opportunity. On September 2, 1975, two drunk men named Beck and McClosky crashed their car in Leonard's yard. Their rowdy shouts—they were bragging about how...
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Beck and McClosky pressed charges against Leonard, and, just a few days later, a team of...
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...only years later that Mary and Leonard found out that the FBI had staged the Beck-McClosky incident with the goal of arresting Leonard.
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...tip that Peltier was staying with Leonard Crow Dog. So, the government agents staged the Beck-McClosky incident to have a reason to investigate the Crow Dog property and arrest Leonard Crow...
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