Horatio N. Rust, much like other acting Indian Agents, was a target for Montezuma’s questioning of Indians who had been educated and who could speak English well during the time. Montezuma wrote to Rust in order to obtain data regarding these questions. Rust worked as an Indian Agent in Southern California where his primary title was a photographer. He covered the lives of Indians living in the area and photographed their day to day life. He was described as being a “Business man with a passionate interest in Archeology.” He was a major figure in developing the study and use of Anthropology in the United States and used his methods and ideology regarding the subject to shed light on the lives of the average Indian during the nineteenth century. While he did have some opinions on the advancement of the Indian in society, much of Rusts work dealt with artifacts and exploring sites that dealt with this type of field work. While there is a lot of information on Rust and his great accomplishments in his career, there isn’t a lot of data on his true attitudes towards the civilization process of the Native American Indian that I could find.
