Regarding Native-Americans, his Adjutant was Ely S. Parker, a full-blooded Seneca Indian. He was at Appomattox, and is supposed to have written the last draft of the surrender terms. During Grant's administration, he appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native-American to hold that office.
I was born and raised in Rochester, NY, and there was a Parker in my high school gym class (1960's). Wish I'd known about Ely Parker back then. I would have asked her if she was related because she was definitely Native-American.
Quite correct. Many historians think that Ely S. Parker was who inspired Grant's sentimental attitudes toward Indians in his later years. Others view them as simply a logical extension of his magnanimous attitudes toward the defeated Confederates after Appomattox.
It would have been nice if someone had asked him while he was alive. You've got to hand it to the tiny Morongo band for knowing the proper time and way to use Grant to get what they wanted.