Call Him Savage

In Short

Call Him Savage is a 1954 science fiction story by Howard Browne, published under the pen name John Pollard. When an alien Indian chief arrives in a time-traveling spaceship equipped with dead-zone tech and giant scalping robots, he plans to drive out the white man and restore America to its original inhabitants. He recruits Sam Quinlan, a reporter and quarter-Potawatomi author, to help unite the tribes. However, Quinlan demonstrates that modern Native Americans prefer their current lives to wild wilderness survival, convincing the invader to depart peaceful and frustrated.

The Story

Sam Quinlan, a Washington reporter and author of books on Sioux history, is summoned to the White House in the middle of the night. The President and high-ranking officials introduce him to Enoch Wetzel, a frontiersman who appears to have stepped directly out of the eighteenth century. Wetzel recounts how he and his father encountered a massive, disk-shaped alien spaceship in the woods. Out of the vessel emerged Lo-as-ro, a gaunt, handsome War Chief from the alien tribe of Kornesh, who possesses time-travel technology and commands giant, killer robots.

The government reveals that a thirty-mile region in Colorado has been completely cut off by a dead-zone field that disables all power and machinery. Because of his Native American ancestry and historical knowledge, Quinlan is asked to make contact with the chief and negotiate peace. Parachuting into Colorado alongside Wetzel, Quinlan witnesses the chief's ruthless metallic sentries and finds a scalped local farmer whose gun barrels were bent into a V.

Upon reaching the spaceship, Quinlan uses the Delaware language to speak with Lo-as-ro. The alien chief explains that his people discovered Earth and were appalled by the white man's mistreatment of the Native Americans. Lo-as-ro intends to use his field and robots to clear the continent and return the land to its original owners. Quinlan argues that modern warfare would destroy him, but Lo-as-ro points out that his machine renders all Earth weapons useless. Seeking a compromise, Quinlan asks for time to bring middle-class Native American representatives to meet the chief and hear his offer.

Quinlan returns to the ship with four educated, thoroughly modernized Native American friends—an executive, a veteran, and ordinary suburban citizens. Lo-as-ro delivers a grand, soaring speech offering to lead them back to the ancient ways of living off the land, but none of Quinlan's friends can understand Delaware. When Quinlan translates the proposal, his friends flatly reject the prospect of giving up modern comforts, air conditioning, and taxes to live as hunter-gatherers in the wild.

Quinlan uses their reaction to convince Lo-as-ro that modern Native Americans are unequipped for primitive survival and would perish without modern societal infrastructure. He pledges to pressure the U.S. government into treating Native Americans better, promising that if conditions have not improved in twenty years, Lo-as-ro may return to execute his invasion. Convinced by Quinlan's reasoning, the alien chief agrees and departs Earth, leaving Quinlan free to hurry home to his wife.

How It Unfolds

The midnight summons Reporter Sam Quinlan is pulled from his peaceful home life to an urgent late-night meeting at the White House. There, top government officials present an authentic 1790s frontiersman who claims an alien spaceship has landed in the wilderness.

Into the dead zone Quinlan parachutes into Colorado, where a thirty-mile circle of land has lost all electrical power and communication. Guided by the frontiersman, he navigates the forest while evading patrol robots and discovering the scalped body of a local settler.

Parley at the saucer Reaching the landed spaceship, Quinlan uses his knowledge of indigenous languages to speak directly with the alien War Chief, Lo-as-ro. He learns that the alien possesses a device that neutralizes human weapons and intends to reconquer America for the tribes.

The modern perspective Quinlan returns with four prosperous, modern Native American men to hear the chief's grand proposal to restore the ancient ways. The plan collapses when the men do not understand the language and openly refuse to trade modern life for primitive survival.

An alien retreat Quinlan convinces Lo-as-ro that forcing modern people back into the wild will destroy them rather than save them. The chief accepts a twenty-year grace period for human society to improve its treatment of Native Americans and takes his spaceship back into the void.

The People

• Sam Quinlan: A reporter and quarter-Potawatomi author who wants to balance his writing career and romantic life with his wife, Lois. His historical knowledge and practical demeanor make him the ideal mediator when an alien invader threatens to destabilize human civilization.
• Lo-as-ro: The War Chief of the Kornesh, an alien visitor who resembles an Indian chief. He wants to drive the white population from America and give the continent back to Native Americans, but his fierce idealism is challenged by the realities of modern human life.
• Enoch Wetzel: An eighteenth-century frontiersman who stumbled through time alongside the spaceship. He wants to survive the technological terror surrounding him and remain loyal to his pioneer background, serving as Quinlan's rugged guide through the dead-zone woods.
• Johnny Armin, Luke Riegel, Sidney Storm, and Lionel Patterson: Four modern Native American men brought to meet the alien chief. They want to maintain their comfortable suburban lifestyles, sports, and jobs, inadvertently demonstrating that Lo-as-ro's historical rescue plan is entirely obsolete.

In Its Own Voice

"No, noble Lo-as-ro. Return to your world and leave this one to the white man."

Quinlan attempts to reason with the alien chief inside the landed saucer before discovering the full extent of the alien's power.

"Within its reach no weapon is useful, no explosion can take place, no signal can be sent."

Lo-as-ro explains the unstoppable nature of his dead-zone machinery to Quinlan during their initial council.

"The chief, here, is going to fix it up for you to go back to the good old days."

Quinlan translates the alien's grand speech to his modern Native American friends, who react with utter disbelief.

What It's Really About

Call Him Savage examines the gap between romanticized historical nostalgia and the realities of contemporary living. Lo-as-ro views the Native American struggle through an absolute, ancient lens, assuming that those living in the modern era long for a return to pre-colonial existence. Quinlan's intervention reveals that culture evolves, and that liberation cannot be forced onto a people through an unwanted regression to the past. The narrative also touches on the political history of government neglect toward indigenous populations, using the threat of alien intervention to demand better treatment and social equity in the present.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy mid-century pulp science fiction will find Call Him Savage a fast-paced, humorous adventure. It mixes classic high-concept tropes—such as time travel, metal robots, and flying saucers—with a satirical look at American history and culture.

The story moves briskly through sharp dialogue and snappy action, keeping the stakes lighthearted despite the apocalyptic premises. It does, however, bear the distinct marks of its 1950s magazine origins. Modern readers will notice period attitudes, conventional portrayals of suburban domesticity, and simplified representations of indigenous dialects and frontier figures. Rather than weighing the prose down, these elements highlight the story's identity as a mid-century period piece. It stands out for its ironic twist, offering an entertaining reflection on how hard it is to force the past onto the present.