Mark Twain’s attitudes toward Native Americans is complex and more troubled than his attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. His exposure to native tribes in Nevada and California during his days in the West shattered his romantic illusions about Indian life gained from his childhood reading of James Fenimore Cooper and other writers, and his writing in the time is virulently racist against Native Americans. His views may have softened somewhat later in his life, and there is evidence that he supported pro-Indian charities and efforts. But overall, his attitudes mirror those of white Americans at the time, which included wars against the Indians and removal to reservations.