Early last month, in anticipation of a federal court ruling on the Dakota Access oil pipeline, the governor of North Dakota called up the National Guard. “The Guardsmen will not be going to the actual protest site,” the state National Guard clarified, referring to the Standing Rock encampment, but added that “[t]he governor also placed additional Guardsmen on standby alert in the event they are needed to support law enforcement response efforts.”

The showdown didn’t materialize. The Obama administration, facing heightened pressure to nix the pipeline, requested that the pipeline company stop construction around the burgeoning occupation.

But the governor’s actions raised the specter of a forcible, wide-ranging crackdown, instantly conjuring up memories of National Guard–led repression throughout US history.