Montana in the 1700s: Crow People, Horses, and the Historic Era

Flashcards cover key people, places, and processes in Montana around 1700, focusing on the Crow, their origins, horses and their transformative effects, and the early historic era driven by European contact.

Crow Indians

A Crow nation in Montana around 1700 with two branches: River Crow (between the Missouri and Yellowstone) and Mountain Crow (south of the Yellowstone). They originated from the Hadatsa and split from them in the 1500s.

Hadatsa

The people from whom the Crow originated; located in North Dakota; the Crow split from the Hadatsa in the 15th–16th centuries and moved west.

River Crow

One branch of the Crow occupying territory along the Missouri River and between the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers around 1700.

Mountain Crow

The other Crow branch occupying territory below the Yellowstone River, in areas like the Bighorn Mountains, Wolf Mountains, Tongue, and Powder River Basin.

Historic era

The period beginning when written records exist, allowing historians to reconstruct Montana history; marks the shift from prehistory to history in the 1700s.

1720

The year horses were first reintroduced to the Northwestern Plains/Montana when the Shoshone acquired horses at Southwest trading centers and began moving them north.

Shoshone

The first Montana group to acquire horses (1720); sourced from Southwest trading centers and later spread horses to Montana; formed a southern alliance with Crow, Salish, Kalispell, and Kootenai.

Horses

The transformative ripple leading to a transportation and hunting revolution; enabled longer travel, larger bison hunts, wealth accumulation, and new social disparities and conflicts.

Three Western tribes

Kootenai, Kalispell (Flathead), and Salish; acquired horses by trading with the Shoshone (by about 1730), and had smaller horse herds compared with the Shoshone and Crow.

Crow horses

By the early 1730s, the Crow had horses, mainly through trading with the Shoshone, contributing to their mobility and power.

Blackfoot

Northern Plains tribe that acquired horses in the late 1730s; sources of horses likely included trade with Kootenai or theft; by 1740 their presence had moved further north.

Gros Ventre

Another northern tribe that acquired horses in the late 1730s, possibly through trade or theft; their horse herds remained relatively small and they moved north by 1740.

Buffalo runners

Specially trained horses fast and maneuverable enough to keep pace with running bison, enabling more efficient hunting.

Travois

A dog-drawn burden frame used to haul tipis and possessions before widespread horse use; limited carrying capacity and mobility.

Transportation revolution

Horses drastically cut travel time and distance, enabling larger-scale hunting, warfare, and trade across greater distances.

Mounted warfare

Mounted warriors gained a decisive advantage over foot soldiers, reshaping alliances and military strategy in the region.

Southern alliance

Led by the Shoshone and including Crow, Kootenai, Kalispell, and Salish; conducted raids against northern groups like the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre.

Northern coalition

Raiding alliance of Blackfoot and Gros Ventre against southern allies, pushing northern tribes further north and expanding conflict.

Fool’s Crow

Narrative illustrating how horse raids sparked cycles of violence, wealth disparities, and social change within Crow and allied groups (e.g., characters like White Man’s Dog, Yellow Kidney, Eagle Ribs, Fast Horse).

White Man’s Dog

A figure in Fool’s Crow who gains wealth and status after a successful horse raid, illustrating personal accumulation of horses.

Rides at the Door

A Crow leader noted for having multiple wives; demonstrates wealth-driven social stratification and the labor needs (more wives to process bison meat and hides).

Smallpox

European-introduced disease that spread to the Northwestern Plains and Northern Rockies in the 1700s, one of four major ripple effects of colonization.

Guns

European firearms (muskets) that arrived through trade networks in the 1700s, contributing to military change and intertribal conflict.

Pueblo Revolt (1690)

Uprising in the Southwest that temporarily freed Pueblo peoples from Spanish control and led to horses entering Plains networks via trade routes.

Lewis and Clark (1805)

First non-Indians confirmed to enter the Montana region; their 1805 arrival marks a new phase of direct Euro-American contact.