mt history unit 1

rain shadow

• Weather blows from the Pacific Ocean. Mountains force this air higher and it drops rain and snow on Western slopes 

• Significant because the climate we have today relies on its creation; the weather patterns affected where Indigenous nations hunted bison and where white settlers built cattle empires

anzick burial site

• 1.5 year old boy found in a site by Livingston dated to be appx. 12.8 thousand years ago. The boy was buried with paint and different artifacts. Genetic testing later revealed that he was an ancestor to late Native American groups.

• Significant because of its explanation of how burials worked within Native American culture and established the fact that Native American history within Montana was incredibly long-lasting.

bison jump

• A communal hunting technique used by Indigenous peoples of the Northern Plains, where herds of bison were driven off steep cliffs to secure food, hides, and materials.

• Highlights the sophisticated engineering, social organization, and deep landscape knowledge that Native communities applied across Montana before Euro-American arrival.

shoshone expansion

• (1720s) First group to adopt the horse, which allowed them to have a strong military advantage and pushed Blackfeet tribes back. The horses allowed them to travel farther to obtain better materials, such as stone and wood, and hunt bison easier with bows and arrows on horseback. 

• Significance: new and improved methods of hunting and easier access to travelling and materials. Essentially improved many aspects of their lives

virgin soil epidemics

• Diseases brought by colonizers that essentially decimated Native American populations due to their lack of prior exposure to said diseases. Smallpox specifically was the most common illness spread.

• Responsible for wiping out a significant amount of Native Americans, largely affecting their population negatively. 

doctrine of discovery

• Indigenous people have the inherent right to occupancy of their land, but they were not viewed as able to actually occupy it, due to Christian-Eurpoean nations having ultimate sovereignty and ownership over land that they “found” or discovered. 

• This idea of “ultimate sovereignty” essentially leads to European groups believing they have the right to land. 

northwest passage

• A fabled waterway that would reach straight to Asia; non-existent. Many exploration groups searched for it and wanted it due to how convenient it would make trading, but it was not an actual existing passage. 

• Highly significant because it was one of the leading causes of many North American expeditions. 

David Thompson

• David Thompson was a notable fur trader for the Northwest Trading Company during the early 1800s. He was sent out by the company to map the Columbia River, essentially marking it for beaver traps and strengthening British control in the area. During his trip, he created a strong relationship with western tribes, such as the Salish and Kootenai, and traded things such as guns, ammunition, and arrowheads with them, documenting the Columbia River along the way.

• David Thompson’s mapping highly benefitted Britain, leading the Northwest Company to control the area. His mapping generally lead to an expansion of European influence. Great example of how fur trading is all about who can make the most money 

fur desert strategy

• (1820s) A brigade system created by the Hudson Bay Company to hire personal trappers to trap and trade for them. They wanted to wipe out beaver populations completely, creating a “fur desert” and preventing American fur companies from accessing furs. (eliminating competition) 

• Beavers are almost completely depleted within the areas that the brigade systems are used. It is successful in keeping American fur trappers out, but heavily impacted the hydrology and ecology of the area due to a lack of dams. 

flathead apostasy

• (1840s) Salish had a prophecy to seek out “black robes” which were priests, so they met. The robes wanted to convert the Salish and destroy their old culture such as gambling, polygamy, nomadic lifestyles, and replace it with Catholicism. Salish view their values as a positive addition rather than a complete replacement of their pre-existing values. A De Snet mission originated from the Catholics in order to bond with the Blackfeet is seen as a huge betrayal; the Salish feel cheated and abandon Catholicism within their communities completely because of this. 

• Great example of early signs of European conflict and attempts to dismantle pre-existing communities and beliefs.

mullan road

• (1860) A 624-mile military wagon road constructed by John Mullan, connecting Fort Benton, Montana (the head of navigation on the Missouri River) to Fort Walla Walla, Washington. 

• Connected the Missouri River steamships at Fort Benton directly to western mining camps, turning Montana into a central transportation corridor. It accelerated the rapid immigration of gold seekers and troops, drastically speeding up Montana's territorial development.

Montana gold rush

• (1860s) Gold is found near Deer Lodge, causing an increase in immigration and a rapid influx of prospectors and fortune seekers triggered by major gold discoveries in places like Bannack, Alder Gulch (Virginia City), and Last Chance Gulch (Helena)

• Created Montana Territory virtually overnight as boomtowns exploded. It established mining as the state's dominant political and economic engine and reshaped the natural landscape through placer and quartz mining, and kind of established those methods of mining in general.

montana vigilantes

• (1864) Upper class, self-appointed law enforcement groups formed in western Montana mining camps that didn’t really have law enforcement. They captured and hanged suspected road agents and outlaws, including Sheriff Henry Plummer and many innocent people without due processing.

• It became a central myth of Montana frontier history (symbolized by "3-7-77"). It highlighted the negative effects of having no law enforcement and the importance of due processing

Hum Fay et al. v. Frank Baldwin

• (1890, Helena) people boycotted Chinese establishments, so the Chinese merchants raised money to buy a lawyer. They defeated the boycotters in court and sued them

• highlighted how Chinese workers were actively fighting for civil rights and that they had a very strong sense of companionship within their community

demographic decline of mt Chinese

• Solely male Chinese workers moved to Montana, leaving their families at home. The Page Act of 1875 banned Chinese women from migrating to the states due to people viewing them as prostitutes. On top of racial discrimination, they couldn’t see their families and there were no Chinese women in the country to possibly reproduce with.

• erased one of MT’s greatest immigrant communities and highlights early discriminatory practices in Montana

fort Laramie treaty of 1851

• tension between gold rush settlers and NAs living in the area; government negotiates treaty to to delegate land specific to the native Americans (Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne)

• significance: recognition of tribal lands (allows tribes to sell their land to the US and allows US to build land there)

Hellgate Treaty

• Issac Stevens agreement; with Bitterroot-Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’oreille tribes, established a territory now referred to as the Flathead Reservation; basically wanted them to consolidate all of them into one area; they don’t want to, so he makes the Bitterroot Reservation for the Salish; the Salish believe it is a permanent reservation, but are later kicked out into the Flathead Reservation

• good example of the government using their power to manipulate marginalized communities (Salish)

Lame Bull Treaty

• (October, 1855) one of the Isaac Stevens treaties (+Hellgate)

• main goal was to set up the railroad system by mapping land and get tribes to sign treaties for potential land ownership. They made the treaty with the Blackfeet; the Blackfeet got territory, common bison hunting grounds, and annuities; the government got the okay to build infrastructure in return.

• establishes common hunting grounds for bison and sets the precedent of territory for the US/their ability to control some territory

fort Laramie treaty of 1868

• Bozeman trail is created, and settlers using the trail are disrupting bison hunting grounds. Red Cloud from the Northern Cheyenne seeks negations, but the military is setting up forts on the Bozeman trail. RC starts attacking the forts, leading the US to acknowledge military defeat. The treaty closes the Bozeman trail and abandons the military forts, but the Native Americans cannot oppose railroad construction

• illustration of Native Americans military power/capabilities

Marias Massacre

• (1870) Malcolm Clarke, a fur trader intermarried with Blackfeet individuals, is killed by Owl Child, which leads to military involvement (them asking Owl Child to surrender) - he does not, so the military accidentally attack Heavy Runner’s camp (the wrong camp). The chief shows a paper stating they have a cooperative agreement with the military, but he's killed; they kill a ton of innocent women and children, burning their camp down and leaving the rest to die in the cold. People at first praise the military for their success, later realizing the truth and criticizing them. The Blackfeet are now partially dependent on the military.

• early prominent example of government ignorance regarding independent people and marginalized communities, and how an imbalance in military power compared to individuals can be negative

battle of Little Bighorn

• (1876) calvary led by General Custer; military forces are being used to force Native Americans onto reservations, leading the Sioux and Cheyenne to come together and revolt against military forces. They completely overwhelm Custer’s forces and kill basically everybody including him (also called Custer’s last stand)

• huge win for the native Americans against white forces

bitterroot reservation

• (1870s) a reservation that was set aside for the Bitterroot-Salish by the Hellgate Treaty; it wasn't surveyed, but the government lied and said it was, saying that they (President Grant) had the power/right to give an executive order to force them to leave their reservation and go to the flathead. They created a forged signature (that looked like the Chief’s signature) to force them out

• example of the white settlers’ power over the Native Americans and the manipulation of power imbalance to get what they want

kootenai substance practices

• main practice was fishing; fished a lot of Ling fish and harvested a lot of native plants, such as camas root and bitterroot. They would collect dogwood in the wintertime to use as fish traps (would use it because the wood would stay dry)

• ling fish provided a reliable source of food during the winter, a time where game was much more difficult to find due to slowed activity

Blackfeet bundles

• The Blackfeet bundles were collections of animal parts, such as teeth, claws, bones, and skins. These bundles differentiated depending on the type of animal within them. If an individual was a keeper of a bundle, they were to follow certain restrictions regarding hunting and/or eating that animal. 

• Blackfeet bundles were highly significant due to the songs and stories passed down along with them. They provided the Blackfeet with a multitude of materials for their use. The bundles also represented the sacred relationship the Blackfeet had with animals and the respect they had for them, starkly compared to the ways in which white settlers would kill and eat animals without much consideration.

kootenai treaties and property