Northwestern Plains: Guns, Trade, Smallpox, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition

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Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on the introduction of horses and guns, European trade networks, smallpox Virgin soil outbreaks, and the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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20 Terms

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Horses introduced to the Northwestern Plains

Horses arrived in the 1720s, enabling greater mobility and contributing to power shifts among Plains tribes.

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Muskets introduced to the Northwestern Plains

Guns (muskets) arrived in the 1740s, coming from French/British trading networks; sources include Montreal (Northwest Company) and York Factory (Hudson's Bay Company).

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Northwest Company

French-Canadian trading company based in Montreal; supplier of muskets and goods to Plains tribes and organizer of European trade in the region.

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Hudson's Bay Company (HBC)

British trading company based at York Factory; established trading posts in Blackfoot country by the late 1780s; a key player in Pacific Northwest trade.

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Cree middlemen

Indigenous traders who acted as intermediaries for French and British traders, facilitating exchange of weapons and goods to Plains tribes.

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Assiniboine middlemen

Indigenous traders who worked with Cree and other traders as middlemen in exchanging European goods for tribal resources.

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Blackfoot (Blackfeet)

Montana-area tribe that, with the Gros Ventre, were among the first to acquire firearms and became the dominant military power on the Northwestern Plains in the late 18th century.

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Gros Ventre (Gros Ventres)

Smaller Montana-area tribe allied with the Blackfoot; early adopters of European weapons through Cree/Assiniboine intermediaries.

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Virgin soil epidemics

Diseases to which Indigenous populations had no prior exposure or immunity, leading to catastrophic outbreaks (e.g., smallpox).

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Smallpox outbreak of 1781

First Montana-area outbreak; estimated 40–60% mortality among Indigenous groups; spread from Shoshone traders who contracted it in the Southwest.

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David Thompson

Northwest Company trader who spent a winter with Chief Young Man and documented Blackfoot history and the impact of muskets.

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Young Man

Bacconi/Blackfoot chief who provided firsthand accounts of warfare and the gun advantage to David Thompson.

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Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806)

U.S. expedition commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to explore the Missouri to Columbia route, assess fur trade potential, map Indigenous peoples, and establish relations.

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Oregon Country

Territory west of the Continental Divide (present-day Oregon, Idaho, Washington, parts of British Columbia) claimed by Britain, Spain, and the United States; exploration aimed to strengthen claims.

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Louisiana Purchase (1803)

U.S. purchase from France that expanded American rights to govern the Louisiana Territory’s western tributaries of the Mississippi River.

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Headwaters route goal

Jefferson’s aim to find a viable portage route between the Missouri and Columbia headwaters to facilitate Pacific trade.

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Fur trade potential

Jefferson’s goal to assess the profitability and feasibility of expanding American fur trading in the Upper Missouri region.

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Trading posts on Blackfoot land (late 1780s)

Establishment of Hudson's Bay Company and Northwest Company posts, increasing direct access to European weapons for the Blackfoot.

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Governing vs owning territory

Concept discussed to explain that European claims were about the right to govern, not outright ownership of Indigenous lands.

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Continental Divide

Geographic spine separating river systems; Lewis and Clark crossed it to reach Shoshone territory and the Pacific coast.