1/19
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.
Name | Mastery | Learn | Test | Matching | Spaced |
---|
No study sessions yet.
Horses introduced to the Northwestern Plains
Horses arrived in the 1720s, enabling greater mobility and contributing to power shifts among Plains tribes.
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).
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.
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.
Cree middlemen
Indigenous traders who acted as intermediaries for French and British traders, facilitating exchange of weapons and goods to Plains tribes.
Assiniboine middlemen
Indigenous traders who worked with Cree and other traders as middlemen in exchanging European goods for tribal resources.
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.
Gros Ventre (Gros Ventres)
Smaller Montana-area tribe allied with the Blackfoot; early adopters of European weapons through Cree/Assiniboine intermediaries.
Virgin soil epidemics
Diseases to which Indigenous populations had no prior exposure or immunity, leading to catastrophic outbreaks (e.g., smallpox).
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.
David Thompson
Northwest Company trader who spent a winter with Chief Young Man and documented Blackfoot history and the impact of muskets.
Young Man
Bacconi/Blackfoot chief who provided firsthand accounts of warfare and the gun advantage to David Thompson.
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.
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.
Louisiana Purchase (1803)
U.S. purchase from France that expanded American rights to govern the Louisiana Territory’s western tributaries of the Mississippi River.
Headwaters route goal
Jefferson’s aim to find a viable portage route between the Missouri and Columbia headwaters to facilitate Pacific trade.
Fur trade potential
Jefferson’s goal to assess the profitability and feasibility of expanding American fur trading in the Upper Missouri region.
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.
Governing vs owning territory
Concept discussed to explain that European claims were about the right to govern, not outright ownership of Indigenous lands.
Continental Divide
Geographic spine separating river systems; Lewis and Clark crossed it to reach Shoshone territory and the Pacific coast.