Allegiances and interests: Niitsitapi (blackfoot) trade, diplomacy, and warfare, 1806-1831

Western Historical Quarterly

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 327-349

  Binnema, Theodore ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 61149470744     PISSN: 00433810     EISSN: 19398603     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/25443373     Document Type: Review

References (104)

1. Gary E. Moulton, ed., The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, vol. 8, June 10-September 26, 1806 (Lincoln, NE, 1993), 133-6
2. and James H. Bradley Papers, MC 49, Box 1, folder 10, p. 33, Montana Historical Society Archives.
3. In this study "Niitsitapiksi" (Real People) (plural) and "Niitsitapi" (singular) refers to all of the Blackfoot-speaking people (Piegans, Bloods, and Siksikas) collectively or to people belonging to one of these three groups but whose identity cannot be more precisely given. There is no unproblematic English-language equivalent, although it substitutes for "Blackfeet" or "Blackfoot Confederacy" as they are often used in the USA today (although "Blackfeet" in the United States often refers to the South Piegans specifically) and "Blackfoot" as it is frequently used in Canada today (although "Blackfoot" in Canada often refers solely to the Siksikas). I use "Blackfeet" to refer to images of the Niitsitapiksi harbored by Americans at the time.
4. The literature on the sources of Niitsitapi hostility toward Americans is large, and the explanations are varied. Scholars have pointed to Lewis's fracas with the Piegans, the Americans' habit of trapping in Niitsitapi territory, Americans trading (and arming) the Niitsitapi's enemies, British incitement, the individualist orientation of the American companies and, most recently, a supposed cultural crisis among the Niitsitapi. The literature to 1987 is summarized in Mark A. Judy, "Powder Keg on the Upper Missouri: Sources of Blackfeet Hostility, 1730-1810," American Indian Quarterly 11 (Spring 1987): 128-30.
5. The most influential interpretations are found in Hiram Martin Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West, 2 vols. (1902; reprint, Lincoln, NE, 1986);
6. Oscar Lewis, The Effects of White Contact Upon Blackfoot Culture, With Special Reference to the Role of the Fur Trade (1942; reprint, New York, 1986);
7. John C. Ewers, The Blackfeet, Raiders on the Northwestern Plains (Norman, OK, 1958);
8. Richard Edward Oglesby, Manuel Lisa and the Opening of the Missouri Fur Trade (Norman, OK, 1963);
9. Peter W. Dunwiddie, "The Nature of the Relationship between the Blackfeet Indians and the Men of the Fur Trade," Annals of Wyoming 46 (Spring 1974): 123-33;
10. David J. Wishart, The Fur Trade of the American West, 1807-1840: A Geographical Synthesis (Lincoln, NE, 1979);
11. and Robert A. Church, "Blackfeet and Fur Traders: Storm on the Northwestern Plains," Journal of the West 36 (April 1997): 79-84.
12. Canadians were Montreal-based traders operating in Rupert's Land (the HBC territories) in defiance of the company's monopoly. After 1804, almost all of the Canadian traders in Rupert s Land were part of the North West Company, which had absorbed or defeated all of its Canadian rivals.
13. A clear example can be found in Dale L. Morgan, ed., The West of William H. Ashley (Denver, CO, 1964), 191. Ashley and his American contemporaries almost always included the Gros Ventres among the "Blackfeet."
14. Theodore Binnema, Common and Contested Ground: A Human and Environmental History of the North Western Plains (Norman, OK, 2001), 11-5.
15. The following section is a summary of much more detailed examinations found in Frank Raymond Secoy, "Horse and Gun Pattern on the Northwestern Plains," in Changing Military Patterns on the Great Plains (Locust Valley, NY, 1953), 45-64;
16. Theodore Binnema, "Conflict or Cooperation?: Blackfoot Trade Strategies, 1794-1815" (master's thesis, University of Alberta, 1992);
17. Theodore Binnema "Old Swan, Big Man, and the Siksika Bands, 1794-1815," Canadian Historical Review 77 (March 1996): 1-32;
18. and Binnema, Common and Contested Ground, 72-194.
19. Entered under the date 14 August 1805, this entry apparently refers to events of 20 August. Gary E. Moulton, ed., The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, vol. 5, July 28-November 1, 1805 (Lincoln, NE, 1988), 91.
20. 22 November 1812, B.60/a/11, Hudson's Bay Company Archives [hereafter HBCA]. The HBC and the NWC needed dried buffalo meat and pemmican from the plains to feed their boat and canoe brigades and their traders in the subarctic posts - especially in the Athabasca River drainage - where furs were most valuable and plentiful but where game and fish were too scarce to supply their needs.
21. Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 64.
22. Chittenden, American Fur Trade, 2:704.
23. Oglesby, Manuel Lisa, 56-8, 95-7, 85-8, 94, 115.
24. Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 41, 70, 72, 129-30.
25. Documents and Letters, "Investigation as to the Causes of Indian Hostilities West of the Missouri River, 1824," Annals of Wyoming 15 (July 1943): 218.
26. Other evidence that Americans understood in the 1820s that Niitsitapi opposed trappers can be found in Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 65-6.
27. Richard E. Jensen, ed. "A Description of the Fur Trade in 1831 by John Dougherty," Nebraska History 56 (Spring 1975): 115.
28. John F.A. Sanford to Gen. Wm. Clark, dated St. Louis, 26 July 1833, as quoted in Annie Heloise Abel, ed., Chardon's Journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839, (Pierre, SD, 1932), 253.
29. See Barbara Belyea, ed., A Year Inland: The Journal of a Hudson's Bay Company Winterer (Waterloo, ONT, 2000).
30. The most detailed history of Chesterfield House can be found in David J. Fairfield, "Chesterfield House and the Bow River Expedition" (master's thesis, University of Alberta, 1970) A re-interpretation can be found in Binnema, "Conflict or Cooperation," 51-75 and Binnema, "Old Swan." A briefer discussion, with some differences can be found in Binnema, Common and Contested Ground, 166-7, 185-92.
31. In 1802, the Siksikas were unconcerned about a group of Iroquois and Canadians headed to the Cypress Hills to trap, but Gros Ventre warriors killed them, paraded their scalps by Chesterfield House, and threatened to treat all the traders the same way. See Victor G. Hopwood, ed., David Thompson: Travels in Western North America, 1784-1812 (Toronto, 1971), 223-4
32. Walter B. Douglas, ed., Three Years among the Indians and Mexicans, by General Thomas James, of Monroe County, Illinois (St. Louis, 1916), 66-78.
33. Barry M. Gough, ed., The Journal of Alexander Henry the Younger: 1799-1814, vol. 2, The Saskatchewan and Columbia Rivers (Toronto, 1992), 545.
34. February 1811 (fo. 24), B.89/a/2, HBCA.
35. These are not Iron Shirt's exact words, but a summary of his account as preserved by HBC traders. 28 November 1823, B.60/a/22, HBCA.
36. The Jones and Immell incident is described in Abraham P. Nasatir, "The International Significance of the Jones and Immell Massacre and of the Aricara Outbreak in 1823," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 30 (January 1939): 84;
37. and Chittenden, American Fur Trade, 1:151-3.
38. 23 October 1823 and 16 March 1824, B.60/a/22, HBCA.
39. Also see Simpson to Governor and Committee, 31 August 1825 (fo. 48d-49), D. 4/10, HBCA.
40. Thomas Biddle to Col. H. Atkinson, 29 October 1819, in American State Papers, 2, Indian Affairs 2:201
41. and 21 January 1808, B.60/a/7, HBCA.
42. Douglas, ed., Three Years, 52-3;
43. H. M. Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana: Together with a Journal of a voyage up the Missouri River in 1811 (Pittsburgh, 1814), 89-92;
44. Freemen were men whose contracts with trading companies had expired but who, because of their acquired skills and their friendly connections (usually cemented by marriage) with Indian bands, were able to stay in the country. Freemen and their families often acted as intermediaries between Indian bands and traders, and were usually particularly avid trappers. Most commonly, freemen were affiliated with Cree and Ojibwa bands. Many of their descendents number among today's Métis of western Canada.
45. 7 April 1807, B.60/a.6, HBCA.
46. Binnema, "Old Swan," 1-32.
47. John S. Milloy, The Plains Cree: Trade, Diplomacy and War, 1790 to 1870 (Winnipeg, MB, 1988).
48. David Smyth has disputed the argument that the Niitsitapiksi and Crees ever had cordial relations. See David Smyth, "The Niitsitapi Trade: Euroamericans and the Blackfoot-Speaking Peoples, to the mid-1830s" (PhD diss., Carleton University, 2001.)
49. Hopwood, ed., David Thompson, 243.
50. These are Kullyspell House, Saleesh House, and Spokane House. J. B. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812 (Toronto, 1916), 410, 418
51. and Catherine M. White, "Saleesh House: The First Trading Post among the Flathead," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 33 (July 1942): 251-63.
52. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompson's Narrative, 411
53. and Hopwood, ed., David Thompson, 288.
54. This battle is described in Gough, ed., Journal of Alexander Henry the Younger, 527;
55. by Peter Fidler in 19 February 1811 (fo. 24-24d), B.89/a/2, HBCA.
56. Barbara Belyea, ed., Columbia Journals: David Thompson (Montreal, 1994), 27 August 1807.
57. 19 February 1811 (fo. 24d), B.89/a/2, HBCA.
58. 22 January 1808 (fos. 12-12d), B.60/a/7, HBCA.
59. Gough, ed., Journal of Alexander Henry the Younger, 527.
60. Tyrrell, ed., David Thompsons Narrative, 425.
61. Also see, 15 November 1811, B.60/a/10, HBCA.
62. Gough, ed., Journal of Alexander Henry the Younger, 2:481.
63. 13 May 1811, B.60/a/9, HBCA.
64. 7 November 1811, B.60/3/10, HBCA.
65. 28 April 1813, B.60/a/11, HBCA.
66. 5 May 1813, B.60/a/11, HBCA.
67. 29 May 1820, B.60/a/19, HBCA.
68. About Lewis, see Alice M. Johnson, ed., Saskatchewan River Journals and Correspondence: Edmonton House 1795-1800; Chesterfield House 1800-1802 (London, 1967).
69. See Governor George Simpson to Governor and Committee, 10 August 1824 (fo. 45), D.4/8, HBCA.
70. Accounts are also contained in the published journals of the Snake River Expedition. See E.E. Rich, ed., Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals: 1824-25 and 1825-26 (London, 1950).
71. B.60/e/4, HBCA.
72. George Simpson to Governor and Committee, 1 August 1823 (fo. 20-20d), D.4/86, HBCA. The HBC never did implement Simpson's plan.
73. See fos. 3d-4, B.34/e/1
74. and 14 October 1822, 24 October 1822, 16 November 1822, 8 January 1823, B.34/a/4, HBCA.
75. The daily journal of this expedition can be found at B.34/a/4, HBCA.
76. fo. 3, B.34/e/1, HBCA.
77. fo. 1d, B.34/e/1, HBCA.
78. Thomas Biddle to Col. H. Atkinson, 29 October 1819, in American State Papers, 2, Indian Affairs 2:202.
79. 21 January 1808, B.60/a/7, HBCA.
80. fo. 12d, and D.4.91, fo. 52d., HBCA.
81. Wishart, Fur Trade of the American West, 139.
82. Other examples of reports of peaceful contact can be found in 17 September 1827, B.60/a/25, HBCA;
83. November 1827, B.60/a/25, HBCA;
84. fo. 24-24d, D.4/90, HBCA.
85. In 1829, Simpson expressed greater optimism that the Blackfoot people would continue to refuse to trade with Americans, fo. 18-18d, D.4/96, HBCA.
86. Missouri Historical Society Archives [hereafter MHSA], Meriwether Lewis Collection, Reuben Lewis from Three Forks of the Missouri to Meriwether Lewis, 21 April 1810;
87. Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, 92;
88. John C. Luttig, Journal of a Fur-Trading Expedition on the Upper Missouri: 1812-1813, ed. Stella M. Drumm (New York, 1964), 15;
89. Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 33, 44-5, 49, 166, 176, 178, 184, 188, 195;
90. James H. Bradley, "Journal of James H. Bradley," Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana 2 (1896): 147.
91. Nasatir, "International Significance," 92.
92. Documents and Lettets, "Investigation as to the Causes of Indian Hostilities," 204.
93. 23 October 1823, B.60/a/22, HBCA.
94. Simpson to Governor and Committee, 31 August 1825 (fo. 29), D.4/10, HBCA.
95. Abel, ed., Chardon's Journal, 332, 273, n267;
96. Frances G. Halpenny, gen. ed., Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, (Toronto, 1990), s.v. "James Bird.";
97. David Smyth, "Jacques Berger, Fur Trader," Beaver 69 (June/July 1989): 39-50;
98. Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 246, n184;
99. Abel, ed, Chardon's Journal, 273, n267.
100. Abel, ed., Chardon's Journal, xv
101. and Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, 174, 246.
102. Nicholas Point, "A Journey in a Barge on the Missouri," Frontier and Midland 15 (1934-35): 244-6.
103. Morgan, ed., West of William H. Ashley, frontispiece, 328.
104. and David Smyth, "The Struggle for the Piegan Trade: The Saskatchewan vs. The Missouri," Montana 34 (Spring 1984): 9-12.