Blackfeet

Raiders on the Northwestern Plains

by John C Ewers

The Blackfeet were the strongest military power on the northwestern plains in the historic buffalo days. For half a century up to 1805, they were almost constantly at war with the Shoshonis and came very close to exterminating that tribe. They aggressively asserted themselves against the Flatheads and the Kutenais, shoving them westward across the Rockies. They got on fairly well with English and Canadian traders during the heyday of the fur trade on the Saskatchewan River, but on the upper Missouri they took an early dislike to Americans, whom they called "Big Knives." American fur traders, such as Manuel Lisa, Pierre Menard, and Andrew Henry, were literally chased out of Montana by the Blackfeet.

"A fascinating and absorbing account of the great Indian nation which once was the most powerful fighting force on America’s Western plains. . . .A storehouse of highly readable and informative material about the three tribes which make up the Blackfeet Nation: Piegan, Blood, and the Siksika, or Blackfeet proper. It is a hard book to put down. . . . For students of Indian ethnology it is a must. For the casual reader it is a rich experience."-Denver Post.

"Written by a man who has lived with the Indians and studied their culture. Anyone. . . interested in the history of American Indians will want this authentic and highly interesting volume."-Dallas Times Herald.

362 pp — ©1983