Why Gone Those Times?

Blackfoot Tales

by James Willard Schultz

James Willard Schultz first encountered the Blackfeet Indians in Montana Territory in 1877 when he was seventeen. In time, he married a Blackfeet woman, formed close friendships with many in the tribe, and lived with them off and on for the next seventy years until his death. Why Gone Those Times? is based on his experiences among the Blackfeet, who gave him the name Apikuni. Apikuni’s adventures include taming a wolf, raiding in Old Mexico, and stalking a black buffalo. Although Schultz was neither historian nor ethnologist, he filled his stories with Indian history and detailed descriptions of Blackfeet daily life and culture.

James Willard Schultz wrote forty-four books, including Blackfeet and Buffalo and Blackfeet Tales from Apikuni’s World, both published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Eugene Lee Silliman is a retired high school teacher living in Deer Lodge, Montana.

2003 pp — ©2003