All of these new items produced a technical and cultural revolution for the Blackfoot. Furthermore, they soon became perhaps the best horsemen of all the Great Plains Indian nations. They rapidly and aggressively expanded their territory by pushing the Shoshone to the southwestern corner of Montana Territory and pushing the Flathead and Kootenai across the Continental Divide into the western valleys of the territory. Historians speculate that in this advance west across the plains the Piegans were the vanguard, with the Bloods guarding both the northern and southern flanks, and the North Blackfoot were the last to move west, protecting the rear guard against the Cree and Chippewa. By 1780, there were as many as 15,000 members of the Blackfoot Nation. Their hunting grounds had shrunk somewhat, since other tribes also had obtained guns and horses, which made it difficult to maintain such large territorial borders. Nevertheless, the Blackfoot, the premier wayfaring tribe of the northern plains, were battling almost everyone on the prairies by the 1800s. Their large numbers, horse skills and marksmanship enabled them to continue to be the dominant tribe on Montanas northern plains.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:04:58 +0000
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