Blackfeet Removal from Glacier National Park
The Blackfeet lived in what is now Glacier National Park for thousands of years. They called the Rocky Mountains the “Backbone of the World” because these mountains were central to their way of life. The mountains gave them hunting grounds and sacred spaces for ceremonies.
The Blackfeet lost this land through a series of treaties, a time of starvation, and court decisions that took away their rights. Many Blackfeet still see the park as their stolen sacred homeland.
The Original Territory of the Blackfeet Nation
The Blackfeet once controlled land from Edmonton, Alberta, down to Yellowstone and from the Rockies east to the Black Hills. This huge area let them follow food sources with the seasons.
During summer and fall, they hunted buffalo on the plains. In winter and spring, they moved to mountain valleys that blocked harsh winds and offered game when plains hunting grew difficult.
Certain mountains like Chief Mountain and the Two Medicine area were deeply sacred places where they held vision quests and important ceremonies.
The 1855 Lame Bull Treaty
The Lame Bull Treaty of 1855 first set official borders for Blackfeet lands. This deal created a large reservation that included what later became the eastern part of Glacier National Park.
U.S. officials met with Blackfeet leaders on October 17, 1855, near the Upper Missouri River. The treaty promised government protection plus yearly goods and supplies.
It also gave the Blackfeet an Indian agent to make sure the government kept its promises. President Franklin Pierce approved the treaty on April 25, 1856.
The Baker Massacre Changes Everything
In 1870, Major Eugene Baker led U.S. troops in an attack that changed Blackfeet history forever. Baker’s forces attacked a peaceful Piegan Blackfeet camp led by Chief Heavy Runner.
Baker struck the wrong band. Despite Heavy Runner’s attempts to show they were peaceful, Baker ordered the attack anyway.
The soldiers killed between 173 and 217 Piegan Blackfeet. Most who died were women, children, and elderly people.
This brutal attack crushed the Blackfeet’s ability to fight back against American expansion.
The United States Eliminates Their Primary Food Source
American leaders knew that killing off buffalo would force Plains tribes onto reservations. The army and hunters set out to destroy the herds.
Hunters killed about 40 million buffalo between 1830 and 1865. They left behind huge piles of skulls and bones across the plains.
Buffalo gave the Blackfeet 80 percent of their food. The animals also provided materials for clothing, shelter, tools, and sacred items.
By 1883, buffalo had nearly vanished from the Northern Plains, leaving the Blackfeet without their main food source.
The Starvation Winter of 1883-1884
The winter of 1883-1884 brought terrible suffering to the Blackfeet. With buffalo gone and too little food from the government, starvation spread.
Between 600 and 700 Blackfeet died that winter – nearly one-fourth of their entire Montana population.
When the Blackfeet tried to leave the reservation to hunt in 1880, U.S. soldiers forced them back. This made them completely dependent on government food deliveries.
Government agents failed to bring enough supplies, leading to mass starvation that further weakened the Blackfeet.
The 1895 Agreement to Sell Sacred Land
Still facing hunger, Blackfeet leaders reluctantly agreed to sell their western mountain lands in 1895. Government officials wanted the 800,000-acre area because they thought it held valuable minerals.
The Blackfeet asked for $3 million. Government negotiators pushed the price down to $1.5 million.
Chief White Calf protested, calling the mountains his people’s “last refuge.” Little Dog reminded officials that the Blackfeet “did not ask the government to come and buy their land.”
The government paid the money slowly over many years instead of all at once.
The Reserved Rights in the 1895 Agreement
The 1895 Agreement included a key promise for the Blackfeet. They kept their rights to hunt, fish, and gather wood on the land they sold.
These rights would last “as long as the land remained public land of the United States.” These activities were essential for both physical and cultural survival.
The government claimed they wanted the land to look for minerals, though none were ever found in significant amounts.
Many Blackfeet thought of this as a 99-year lease, not a permanent sale.
From Forest Reserve to National Park
The government made the land a forest reserve in 1897. This status still allowed Blackfeet to use the land as promised.
In 1910, Congress turned this same area into Glacier National Park. The law creating the park said nothing about Blackfeet rights.
Louis Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway, pushed hard for the park’s creation. His company stood to make large profits from tourism.
This change from forest reserve to national park began new fights over Blackfeet access to their former lands.
Blackfeet Images Used to Promote the Park
The Great Northern Railway used Blackfeet people heavily in their ads for Glacier National Park. Blackfeet appeared in over one-third of the company’s marketing materials.
The railway hired Blackfeet families to set up tipis outside Glacier Park Lodge and greet tourists arriving on trains.
Ads called them “Glacier’s vanishing Indians” to attract tourists seeking an exotic experience. This marketing hid the fact that most of Glacier had been Blackfeet land until 1895.
The Blackfeet became attractions on their own lost territory while getting little money from park tourism.
The 1932 Court Decision
A U.S. District Court delivered the final blow to Blackfeet rights in 1932. Judges ruled that Blackfeet people could not hunt in Glacier National Park.
The court decided that when the land became a national park, it stopped being “public land” as written in the 1895 Agreement. This canceled the hunting, fishing, and gathering rights promised to the Blackfeet.
Judges claimed the Blackfeet hadn’t proven how much they used these rights between 1895 and 1910. This ruling permanently banned the Blackfeet from hunting in their sacred mountains.
Visiting Glacier National Park, Montana
Glacier National Park welcomes visitors at multiple entrances along U.S. Highway 2 and Highway 89 in northwest Montana. You can explore over 700 miles of hiking trails across one million acres of mountains, lakes, and forests.
The Going-to-the-Sun Road offers spectacular views as it crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. Native-led Sun Tours provides cultural perspectives on the park’s Blackfeet heritage.
Highlights include boat tours on Lake McDonald, wildlife watching for mountain goats and grizzly bears, and ranger-led programs. Pack layers for quickly changing mountain weather and remember that pets have limited access to developed areas only.
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