Commemorating a Tragedy

January 23, 2020 marks 150 years since U.S. Army troops under the command of Major Eugene Baker attacked the sleeping camp of Piikuni Chief Heavy Runner, killing almost 200 people. The murdered included Heavy Runner, who was shot after presenting papers that testified that he was “a friend to the whites.” Many other victims of the attack were sick with small pox; most were women, children, and the elderly—almost all of the able-bodied men were out hunting. Following the brutal slaughter, the soldiers then burned the Indians’ tepees and other possessions and took their horses, decreasing the likelihood that those who survived the brutal attack would be able to survive the harsh winter weather. Initially, the Montana press hailed Baker as a hero, but gradually reports by both Indians and non-Indians called into question his version of events, exposing the true atrocities that took place on the Marias River—called Bear Creek by the Blackfeet—150 years ago.


Perhaps because I'm Jewish and the slogan "Never Forget" echoed throughout my childhood, I feel it's important to reflect on these dark episodes of our collective past.


We have resources to help your students learn about this tragedy. They include:

• “The Pikuni and the U.S. Army’s Piegan Expedition: Competing Narratives of the 1870 Massacre on the Marias River,” by Rodger Henderson, Montana The Magazine of Western History (Spring 2018): 48-70, and now available for free download.
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• Discussion questions created to accompany the article.
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• A lesson plan, "Blood on the Marias: Understanding Different Points of View Related to the Baker Massacre of 1870," that many English teachers use when they teach Fools Crow.

All of these resources are available on our web site


If you have time, another way to approach the topic is to have students examine contemporary efforts to rename Yellowstone National Park’s Mount Doane, named for Lieutenant Augustus Doane, who served under Baker and boasted about his role in the massacre and was also instrumental in the exploration of Yellowstone National Park. The Global Indigenous Council has gathered information (note their clear point of view in favor of renaming.) Other articles include

• "Yellowstone Mount Doane Rename: First National Park Shouldn't Have Features Named after Genocide Exponent," Newsweek, June 5, 2019
• "Tribes meet Wyoming resistance to Yellowstone name changes," WyoFile, May 15, 2018

Of course, there's much more information in libraries and on the web that students could use to research and debate or engage in a Structured Academic Controversy around this issue.