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Historical Background

Lewis clashes with Blackfeet

After lunch, Lewis and the Field brothers climbed the river bluffs while Drouillard continued down the valley to hunt. When Lewis reached the top he saw, a mile or so away, also on the bluffs, several Indians and about 30 horses. He studied them with his spyglass, noted they were intently watching something below in the valley, and surmised they had discovered Drouillard. Believing him to be in danger, Lewis felt he had no alternative but to approach the natives, who had not yet seen him. With Joseph Field holding aloft a U.S. flag, brought along for just such a purpose, the three men slowly advanced toward the Indians. Soon noticing them, the latter seemed to grow confused and milled about. Because the 30 horses so inordinately outnumbered the eight Indians he had counted and half the steeds were saddled, Lewis feared that other braves were nearby out of sight.

Nevertheless, deciding that retreat might be considered a sign of weakness and would jeopardize the safety of Drouillard, Lewis moved forward. When his group was about a quarter of a mile away from the Indians, one of them mounted and rode forward at full speed. He pulled up short at about 300 feet and studied the white men, who had by this time dismounted and were walking forward, Lewis beckoning with his hand. Suddenly, the rider turned and rode back to his companions. Certain that these were Blackfeet and anticipating difficulty, Lewis resolved to resist to the last and vowed he would die before he would give up his papers, instruments, and gun. He cautioned the Field brothers to keep on the alert.

The two groups cautiously approached and greeted each other. In sign language, the Indians expressed a desire to smoke the pipe. Lewis, anxious for Drouillard's safety and needing his help in sign communication, told them he had his pipe and suggested that, because they had been watching Drouillard and knew where he was, they send a man with Reuben Field to bring him back. The Indians agreed to do so. While awaiting Drouillard's return, Lewis learned the Indians were Blackfeet. Three claimed to be chiefs, though he doubted it. He gave one a medal, another a flag, and the third a handkerchief. He observed that only two possessed guns, and the rest bows and arrows and tomahawks. By this time, too, he was certain the entire party totaled but eight. Satisfied they could be controlled if hostile, despite their 2 to 1 numerical superiority, he suggested that everyone camp together down by Two Medicine River. Drouillard, Reuben Field, and the Indian joined the group, which made its way down the 250-foot bluffs.

About 4 miles below the mouth of Badger Creek in a small bottom on the south side of the river, the Blackfeet erected a large semi-circular tent of dressed buffalo skins. Lewis and Drouillard accepted an invitation to bed down inside, and the Field brothers decided to stay outside in front of the fire.

The "X" indicates the site of Camp Disappointment, Mont., on the south bank of Cut Bank Creek near the northernmost point reached by the explorers. Lewis and his three companions bivouacked at this place during the period July 22-26, 1806. Three local people, Edward Mathison, Robert H. Anderson, and Helen B. West, researched and located the site. (Helen B. West (Edward Mathison, 1963).)

That evening, July 26, Lewis carried on an extensive conversation with the Blackfeet through Drouillard. They claimed to be part of a large band, accompanied by a white man, that was encamped about a half day's march to the west at the foot of the Rockies on the "main branch" of the Marias. Another sizable band, they said, was hunting buffalo to the west and expected to be at the mouth of the river in a few days. The Indians said they traded at a Saskatchewan River post about 150 miles away.

Lewis told them about the purpose and accomplishments of the expedition, his plans to reunite with the rest of it at the mouth of the Marias, and the desire of the U.S. Government to establish peace between all tribes and to initiate trade with them. During the night, the four explorers, fearful the Blackfeet might steal their horses or perpetrate other treachery, took turns on watch.

At daybreak, the 27th, the fears were realized. The natives awakened and crowded around the fire. Joseph Field, on watch duty, had carelessly left his gun behind him near where his brother was sleeping. Stealthily one Indian slipped behind Joseph and grabbed both guns, while two others crept into the tent and took the guns of Drouillard and Lewis. Seeing the latter movement, Joseph turned to seize his gun, but saw the Indian running away with it as well as that of Reuben. He yelled to Reuben, who jumped up, and the two gave chase. Within 50 or 60 paces, they overtook the Indian and wrested their guns from him. Reuben plunged a knife into his heart.

Meantime, almost simultaneously Drouillard, inside the shelter, was awakened by the commotion outside and saw the Indian seizing his rifle. He sprang on him and pulled it away. This scuffle awakened Lewis, who automatically reached for his gun—only to find it gone. He drew a pistol from his holster, pursued the other Blackfoot, who was running off with his rifle, called to him, and told him to lay it down. He was in the act of doing so when the Field brothers returned and requested permission to shoot him. Lewis, who had issued standing orders not to harm any native unless one's life was in danger, noted that the Indian was subdued and denied the request, as well as a similar one from Drouillard. The brave dropped the gun and walked away.

Members of the Cut Bank, Mont., Boy Scout troop standing approximately at the spot where Lewis and the Field brothers on July 26, 1806, discovered a group of Blackfeet about 2 miles away (marked by arrow) intently watching something in the valley below. Correctly assuming it was Drouillard, who was hunting along Two Medicine River, Lewis decided to approach the Indians as friends. The Cut Bank troop, aided by Edward Mathison, Robert H. Anderson, and Helen B. West, identified the places associated with the incident and the subsequent fight with the natives. (Helen B. West (Mathison, 1963).)

The Blackfeet, thwarted in their disarming effort, next tried to steal the horses. To prevent this, Lewis told the men to shoot if necessary. Drouillard and the Field brothers chased most of the Indians, who were driving part of the mounts upriver, while Lewis pursued two others who were herding off another group. About 900 feet from camp, the latter two turned into a gulch. One jumped behind a rock. The other, armed with a gun, turned and at 30 paces faced Lewis, who shot him in the abdomen. He fell to his knees, partly raised himself, and returned the fire. The bareheaded Lewis felt the breeze from the bullet as it whistled over his head. His adversary then crawled behind a rock and before long undoubtedly died.

His shot pouch back at camp and unable to reload his rifle, Lewis set out to return, meeting Drouillard on the way. Leaving the Field brothers to chase the other Indians stealing the horses, the latter had come to help out after he had heard the shots. The brothers soon rode in with four of the group's six horses. Faced with the prospect of a ride for their lives, the party abandoned one of these and took four of the best Indian mounts, leaving nine behind. The Indians, who had all fled, had taken the remainder or they had scattered.

One Indian lay dead and another dead or dying, and the four men feared their erstwhile adversaries would soon come back with reinforcements. Departure was hasty. The seven horses were saddled and packed and the Indian possessions lying all around were burned, except for an Indian gun and some buffalo meat that were taken. Lewis also repossessed the flag he had given to one of the Blackfeet, but left the medal around the neck of another so that the tribe "might be informed who we were." [137]

Fearing that Blackfeet might be on their trail or ahead of them trying to cut them off, the men began a forced ride southeastward toward the Missouri en route to the mouth of the Marias to reunite with the Gass-Ordway party. By 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when he stopped the men and horses for an hour and a half to eat and rest, Lewis estimated they had covered 63 miles. Before dark, when they halted again for 2 hours and killed a buffalo for food, they made another 17 miles. The march continued at a more leisurely pace another 20 miles in the moonlight, during which many herds of buffalo were passed, until 2:00 a.m., when a stop was made to obtain some sleep and let the horses graze.