the Kalispel and Pend d’Oreille who also live on the same reserva- 
tion. These distinctions, however, have become blurred in recent 
years, largely through intermarriage. 
Though considered to be a plateau tribe, the Flatheads once 
were a plains people before the introduction of the horse. In about 
1600 their territory was surrounded by the Rocky Mountains to 
the west and south; the Gallatin, Crazy and Little Belt Mountains 
to the east; and the Big Belt Mountains to the north. They were 
divided into 4 distinct bands, with one in Helana, two near Butte, 
and one in the Big Hole Valley (Teit, 1937). 
In the 1700’s, about the time that they acquired the horse, the 
Blackfeet, Crow and other tribes arrived from the east and pushed 
various tribes, then occupying the western fringes of the Plains, 
west and south. The Flathead retreated to the gentle Bitterroot 
Valley of western Montana. They continued hunting east of the 
continental divide for buffalo, but continued Blackfeet hostility 
required carefully planned expeditions, these often being accom- 
panied by such friendly western tribes as Pend d’Orielle, Koote- 
nai, Nez Perce and Shoshoni (Teit, 1930). 
The original population of the Flatheads is difficult to estimate. 
Teit (1930) estimated the total population of the Flathead tribes 
at the time of the introduction of the horse as 15,000, but Fahey 
(1974) believed 4,000 to be a more realistic figure. The original 
population was greatly decimated due to diseases, especially a 
smallpox epidemic in the 1840's and to warfare. By 1909 the U.S. 
Department of Indian Affairs gave these estimates of the Salishan 
population: Flathead, 598; Pend d’Oreille 665; Kalispel 182; Spo- 
kane, 138. Due to considerable intermarriage with whites it is now 
difficult to give accurate estimates of the Indian population. 
Furthermore, most of the fertile land once possessed by Indians 
has passed to white ownership, resulting in further fragmentation 
and disintegration of Indian values and customs. 
PLANTS USED BY THE FLATHEAD INDIANS 
The following list of plants is arranged alphabetically in the 
categories of Fungi, Lichens, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes and 
their allies, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms (Monocots and 
Dicots). Common names are given in parenthesis. When known, 
264 
