INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. 249 
of the Arapohos, who, from some feud, so common among savages, became separated from 
‘their friends, crossed the Rocky Mountains and associated themselves with the Blackfeet. 
When this division took place is not now correctly known, though it seems not to have 
been at a very remote period, most probably within the last century. When treating of 
that group in a subsequent sketch, I shall present all the information that can be obtained 
in regard to that matter. Their former hunting grounds, as indeed those of the whole 
Blackfoot nation, were on the tributaries of the Saskatchewan, in which region buffalo and 
other game abounded. Previous to the opening of the trade with these Indians on the 
Upper Missouri, they sold all their skins to the Hudson’s Bay Company, seldom visiting 
the headwaters of the Missouri, except for marauding purposes. 
The Blood Indians range through the district along Maria, Teton, and Belly Rivers, 
inclining west and northwest far into the interior. In this section, wood is more abun- 
dant, pasturage excellent, and, consequently, buffalo almost always abound there. 
The Blackfeet inhabit a portion of country farther north than the Bloods, extending to 
the banks of the Saskatchewan, along which they often reside. 
They have never altogether abandoned their English friends, and more frequently dispose 
of their furs to them than to the American traders on the head branches of the Missouri. 
The Piegans roam through the Rocky Mountains on the south side of Maria River, on 
both banks of the Missouri. They often extend their travels as far as St. Mary’s Valley, 
where the Flatheads are stationed, with whom a precarious peace has been in existence 
for many years back, though often interrupted by the other bands of Blackfeet. They 
also hunt as far down the Missouri as the Mussel-shell River, and up that stream to the 
borders of the Crow country. 
The three divisions last mentioned constitute the Blackfoot nation proper, whose name 
has become notorious for their fierce and deadly struggles with all the neighboring tribes, 
and in former times struck terror to all white men who travelled in any district from the 
Saskatchewan to the Yellowstone, and from the Yellowstone to the Columbia. 
The Blackfeet are such a nomadic people that it is a difficult task to obtain a per- 
fectly accurate statement of their numbers. ‘The following estimate, given in one of the 
United States Indian agent’s reports,* is probably an approximation to the true number: 
Bands. Lodges. Men. Women. | Children. Total. 
iDplackfeetsu" <a ets eee eee 150 260 400 540 1200 
Bloodstay Aya ee eee eee 300 000 800 1100 2400 
IPiceansh 5505 RI) |e 460 900 1200 1600 3700 
otal ee Gees, een Mate ee 910 1660 2400 3240 7300 
* Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1858. 
