blackfoot-valley

hunting culture had dispersed and the region was not repopulated by Plains hunters until the horse had been re-introduced and brought north by the Spanish. By the time of the first direct European contacts, the Flatheads had likewise adopted the horse and some made the occasional foray into the Plains country to hunt bison while trying to elude the Blackfeet or other Plains tribes. Parties of Blackfeet returned the favor by making periodic incursions into the mountains, and woe to any Flatheads they encountered! Although the Nevada/Blackfoot Valley, including the area of the Ranch, is generally classed as Flathead country, it was really a sort of no-man’s land with little or no permanent population during this time. Flatheads were universally considered by early white explorers as “the most peaceful, friendly, and industrious group in the entire Northwest.” Mon- tana historian Michael Malone has noted that their friendliness, including the acceptance of Christianity, was probably due more to their “need for allies, even if white allies, against the better armed and more numerous Blackfeet.” The Blackfoot population in 1780 has been estimated at 15,000. It should be kept in mind that Flatheads were a frontier group and were not numerous. Lewis and Clark estimated the Flathead population at 600 in 1806. This was reduced to half that number by 1853 in the Blackfoot wars. 52