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The
Marias Massacre is a little-known one-sided battle that took place
in Montana
on January 23, 1870. Though receiving little attention in
history, the massacre, which killed some 200
Piegan
Indians, mostly women and children, was described by one company
commander as "the greatest slaughter of
Indians ever made by U.S. troops.”
Prior to this event,
relations between the
Blackfoot
Confederacy, comprised of the
Blackfoot,
Blood, and
Piegan tribes, and the white settlers had been hostile for
several years. Amidst low-level hostilities in 1869, a young
warrior named Owl Child stole several of horses from Malcolm Clarke, a
white trader. Afterwards, Clarke tracked down Owl Child and beat
him in front of his camp for the offense. Humiliated, Owl Child, with
a band of rogue
Piegans, sought revenge and killed Clarke.
The killing inflamed
the public, which caused
General Philip Sheridan to send out a band of cavalry led by Major
Eugene Baker to track down and punish the offending party.
On January 23, 1870,
cavalry received a scouting report that the group of
Piegans, led by
Mountain Chief, was camped along the Marias River. At
first light, 200 dismounted U.S. cavalrymen lay spread out in an
ambush position along the snowy bluffs overlooking the Marias River. As they awaited the command to fire, the chief of the camp came out of
his lodge, walking toward the bluffs waving a safe-conduct paper. It was not Mountain Chief, who had been forewarned and had already
left the area. Rather, it was
Piegan leader Heavy Runner, who
had enjoyed friendly relations with the white men. When an Army
scout by the name of Joe Kipp shouted that this was the wrong camp, he
was threatened into silence. Another scout, Joe Cobell, then
fired the first shot, killing Heavy Runner and the massacre ensued.
In those early morning hours, the Indian
camp was unprotected as most of the men were out hunting. Bullets riddled the lodges, collapsing some into smoking fire pits and
suffocating the half-awake victims. When the carnage was over
173 lay dead – mostly women, children and the elderly. 140
others were captured, later to be turned loose without horses,
adequate food, and clothing. As they refugees made their way to
Fort Benton, some ninety miles away, many of them froze to death.
In the meantime, Major
Eugene Baker led his troops downstream to find the real target designated
clearly in his orders. However, by the time they arrived, Mountain
Chief and his band had fled to safety in nearby Canadian territory.
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