Editing Blackfoot Confederacy (section)

=== First contact with Europeans and the fur trade ===
[[Anthony Henday]] of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) met a large Blackfoot group in 1754 in what is now [[Alberta]]. The Blackfoot had established dealings with traders connected to the Canadian and English fur trade before meeting the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] in 1806.<ref name = Ambrose /> Lewis and Clark and their men had embarked on mapping the Louisiana Territory and upper [[Missouri River]] for the [[United States government]].

On their return trip from the Pacific Coast, Lewis and three of his men encountered a group of young Blackfoot warriors with a large herd of horses, and it was clear to [[Meriwether Lewis]] that they were not far from much larger groups of warriors. Lewis explained to them that the United States government wanted peace with all Indian nations,<ref>Gibson, 23</ref> and that the US leaders had successfully formed alliances with other Indian nations.<ref name = Ambrose >{{cite book|title=Undaunted Courage|author=Ambrose, Stephen|page=389}}</ref>  The group camped together that night, and at dawn there was a scuffle as it was discovered that the Blackfoot were trying to steal guns and run off with their horses while the Americans slept.  In the ensuing struggle, one warrior was fatally stabbed and another shot by Lewis and presumed killed.<ref name="Gibson, 23-29">Gibson, 23–29</ref>

In subsequent years, American [[Mountain man|mountain men]] trapping in Blackfoot country generally encountered hostility.  When [[John Colter]], a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, returned to Blackfoot country soon after, he barely escaped with his life. In 1809, Colter and his companion were trapping on the Jefferson River by canoe when they were surrounded by hundreds of Blackfoot warriors on horseback on both sides of the river bank.  Colter's companion, John Potts, did not surrender and was killed.  Colter was stripped of his clothes and forced to run for his life, after being given a head start (famously known in the annals of the West as "Colter's Run.") He eventually escaped by reaching a river five miles away and diving under either an island of [[driftwood]] or a [[beaver dam]], where he remained concealed until after nightfall. He trekked another 300 miles to a fort.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mman.us/coltersescape.htm|title=Both versions of Colter's Run}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616|title=Colter the Mountain Man|publisher=Lewis-Clark.org|access-date=24 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925015401/http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616|archive-date=25 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:George Catlin - Buffalo Bulls Back Fat - Smithsonian.jpg|thumb|[[Buffalo Bull's Back Fat]], Head Chief, of the Blood Tribe by [[George Catlin]].]]
In the context of shifting tribal politics due to the spread of horses and guns, the Niitsitapi initially tried to increase their trade with the HBC traders in [[Rupert's Land]] whilst blocking access to the HBC by neighboring peoples to the West. But the HBC trade eventually reached into what is now inland British Columbia.

<blockquote>By the late 1820s, [this prompted] the Niitsitapiksi, and in particular the Piikani, whose territory was rich in beaver, [to] temporarily put aside cultural prohibitions and environmental constraints to trap enormous numbers of these animals and, in turn, receive greater quantities of trade items.<ref>Brown, 2</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Mehkskeme-Sukahs cropped.jpg|thumb|''Mehkskeme-Sukahs'', Blackfoot chief (c. 1840).]]
The HBC encouraged Niitsitapiksi to trade by setting up posts on the [[North Saskatchewan River]], on the northern boundary of their territory. In the 1830s the Rocky Mountain region and the wider Saskatchewan District were the HBC's most profitable, and [[Rocky Mountain House]] was the HBC's busiest post. It was primarily used by the Piikani. Other Niitsitapiksi nations traded more in pemmican and buffalo skins than beaver, and visited other posts such as [[Fort Edmonton]].<ref>Brown, 3</ref>

Meanwhile, in 1822, the [[American Fur Company]] entered the Upper Missouri region from the south for the first time, without Niitsitapiksi permission. This led to tensions and conflict until 1830, when peaceful trade was established. This was followed by the opening of Fort Piegan as the first American trading post in Niitsitapi territory in 1831, joined by [[Fort MacKenzie]] in 1833. The Americans offered better terms of trade and were more interested in buffalo skins than the HBC, which brought them more trade from the Niitsitapi. The HBC responded by building Bow Fort (Peigan Post) on the [[Bow River]] in 1832, but it was not a success.<ref>Brown, 4–5</ref>

In 1833, German explorer [[Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied]] and Swiss painter [[Karl Bodmer]] spent months with the Niitsitapi to get a sense of their culture. Bodmer portrayed their society in paintings and drawings.<ref name="Gibson, 23-29"/>

Contact with the Europeans caused a spread of [[infectious diseases]] to the Niitsitapi, mostly [[cholera]] and [[smallpox]].<ref>Taylor, 43</ref> In one instance in 1837, an [[American Fur Company]] steamboat, the ''St. Peter's'', was headed to [[Fort Union National Monument|Fort Union]] and several passengers contracted smallpox on the way. They continued to send a smaller vessel with supplies farther up the river to posts among the Niitsitapi. The Niitsitapi contracted the disease and eventually 6,000 died, marking an end to their dominance among tribes over the Plains. The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] did not require or help their employees get vaccinated; the English doctor [[Edward Jenner]] had developed a technique 41 years before but its use was not yet widespread.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frazier|first=Ian|title=Great Plains |edition=1st|location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada|publisher=Collins Publishers|year=1989|pages=50–52}}</ref>