Lewis & Clark | The Blackfeet (Part 5)

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In July of 1806, Captain Meriwether Lewis and three of his companions had a violent confrontation with the Blackfeet, resulting in at least one dead warrior. This encounter would lead to strained relations between the United States and the Blackfeet Confederacy and result in decades of bloodshed. But is the official story – as told by the Corps of Discovery – truly what occurred? The Blackfeet don’t think so! Also discussed is the re-crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains, the splitting up of command, and the curious pronunciation of the Marias River. This is part 5 in the series on Lewis and Clark—links below for the previous four installments. Part 1 in the Lewis & Clark series - https://www.wildwestextra.com/lewis-clark-the-corps-of-discovery-part-1/ Part 2 in the Lewis & Clark series - https://www.wildwestextra.com/lewis-clark-sacagawea-daniel-boone-part-2/ Part 3 in the Lewis & Clark series - https://www.wildwestextra.com/lewis-clark-the-shoshone-part-3/ Part 4 in the Lewis & Clark series - https://www.wildwestextra.com/lewis-clark-york-fort-clatsop-part-4/ Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Merchandise! https://www.teepublic.com/user/wild-west-extravaganza Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d Missouri River Outfitters - https://www.youtube.com/@TalesoftheTrailsPodcast Wild West Extravaganza Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Early on the morning of July 27, 1806, Captain Maryweather Lewis awoke to men shouting.
0:06.5	Jumping to his feet, he spied George Drewer attempting to arrest a rifle out the hands
0:10.4	of a Blackfeet warrior.
0:12.2	The Fields brothers, Joseph and Rubin, were doing the same, while yet another warrior was fleeing
0:17.0	camp with Lewis's rifle.
0:19.1	Shucking a flintlockeded pistol the captain gave chase,
0:21.8	but ended up holding his fire as the blackfeet in question, wisely discarded the long gun,
0:26.7	and just kept on a running. Now the previous day, Lewis and the others, Drewer, Joseph and Rubin,
0:32.6	had come in contact with a small party of eight blackfeet. Teenagers mostly, and despite some initial tension,
0:38.8	the two parties agreed to a friendly smoke. Hell, they even decided to camp out together.
0:43.8	Things went well that night, but near Sunup, the last man on guard duty, Joseph Field,
0:49.3	carelessly laid his rifle down within reach of one of the young warriors.
0:53.3	As soon as he turned his back,
0:55.0	the blackfeet seized upon the opportunity and snatched the gun. The other warriors followed suit,
1:00.6	and that's about the time that all hell broke loose. Like I mentioned a moment ago, Lewis pursued
1:05.7	one of the warriors but was able to get his rifle back without shedding blood. The same could not
1:10.4	be said of the Field Brothers.
1:12.6	They too caught up with one of the warriors, and during the ensuing scuffle, Rubin plunged
1:17.4	his knife into the young Blackfeet's chest.
1:20.2	He'd later recalled that the warrior gasped but one breath before falling dead.
1:24.9	As all this was going on, the remaining Blackfeet had circled back and were making
1:28.8	a go with the expedition's horses. Once again, Captain Lewis pursued, this time for a few hundred yards,
	...

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