Marias Massacre

Date	January 23, 1870
Location	Marias River, Montana Territory
Result	173-217 killed; Ulysses S. Grant's "Peace Policy"

Belligerents

United States

Piegan Blackfeet

Commanders and leaders

Major Eugene M. Baker

None, civilian camp

Strength

~150 soldiers
3 scouts

~230

Casualties and losses

1 killed, 1 wounded

173-217 killed

The Marias Massacre (also known as the Baker Massacre or the Piegan Massacre) was a massacre of a friendly band of Piegan Blackfeet Indians on January 23, 1870, by the United States Army in Montana Territory during the Indian Wars. About 200 Indians were killed, mostly women, children, and elderly men.

During a campaign to suppress Mountain Chief's band of Piegan Blackfeet, (who harbored a man named Owl Child, said to have murdered a white trader and rancher, Malcolm Clarke), the U.S. Army instead attacked a band led by Heavy Runner, a chief who had been promised protection by the United States government. Following public outrage, the long-term result was a shift in the policy of the Federal Government toward a "peace policy," as advocated by President Ulysses S. Grant. He kept the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior, at a time when the War Department was trying to regain control, and he appointed men who were recommended by various religious clergy, including Quakers and Methodists, as Indian agents, hoping they would be free of the corruption he had found in the department.

Relations between the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Blackfeet, Blood, and Piegan tribes) and whites in Montana Territory had been largely hostile for years, as European Americans encroached on Native American territory and resources. In turn, some Blackfeet stole horses and raided white settlements. A general air of lawlessness prevailed among both races rather than a widespread, organized conflict, such as Red Cloud's War. By 1870, the Blackfeet had largely retreated north of the Marias River in the territory.

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Wikipedia