Hellgate Treaty
The Treaty of Hellgate was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d'Oreille, and Lower Kutenai tribes. The treaty was signed at Hellgate on 16 July 1855. Signatories included Isaac Stevens, superintendent of Indian affairs and governor of Washington Territory; Victor, chief of the Bitterroot Salish; Alexander, chief of the Pend d'Oreilles; Michelle, chief of the Kutenais; and several subchiefs. The treaty was ratified by Congress, signed by President James Buchanan, and proclaimed on 18 April 1859. It established the Flathead Indian Reservation. Context The economy of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kutenai tribes was based on a seasonal round with annual journeys across the continental divide to hunt bison. These hunts meant dangerous travel into enemy Blackfeet territory, and Blackfeet attacks ravaged the hunting parties, leaving casualties in their wake. The Salish wanted intertribal peace and the right to hunt bison on the plains without being attacked. As white fur traders and trappers moved into the Rocky Mountains in what is now Montana, the Salish, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kutenais made informal alliances with them against enemy Blackfeet and other Plains tribes. They were pleased at Stevens's invitation to the treaty council and expected to talk about intertribal peace. Stevens had little interest in intertribal peace, however. His goal was to convince the tribes to cede their lands and move to a reservation. Negotiations On 7 July 1855, the tribes met with Stevens at Council Grove near present-day Missoula, Montana. When the council began, leaders of the tribes wanted to discuss peace, and they urged Stevens to stop whites from trading ammunition to the Blackfeet. Pend d'Oreille leader Nqelʔe (″Big Canoe″) wondered why the tribes needed a treaty with the whites: "Talk about treaty, where did I kill you? when did you kill me? What is the reason we are talking about treaties; that is what I said, we are friends, you are not my enemy." Ignoring these concerns, Stevens pushed the tribes to cede their lands in exchange for annuities. His plans were frustrated when the tribes could not agree on a location for the reservation. Salish head chief X͏ʷeɫx̣ƛ̓cín (″Many Horses″, known in English as Chief Victor) insisted that his people would not leave their homeland in the Bitterroot Valley. When Stevens lashed out, calling Victor "an old woman" and "dumb as a dog," Victor walked out of the council. Negotiations resumed a few days later, and Stevens made a compromise. He inserted Article 11 into the treaty, providing for a survey of the Bitterroot Valley. According to the terms, the president would use the survey to decide which reservation would be "better adapted to the wants of the Flathead tribe." In the meantime, the treaty guaranteed that "no portion of the Bitter Root Valley above the Loo-lo Fork, shall be opened to settlement until such examination is had and the decision of the President made known." Believing this compromise would protect his people's claim to the Bitterroot, Victor signed the treaty