Blood on the Marias: The Baker Massacre

On the morning of January 23, 1870, troops of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry attacked a Piegan Indian village on the Marias River killing many more than the army’s count of 173, most of them women, children, and old men. Intended as a retaliation against Mountain Chief’s renegade band, the massacre sparked public outrage when news sources revealed that the battalion had attacked Heavy Runner’s innocent village—even after guides told its inebriated commander, Major Eugene Baker, he was on the wrong trail. In his book—published by the University of Oklahoma Press—Bozeman author Paul R. Wylie explores the history of Euro-American involvement with the Piegans, beginning with the Hudson Bay Company in the 17th century and culminating in the tragic events on the Marias.