72
D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 - 2 0 2 6
cantly on both an intra- and
intertribal basis. T. Hartley
Crawford, who succeeded
William Clark as Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs,
advanced one of the most
plausible estimates. Craw-
ford reported that approxi-
mately 17,200 Assiniboines,
Blackfeet, Mandans, Hidat-
sas, and Arikaras had "sunk
under the smallpox." Pilcher
offers a less precise but more
visceral perspective, stating
that the pox transformed the
Upper Missouri into "one
great grave yard."
Why was this epidemic so deadly? For tribes like the Mandan,
who had not been exposed to smallpox since 1781, only the el-
derly retained immunity. Interpreted through the lens of sub-
sequent medical research, Denig's account of the Assiniboine
outbreak resurrects a highly
suspicious culprit. Accord-
ing to this eyewitness, "two-
thirds or more [of Assini-
boine fatalities occurred]
before any eruption [of pus-
tules] appeared. This event
was always accompanied
by hemorrhages from the
mouth and ears."
Those characteristics were
hallmarks of hemorrhagic
smallpox, the rarest and most
lethal manifestation of vario-
la. If Denig had also refer-
enced massive subcutaneous
bleeding, which caused skin to assume a charred or blackened
appearance, evidence for a diagnosis of hemorrhagic smallpox
would be even stronger. In any event, let us pray that Montana
is never targeted again by a pathogen as deadly as variola.
TRIBES INDIGENOUS TO MONTANA AND THE NORTHERN PLAINS
WERE AFFLICTED BY TWO VIRGIN-SOIL EPIDEMICS THAT RESULTED IN MORTALITY RATES
EQUAL TO, IF NOT GREATER THAN, THOSE CAUSED BY THE BLACK DEATH.
