The Old North Trail: Life, Legends, and Religion of the Blackfeet Indians

In 1886 Walter McClintock went to northwestern Montana as a member of a U.S. Forest Service expedition. He spent the next four years living on the Blackfoot Reservation, the adopted son of Chief Mad Dog, the high priest of the Sun Dance. The Old North Trail records McClintock's experiences among the Blackfeet. Describing daily life, hunts, and ceremonials, it is enriched by vignettes of warriors and medicine men, legends and mythical stories, reminiscences of the missionary Father De Smet, and valuable information on such subjects as societies, proper names, songs, and beliefs. Since its first publication in 1910 it has remained the source par excellence on these proud people of the northern plains.