Tragedy on the Montana Frontier

In Blood on the Marias: The Baker Massacre (University of Oklahoma Press, $29.95), Paul R. Wylie has given us an outstanding look into a tragic chapter in Montana history. From traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company and explorers Lewis and Clark, Wylie carefully unravels a delicate weave of events that progressed over several decades. The peacemakers on both sides could not overcome those who disagreed with them. The proximity of the Canadian border added to the misunderstanding of cultural differences between factions. Wylie has translated his exhaustive research into an engaging saga culminating in the annihilation of over 200 peaceful Piegans in their winter camp of 1870.

—Jefferson Glass, author of RESHAW—The Life and Times of John Baptiste Richard