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"From one of our most beloved, respected writers on Canada's past: a visionary yet rip-roaringly entertaining tale of the last years of the Canadian West. In 1885 in what we now call Canada, two significant things happened: the last spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway and Louis Riel, Metis leader, was executed for treason. Today, these events are seen as defining the early development of the "Dominion"--And indeed they were signs that Canada was beginning its settlement of First Nations territory, forever altering the Canadian West. But before the deep forests and dry plains of the Northwest Territories became metropolitan backyards, who lived in these far-off hinterlands? This is the story of Fort MacLeod, a small town nestled in the foothills of modern-day Alberta at the heart of Blackfoot territory in the two decades leading up to the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is a tale of the remarkable, colourful individuals who made their homes there--First Nation and Metis, rancher and settler--and the short period of constructive peace they created. Individuals like John Cowdry, Fort MacLeod's first mayor and hero of its first bank robbery; or Crop Eared Wolf, the legendary Kainai (Blood) warrior and mastermind of some of the greatest horse heists on the northern plains; or Jerry Potts, plainsman, guide and idiosyncratic interpreter for the Northwest Mounted Police who straddled the worlds of the white settlers and his Blackfoot heritage. This curious and contradictory community was home to roundups and polo matches, tea dances and sun dances, bibles and medicine bundles, where one could hear Blackfoot drums, read the latest news journals from London, and get a drink at the local hotel where you might meet Francis Dickens, son of the novelist, or Henry Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid, at the bar. This is a never-before-told story of Canada, not only what it was, but, as Chamberlin shows, also what it could be."--… (more)
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If I know little about American history, I know next to nothing about Canada’s history. The Banker and the Blackfoot offers a peak into a tiny piece of the shared history of the two countries. Trading was a vital part of growth throughout the West and the various forts that dotted the landscape were the conduits for that trade and information.
This book is more a tale of Canada than the US but it is still a cross border story involving the Blackfoot tribe. I am not going to do a better job recounting the subject matter than the official synopsis so I will just refer you back to it. Fort McCleod was not familiar to me which of course rolls back to my abysmal track record on Canadian history. Fort Benton on the American side is in Montana and while I have not visited I’ve driven by – these two installations form the pivot points of the book.
The people populating the tale are quite an intriguing bunch; sometimes as they say, truth is stranger than fiction. It was a rough and wild time and so therefore there are some rough and wild folk who populated the area. But there were also plain, hardworking people. As we all know with the hindsight that comes from looking back, there were a lot of people who were out to just make a lot of money and who set out to steal what they could from the people of the First Nations.
This story does offer a small slice of time when people of different colors and cultures actually managed to get along. It didn’t last but there was glimmer of possibility. And of hope.
I found myself a little confused in the beginning (I did read the first 4 chapters all at once) until I figured out who was who but once I did it was much easier to maintain interest. It was a very interesting period in the West’s history, not to mention a contentious one. Neither country – the US or Canada – treated the Native Americans/First Peoples with any kind of respect. In fact, as we all know they were treated as badly as a people could be treated.
The Banker and the Blackfoot is an interesting look into a pivotal period in the history of the North American West. Full of the kind of characters you would expect from the time it shows that some tried to do what was right even when most were out for themselves.