David Murray

dmurray@greatfallstribune.com

In a state with such a proud Native American history, it is surprising how few of Montana's major place names honor native peoples. Over the past 15 years there has been an organized effort to remove derogatory words like "squaw" and "halfbreed" from the map of Montana, and replace them with names that are more respectful. Below is a short list of Montana place names that honor our native peoples and their history.

• Sacrifice Cliff: There are several variations of the tale on how this large sandstone cliff south of Billings was named. The most common is how in the 1830s, two Crow Indian brothers returned to their village on the Yellowstone River to find that most of their friends and family were either dead or dying from smallpox. In a desperate attempt to appease the gods and save their people from the epidemic, they blindfolded their horses and rode full speed off the 60-foot cliff to their deaths.

• Charlo: Originally called Big Flat, the name of the town south of Polson was changed in 1918 to honor Chief Charlo of the Salish tribe. Always seeking peace with the white settlers, Charlo held out from moving his people away from their beloved homeland in the Bitterroot Valley for decades. Charlo and a small remnant of his tribe finally were forced onto the Flathead Indian Reservation by soldiers from Fort Missoula in 18

91.

• Ekalaka: The county seat of Carter County is named for the niece of Red Cloud, the Oglala Sioux war chief who led his people in a successful campaign to close the Bozeman Trail between Wyoming and Montana. In , Red Cloud's niece, Ijkalaka, married David Russell, who opened a store and saloon in the far southeastern corner of Montana Territory in 1885. Russell named the settlement that sprang up around his business in honor of his wife.

• Bird Woman Falls: Several Montana landmarks are named in honor of the young Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark during their exploration of North America. None is as beautiful as Bird Woman Falls in Glacier National Park. The name Sacagawea is thought to be derived from two Shoshone words meaning "boat launcher." After she was kidnapped by the Hidatsa in 1800, that tribe reinterpreted Sacagawea's name to fit their own language, matching it to two Hidatsa words meaning "bird woman."

• Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation: In 1885, Chippewa, Cree and Metis refugees of the failed Riel Rebellion entered Montana from Canada. For the next 30 years these "landless" Indians wandered Montana, appearing in Havre, Great Falls, Helena and Butte. Under the leadership of Chief Stone Child, the Chippewa/Cree people were finally able to establish a reservation southwest of Havre in 1916. The name Rocky Boy is a corruption of Chief Stone Child's actual name.

• Saltese: Originally called Silver City, town residents renamed their community 'Saltese' in 1891 in honor of the revered chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. In 1858, Chief Saltese led a combined force of Coeur d'Alene, Palouse and Spokane warriors against U.S. Army forces led by Col. Edward Steptoe. South of present-day Spokane, at the Battle of Pine Creek, Saltese's forces defeated Steptoe's command of 159 men, who were only able to escape annihilation by fleeing under the cover of night during a driving rain storm.