Small pox epidemic of Assiniboine tribes
In the summer of 1837 an American Fur Trading Company steamboat laden with trade goods, made its way from St Louis to Fort Union. Small pox broke out among the crew but the boat continued to its destination. Contact with the steamboats crew during the distribution of trade goods exposed the Wichiyabina or Little Girls Band of Assiniboine, starting a terrible epidemic which eventually affected all of the tribes of what is now northeastern Montana. Many of the tribes had never been exposed to this virulent European disease and were extremely susceptible. The disease seemed to strike the young,vigorous and most-able bodied family members with such swiftness that burial in many cases was impossible. Ninety-four percent of the Wichiyabina of Little Girl's Band of Assiniboine died. By the winter of 1838,when the disease had run its course, the Wichiyabina or Little Girl's Band were no more. The 80 remaining Band members banded with other small pox survivors and formed the RedBottom Band (Hudesabina) of Assiniboines. Today the Assiniboine people still mourn the untimely passing of so many of their ancestors, innocent victims of this dreadful pestilence.HM Number | HM29WR |
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Tags | |
Historical Period | 18th Century |
Historical Place | Indian Reservation |
Marker Type | Memorial |
Marker Class | Historical Marker |
Marker Style | Interpretative Marker / Sign |
Placed By | Montana Highway Department |
Marker Condition | 10 out of 10 (1 reports) |
Date Added | Thursday, August 2nd, 2018 at 4:46pm PDT -07:00 |
Directions Information | 1/3 mile east of Frazer, Montana on north side of highway #2 |
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Location Description | across the north side of Frazer pow wow grounds along highway 2 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 13U E 424117 N 5323421 |
Decimal Degrees | 48.05955880, -106.01843450 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 48° 3.5735', W 106° 1.1061' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 48° 3' 34.4117" N, 106° 1' 6.3642" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 406 |
Can be seen from road? | Yes |
Is marker in the median? | No |
Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling West |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 57260 US-2, Frazer MT 59225, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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