Community Stories
Fort Berthold

The Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 allocated land to individual tribal members and declared the rest of the land, once set aside by the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1851, as surplus and open to European settlement. By the 1920s, Native people had made the transition from "hunters of the plains" to ranchers and cowboys. Federal Indian policy promoted agricultural development and programs were set up to further this goal. Because of their skills as horsemen, the Fort Berthold ranchers began to compete in rodeos, and many became well known in the area's rodeo circuit.

Martin Old Dog (Hidatsa) and Howard Wanna (Dakota/Lakota), Indian cowboys, 1927 Courtesy of the Three Tribes Museum

Group of early Indian cowboys, 1920 Back row left to right: Charles Blake, Sr. (Hidatsa) and Joe Wheeler (Hidatsa). Front row left to right: David Packineau (Hidatsa) and Jack Nagel (Nueta) Courtesy of the Three Tribes Museum

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Fort Berthold | Okanagan | Wood Mountain

Introduction | Early Ranching | Ranching Life | Contemporary Ranching Life | Community Stories | Transition to Rodeo

SACRED BEINGS | RANCHING | ENTERTAINMENT | RODEO | ARTS AND INDUSTRIES