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61-598: The land where the Montana First Nation now sits near Wetaskiwin was originally set aside for the Bobtail Band of Indians. When the band was dispersed, the land was abandoned. [1] After it lay substantially vacant for a period of time, Little Bear , son of Cree chief Big Bear saw it as a place for his band, which had previously taken up residence in Montana (U.S.). Due to support from missionary John Chantler McDoubgall ,

122-413: A crowd of local citizens led by the mayor threatened them with jail if they did not leave the state. The sheriff escorted them to the fort, where the commanding officer at first refused to let them camp. Finally, Little Bear received permission to camp for one night, and the next morning, he spoke to Secretary of War Lamont through an interpreter. Lamont refused to take any action, either to help or to detain

183-461: A dam built for the purpose downstream of Basin. In addition to homes, Basin structures between 1906 and 1910 included a dance pavilion, a grandstand, a baseball diamond, and a playground near the confluence of Basin Creek with the river. A footbridge connected the playground with a picnic area on the south side of the river. Meeting places included churches, a union hall, and a two-story building shared by

244-804: A drug store, three hotels, a bath house, three grocery stores, a bank, a newspaper, and 12 saloons. An unpublished manuscript on file with the Montana State Historical Society describes life in Basin between 1906 and 1910 in great detail. Two railroads, the Northern Pacific on the north side of the Boulder River, and the Great Northern on the south side, served the city; both had depots and warehouses in Basin and carried passengers as well as freight. The Glass brothers' smelter had been set up on

305-559: A drugstore died with the end of our era of boom... Just above the town were the headframe of our mine, and the old mill, and the never-quite-finished skeleton of a projected smelter." The most extensive and successful mining of the Hope-Katy vein began in 1919, when the Jib Consolidated Mining Company began work on the property. When this company acquired the mines, they comprised 3,500 feet (1,067 m) of workings. Over

366-582: A few years placer mining extended the full lengths of Cataract and Basin Creeks. When a settlement was established in Basin, the buildings at the mouth of Cataract Creek were gradually moved to Basin, and the Cataract camp was abandoned. Searches for the lode veins on both creeks succeeded by the 1870s and eventually led to significant lode mining at the Eva May, Uncle Sam, Grey Eagle, Hattie Ferguson, and Comet mines in

427-723: A former bank and meeting hall and a former dry goods store converted to apartment and studio space. The organization sponsored annual art events including the American Indian Artists Symposium and the Basin City Jazz Art Experience, held in the Basin Community Hall. All types of artists, including potters, painters, musicians, dancers, singers, weavers, and writers, had residencies in Basin. The refuge closed in October 2011. The school districts for

488-565: A narrow canyon. The community is largely surrounded by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest . Basin Creek flows south through the center of Basin to its confluence with a larger stream, the Boulder River , which flows east along the south side of Basin. No paved roads except the interstate highway, which runs along the river canyon, connect Basin to other towns. About 10 miles (16 km) upstream on Basin Creek lies

549-470: A site near Clancy , 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Basin. From about 2000 BCE through the mid-19th century, nomadic tribes hunted bison in the grassy valleys that trend east, away from the Rocky Mountains and into the plains. By the time miners found gold in the streams in and near Basin, most of these tribes of Indians had been forced onto reservations by the U.S. government. Basin rests above

610-400: Is controversial because of the "well-documented ill effects of high-dose radiation on the body." In 1975, the Basin community formed water and sewer districts and, using federal grants to cover about 60 percent of the costs, built a water delivery, sewage, and waste-handling system. By 1990, Interstate 15 had replaced the entire length of U.S. Route 91 in the state. The centerline of

671-629: The Assiniboine and the Gros Ventres , and by the mid-18th century dominated the state. When the white explorers Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri River to Three Forks, they found only Blackfeet and Blackfeet allies. Heavily dependent on bison, the nomadic life of the Blackfeet "came to an abrupt end in the early 1880s when the buffalo became almost extinct." During the 1870s, a few years after

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732-693: The Babb, Montana region in 1885 and hid out on the Blackfeet reservation on the U.S. side of the line. At the time, the reservation stretched from the Continental Divide to the Dakota Territory border. Little Bear and his band were arrested at Fort Assinniboine in December 1885, but they were released upon orders from Washington, D.C. Little Bear's band spent most of the next two years near Fort Assinniboine, and

793-647: The Bering Land Bridge that existed during the last major Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. Because the middle of the continent was covered with sheets of ice, people who migrated south did so on trails along the edges of glaciers melted by seasonal warming. One such trail, called the Great North Trail, is thought to have followed the Rocky Mountain Front into Montana, passing close to Helena, 24 miles (39 km) north of Basin, and continuing into

854-533: The Boulder Batholith , extends from Helena to Butte, and is the host rock for the many valuable ores mined in the region. As the granite cooled, it cracked, and hot solutions infiltrated the cracks to form mineral veins bearing gold and other metals. Millions of years later, weathering allowed gold in the veins to wash down to the gravels in Basin Creek, Cataract Creek, and the other creeks near Basin, as well as

915-419: The Boulder Batholith , the host rock for many valuable mineral ores found in this part of Montana. After the town became a hub of gold and silver mining, Basin's population peaked at about 1,500 in the first decade of the 20th century but gradually declined as the mines were depleted. Abandoned mining equipment, closed or barricaded mine portals, and the ruins of a smelter and ore concentrator remain in Basin in

976-466: The Continental Divide in a high narrow canyon along Interstate 15 about halfway between Butte and Helena . Basin Creek flows roughly north to south through Basin and enters the Boulder River on the settlement's south side. The population was 212 at the 2010 census , down from 255 at the 2000 census . Archaeologists have discovered evidence of human habitation from 10,000 years ago at

1037-624: The Continental Divide . According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 12.7 square miles (33.0 km ), all land. In the late Cretaceous (roughly 81 to 74 million years ago), molten rock ( magma ) rose to the Earth's surface in and near what later became Jefferson County and eventually formed an intrusive body of granitic rock up to 10 miles (16 km) thick and 100 miles (161 km) in diameter. This body, known as

1098-652: The Fraternal Order of Eagles , the Independent Order of Odd Fellows , the Masons , and Eastern Star . Among the town's businesses were a hardware store, a bakery, livery stables, several "units of harlotry", a blacksmith shop, a brewery specializing in Basin Beer, a sawmill, and a dairy barn from which "milk was delivered in five-pound buckets", sometimes with covers. In 1909, after Heinze abandoned his properties in Basin,

1159-443: The census of 2000, there were 255 people, 113 households, and 69 families residing in the CDP. The population density was about 20 people per square mile (8/km ). The CDP contained 146 housing units. Basin's racial makeup was about 95% White , 2% Native American , and about 4% other. Hispanic or Latino persons of any race were 2% of the population. The population decreased to 212 by 2010 and to 199 as of

1220-431: The 21st century. Historic buildings from Basin's heyday form much of the core of the CDP's small business district, which includes a fire station, a post office, two restaurants, a bar, a commercial gallery, and small specialty shops. Basin has a small elementary school, its own water system, and a low-power radio station. Local volunteers and elected trustees provide limited services to the settlement, but it relies on

1281-576: The Boulder River. The Basin area is underlain by the quartz monzonite of the Boulder Batholith. The batholith is overlain by dacite from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (roughly 66 million to 1.8 million years ago) and andesite from the late Cretaceous. The andesite and monzonite are cut by dikes of dacite and rhyolite . Archeologists think it likely that the first people to live in Montana crossed from Asia to North America over

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1342-680: The Butte and Superior Mining Company used buildings and machinery at the site of the Basin Reduction Works to treat zinc ore by a new process called froth flotation . Sued for patent infringement, the company shut down its Basin plant in 1912. Max Atwater, a mining engineer who had worked for Butte and Superior, obtained a license for the process and ran a smaller zinc-extraction plant in Basin from 1914 through 1918. His wife, Mary Meigs Atwater , described Basin as "a mining camp, subject to recurring periods of boom and bust... A tiny telephone office and

1403-471: The CDP was $ 12,000. About 23% of families and 33% of the population were below the poverty line , including 56% of those under the age of 18 and 17% of those 65 or over. By 2020, the median household income had risen to $ 49,000. In 1993, a group of professional artists established the Montana Artists Refuge in Basin. The nonprofit organization offered artist residencies in two historic buildings,

1464-739: The Cataract Creek district and the Bullion, Hope, and Katy mines in the Basin Creek district. By 1880, the settlement at Basin became the local source of supplies for mines and miners. Two mines, the Katy and the Hope, owned serially by several different companies between the mid-1890s and the mid-1920s, contributed to Basin's prosperity. In 1894, the Basin and Bay State Mining Company, organized by two brothers named Glass, began expanded operations at these mines. However, flooding and fires caused both mines to close by 1896;

1525-717: The Cree of Montana. The Montana First Nation , with the Montana reserve at Maskiwacis, is the result. In 1910 Little Bear and his tribe returned to the States and joined the Rocky Boy Reservation . In 1909, the United States set aside a new Chippewa reservation within the Blackfeet reservation, in Montana, between Saint Mary Lake , Babb, and the Canada–US border. Chief Rocky Boy was the first to settle there, followed by Little Bear and

1586-564: The Crees went on a six-week tour with the show through twenty-three cities, ending in Bellevue, Kentucky . As Little Bear feared, the show went bankrupt, and the Crees were stranded. Unable to travel to Washington D.C., Little Bear settled for an audience with Secretary of War Daniel S. Lamont at Fort Thomas, Kentucky . En route to the fort, the Crees camped along the Ohio River at Taylor's Bottom, where

1647-524: The Crees, claiming that the war department had nothing to do with their predicament. Little Bear and his people retraced their steps to Cincinnati , where they signed a contract with the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens . The zoo paid them to camp on its grounds as an exhibit. Little Bear declined an offer for his people to stay at the zoo permanently, and by mid-July, the Crees had earned enough money to travel by train back to Montana. In 1896,

1708-523: The Glass brothers lost control of the property, and the mines went idle. Despite the ups and downs of the local mines and despite several disastrous fires in town, Basin prospered. In 1905, the Basin Reduction Company led by F. Augustus Heinze , who owned mines in Butte, took over the properties left by the Glass brothers and improved them. By then, Basin had a population of 1,500, four rooming houses,

1769-647: The Interstate followed the track of the former Great Northern Railway through town. In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency added the Basin mining area to the Superfund National Priorities List because of mining-waste problems in and near town. The mining area comprised the watersheds of Basin and Cataract Creek and part of the Boulder River. Contaminants included arsenic , copper, cadmium , lead and other metals. Cleanup of

1830-474: The Montana Wildest West Show as performers. It was a calculated gamble. Little Bear sought assurances that the show would travel to Washington, D.C., where he hoped to gain an audience with President Grover Cleveland and plead his people's case for a reservation. He feared that he and his people might end up stranded far from home. After much deliberation, Little Bear signed a six-month contract, and

1891-600: The Obelisk, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of town near the road that later became Interstate 15. July and August are typically the warmest months in Boulder , approximately 9 miles (14 km) east of Basin, while December and January are the coldest. May and June are the wettest months, when a total of about 4 inches (100 mm) of precipitation falls. Weather observations were recorded in Basin from June 1949 to November 1970, but only contained precipitation and snowfall data. As of

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1952-494: The United States deported Little Bear, Lucky Man and hundreds of other landless Cree and Ojibwas of Montana back to Canada. Little Bear and Lucky Man feared the death penalty for their participation in the attacks at Frog Lake. When they arrived in Canada, they were apprehended. One account has it they stood trial for their part in the massacre and were acquitted of the charges, while another says no charges were laid against Little Bear as

2013-541: The United States. They called for Little Bear and the Ojibwas he led to be deported to Canada. In 1888, the United States reduced the size of the Blackfeet reservation and divided it into three smaller reservations – the Blackfeet reservation, Fort Belknap reservation , and the Fort Peck reservation . Life got harder for Little Bear and his people, and they often went hungry. In 1895, Little Bear and his band joined

2074-559: The War, many Cree fled north to Canada and west into British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, but Little Bear and his family continued to live in extreme northern Montana at least for a time before Little Bear moved to Canada. In early 1885, Metis, led by Louis Riel, and some Cree living in the District of Saskatchewan fought and lost in the North-West Rebellion against Canada. During

2135-643: The animal populations the Clovis needed to survive. About 2,000 years ago, a new prehistoric people known as the Late Hunters appeared in Montana, thriving on a bison (buffalo) population living in open grassy areas on the plains and in river valleys. The earliest tribes are thought to have been the Kootenai , who stayed west of the Continental Divide, and the Flathead (Salish), and Pend d'Oreilles , who ventured east of

2196-402: The census of 2020. In 2000, 29% of the households included children under the age of 18; 51% were married couples living together, 5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39% were non-families. 33% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size

2257-770: The community are Basin Elementary School District and Jefferson High School District A public elementary school, Basin Grade School, serves about 20 students, pre- kindergarten through sixth grade. Older students attend school in Boulder. The town's small business district includes a bar, two restaurants, a traveler's inn, a wellness center, small specialty shops, and a pottery gallery. A low-power radio station, KBAS-LP , 98.3 FM, owned by Jefferson County Disaster and Emergency Services, broadcasts from Basin. County, state, and federal agencies provide most of

2318-527: The east-central part of the state. Evidence of these early Paleo-Indians or Clovis people has been found at three sites, one of them the McHaffie site near Clancy about 20 miles (32 km) north of Basin. The age of the Clancy artifacts is estimated to be 10,000 years. The Clovis people are thought to have disappeared in about 4,000 to 5,000 BCE when the Montana climate became more dry and would not support

2379-512: The establishment of Rocky Boy Reservation. After Rocky Boy Reservation was officially established in 1916, Little Bear became its first chairman. He was already an old man at the time. Little Bear died in 1921, at or nearly eighty years of age. Basin, Montana Basin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County , Montana , United States. It lies approximately 10 miles (16 km) southeast of

2440-680: The first white miners began looking for gold near Basin, the last large-scale battles between the U.S. government and the Indians took place in Montana. The Marias Massacre (also known as the Baker Massacre), occurred in 1870 about 150 miles (241 km) northeast of Basin. Others, the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Battle of the Rosebud , were fought in 1876 about 250 miles (402 km) from Basin in

2501-503: The government of Jefferson County for law enforcement and other services. From 1993 through 2011, Basin was home to the Montana Artists Refuge. Basin, in Jefferson County , is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area . It lies at an elevation of 5,364 feet (1,635 m) above sea level along Interstate 15 about 30 miles (48 km) by road north of Butte and 38 miles (61 km) south of Helena in

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2562-547: The government services available in Basin. Local residents serve as elected trustees of the Basin Fire District and its volunteer fire department. Elected trustees also oversee the Basin Water and Sewer District. The Jefferson County sheriff's department provides law enforcement, and other county departments offer trash removal and recycling, emergency management services, and road maintenance. The county health department has

2623-590: The land was granted to the Montana Band of Indians. [2] In 1909 the reserve was reduced in size to just 10 squre miles. The band is currently contesting that reduction. [3] There are two reserves under the governance of the band: This First Nations in Canada –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Alberta -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Little Bear (Cree) Little Bear (born âyimisîs, ᐋᔨᒥᓰᐢ or Macquettoquet - Little Big Bear)

2684-419: The magistrate said the evidence did not deem charges. (A Native by the name of Little Bear (Apaschiskoos) is listed among the eight Natives hanged on November 27, 1885, at Battleford . This may indicate that the government in fact hanged the wrong man for Little Bear's actions that day.) Little Bear settled in Canada perhaps at Onion Lake and in 1898 travelled, with John McDougall , to Ottawa to complain of

2745-558: The mid-1800s. He is sometimes confused with another Little Bear who was a Chief of the Chippewa tribe in the late 18th century and lived into the first half of the 19th Century, fighting with the British in 1813 against the Americans. One account has him being 43 years old in 1897, while another said Little Bear was already in his 70s in 1915. He may have been born in the early or mid-1840s. He

2806-400: The mills from upstream on the Boulder River. At the Basin Reduction Works, Corliss steam engines , driven by the coal-fired boilers, provided power to run the mine hoists and the mill machinery, and an electric generator powered by a water wheel made electricity for factory lights and the arc lights at Basin's street intersections. Surplus tailings were discharged into the river and into

2867-531: The mining company to trustees for creditors, and production declined. This was the last of Basin's mining booms. Since then, small-scale mining, reworking of old mine dumps, and placer mining has continued in the region. For about 50 years, the Merry Widow Health Mine in Basin and similar mines nearby have attracted people seeking relief from health problems such as arthritis through limited exposure to radioactive mine water and radon . The practice

2928-562: The mining wastes at the Buckeye-Enterprise, Crystal and Bullion mines in the Basin Creek and Cataract watersheds was completed in 2002, and the removal of mine waste from Basin was completed in 2004. Almost opposite the Hope-Katy complex on the south side of the Boulder River in Basin was the Katy Extension Mine on the north side. It produced ore from part of the Hope-Katy lode that had been displaced about 800 feet (240 m) to

2989-423: The mountains into and east of the Three Forks country, 46 miles (74 km) southeast of Basin. In the 17th century, the Crow entered Montana from the east and the Shoshone from the south. Pressed by other tribes retreating west from white European settlers, the Blackfeet moved into Montana around 1730. Acquiring horses and firearms, and numbering about 15,000, they formed alliances with other incoming tribes,

3050-425: The next five years, Jib expanded these to more than 15,000 feet (4,572 m), and in 1924 the company became the largest gold producer in Montana. In that year, the combined Jib mines produced about 33,000 ounces (940,000 g) of gold, 182,000 ounces (5,200,000 g) of silver, 282,000 pounds (128,000 kg) of copper, and 199,000 pounds (90,000 kg) of lead. In 1925, however, the Jib properties passed from

3111-441: The north by faulting . Other mines within 2 miles (3 km) of Basin included the Lotta, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of town along the route of Interstate 15; the Basin Bell (Latsch), about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of town along Basin Creek; the Boulder, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Basin on the south slope of Pole Mountain; the Mantle and South Mantle, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of town along Cataract Creek; and

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3172-405: The north side to process concentrated ore delivered by rail from out of town or from the mills on the south side. Infrastructure included a weight scale for ore cars and an overhead tram to carry ore across the river from the reduction mill to the smelter. Although the smelter was a "massive unit" equipped with furnaces, conveyors, and machinery ready for operation, it "never turned a wheel". While

3233-504: The officers sometimes hired the Crees to cut wood for the fort. Little Bear was considered the leader of the Ojibwas of the Basin, Montana region (southwest Montana). Little Bear's people visited the Flathead Reservation , which frustrated the Flathead Indians' agent Peter Ronan . The Crees' requests for a permanent home on either the Blackfeet or the Flathead reservation failed. Montana native and non-native peoples did not welcome Little Bear and his group, saying he had not been born in

3294-431: The people he led. In all, around 200 Chippewa and Cree people settled there. Since hundreds of Chippewas and Cree continued to remain landless, Rocky Boy and Little Bear stepped up their efforts to get another reservation set aside in Montana. Rocky Boy's brother, Pennahto, told Little Bear to request the old Fort Assinniboine Military Reservation be set aside as a new reservation. Neither Pennahto nor Rocky Boy lived to see

3355-399: The smelter sat idle, mining activity continued on the south side of the river in the Hope-Katy mine complex, at the Hope Mill, which crushed and separated ore, and at the Basin Reduction Works. Flumes carried water from upstream on Cataract Creek and Basin Creek to a storage reservoir in town and supplied water to the mills as well as the town's fire hydrants. A separate flume carried water to

3416-429: The southeastern part of the state. By then, most first peoples had been moved to reservations , which were far from Basin. The town of Basin began as a 19th century mining camp near the confluence of Basin Creek with the Boulder River. Gold deposits at the mouth of Cataract Creek, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) downstream of Basin were reported as early as 1862. Prospectors staked claims and built cabins, and within

3477-432: The time of the rebellion, Wandering Spirit and some other members of Big Bear's band — reportedly including Big Bear's son Little Bear — killed nine unarmed white civilians that were living at Frog Lake . This became known as the Frog Lake Massacre . After the rebellion ended, Little Bear and Lucky Man fled the Canadian authorities. The two gathered many of their people and journeyed back to Montana. They slipped through

3538-574: The treatment of his people by the government. He soon returned to Montana. Little Bear knew he had to follow the Chippewa leader Rocky Boy if the landless nations of Montana were to gain reservations. In 1902, Rocky Boy and Little Bear attempted to gain either a reservation or tribal recognition on the Flathead reservation. The bill to make the Flathead reservation for other landless tribes failed in 1904. In 1905, 1906, 1908, and around 1911 Little Bear, accompanied by missonary John Chantler McDougall , contacted Canadian leaders to request land for some of

3599-478: Was 2.93. The population was spread out in 2000, with 27% under the age of 18, 5% from 18 to 24, 29% from 25 to 44, 31% from 45 to 64, and 8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95 males. The median income for a household in 2000 for the CDP was $ 22,500, and the median income for a family was about $ 30,000. Males had a median income of $ 26,000 versus $ 16,000 for females. The per capita income for

3660-430: Was a Cree leader who lived in the District of Alberta , Idaho Territory , Montana Territory , and District of Saskatchewan regions of Canada and the United States, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is known for his participation in the 1885 North-West Rebellion , which was fought in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Son of tribal leader Big Bear , his exact date of birth is unknown, but some have assumed it to be in

3721-467: Was probably living in the Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming region in the 1850s. Little Bear said in Butte, Montana , in either 1912 or 1913, that his father lived along the Snake River in Idaho but relocated to the Butte region to hunt for buffalo and other wild game. Little Bear was said to have participated in the Great Sioux War of 1876 or Black Hills War. However, nearly all the battles of that war were fought in Montana and northeastern Wyoming. After

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