SQCC / CSKT — Beartracks Bridge — 4 Mar. 2021 — page 1 Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes March 4, 2021 Proposal to Rename Higgins Avenue Bridge in Missoula as Beartracks Bridge Historical Background In 2020, the Missoula County Commissioners approached the Tribal Council of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee to discuss the possibility of renaming the Higgins Avenue Bridge, which is now in the process of being reconstructed. Led by Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, the Commissioners were interested in a new name for the bridge that would help foster greater awareness and respect in the community for the long and continuing importance of the Missoula area to the CSKT. The County Commission’s outreach and consultation was welcomed by the CSKT Tribal Council and SQCC. Staff of the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee and members of the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Eldersdvisory A Council then conducted extensive research and held meetings to discuss potential new names. In June 2020, SQCC provided Tribal Council with an initial background paper, offering four or five possible names that emerged from that process. The name that has finally been chosen, however, did not appear on the earlier list. On Wednesday, January 27, 2021, SQCC elders reached unanimous consensus on a new name: Beartracks Bridge, in honor of both the Vanderburg family and the Salish people as a whole. Beartracks is a name steeped in Salish history and culture. It is also of direct relevance to the site of the bridge itself, which figured prominently in one of saddest episodes in our history — what is often called the Salish “Trail of Tears.” In October 1891, the U.S. government forced some 300 Salish people to leave our Bitterroot Valley homeland and move north to the Flathead Reservation. To this day, that time is remembered with a deep sense of grief by our elders. The head chief of the Salish, Sɫm̓x̣e Q̓͏ʷox̣͏ʷqeys (Claw of the Small Grizzly — Chief Charlo) had resisted removal from the Bitterroot for many years, but finally felt he had no choice for the well-being of the people. To keep the journey as organized and safe as possible, Chief Charlo had the people move in three groups, one of which he led, one which he placed under the command of one of the LaMooses, and one that he put under the command of sub-chief Louis Vanderburg. The three groups passed through the Missoula area at different spots. Mr. Vanderburg led his group across the Clark Fork River at or adjacent to the Higgins Bridge. At the time, it was a rickety, hazardous structure, since a newer bridge was still under construction and would not be completed until 1892 or 1893. So while some of the Vanderburg group may have crossed on the bridge, others forded the river, a skill for which the Salish were renowned in the annals of the nineteenth century. The key fact is that during their forced march to the Jocko Valley, Louis Vanderburg and a large contingent of the Salish — all of them grieving the loss of the ancient tribal homeland — came north at this very place. SQCC / CSKT — Beartracks Bridge — 4 Mar. 2021 — page 2 Louis Vanderburg’s Salish name was Lk͏ʷut Smx̣e (Far Away Grizzly).1 Born about 1815,2 he married a woman whose English name was Mary Beartrack. She was with her husband as he led the people across the river on that sad day.3 Mary’s father was Sx͏ʷúytis Smx̣e, meaning Grizzly Bear Tracks. In English, Sx͏ʷúytis Smx̣e was known as Alexander Beartrack, or simply Beartrack or Beartracks — and so for the many descendants of Mary’s marriage to Louis, Beartracks has been the family’s Indian name. Mary Beartrack Vanderburg’s father, Sx͏ʷ͏͏úytis Smx̣e, was a sub-chief under The only known image of some of the Salish Nation fording the Xweɫx̣ƛ̓cín (Many Horses– Chief Victor), Bitterroot River during the forced removal in October 1891. (University of Pennsylvania Museum, image S4-143389) the famed leader of the confederated Salish, upper Kalispel, and Kootenai tribes in the 1855 Hellgate Treaty negotiations. Sx͏ʷ͏͏úytis Smx̣e himself signed both the Hellgate Treaty in July 1855 and the Judith River or Lame Bull Treaty in October 1855. Gustavus Sohon, an artist and translator during the treaty negotiations, noted that Sx͏ʷúytis Smx̣e was “a very brave and daring man.” Sohon wrote that “decision is written in every line of his countenance.” Sx͏ʷ͏úytis Smx̣e was also a spiritual leader whose powers were of crucial importance to the Salish people in both hunting and in battles with enemy tribes. His powers were so great, and came to be so widely known and respected among all tribes, that if an enemy was considering attacking a Salish camp but discovered that Sx͏ʷúytis Smx̣e was present, they would abandon their plans. Sx͏ʷúytis Smx̣e was born about 1790, and died in the 1880s, when he was Sx͏ʷuytis Smx̣e — Grizzly Bear Tracks, 1854. over 90 years old.4 (Gustavus Sohon portrait, National Anthropological Archives) The Beartracks name extends at least one generation farther back in Salish history. Tribal elders in the early twentieth century told stories of an earlier Sx͏ʷ͏͏úytis Smx̣e, a sub-chief in the late eighteenth century.5 He apparently was the father of Alexander Beartracks, and was apparently a sub-chief under at least two head chiefs: K͏wtíɫ ʔaá (Gyrfalcon), who was killed about 1795, and his successor, Čeɫl Sq̓ey̓mí (Three Eagles). SQCC / CSKT — Beartracks Bridge — 4 Mar. 2021 — page 3 Three Eagles was the head chief in 1805, when Lewis and Clark met the Salish at K͏ʷtíɫ P̓upƛ̓m̓ (Big Open — Ross’s Hole). When Salish scouts spotted the approaching group of strangers, Čeɫl Sq̓ey̓mi instructed his warriors to do no harm to the visitors and instead welcome them into the camp. Chief Three Eagle’s decision set the precedent for Salish diplomatic and strategic policy ever since: a disciplined commitment to peace and non-violence toward non-Indians, but also a determined and fierce insistence on tribal sovereignty and tribal rights. Especially through such a traumatic historical period, the chiefs needed the support, loyalty, and assistance of their sub-chiefs. From the first Beartracks, to Alexander Beartracks, to Louis Vanderburg, to Victor Vanderburg, to Vanderburg elders today, leaders from the Beartracks / Vanderburg family have served in that crucial and honorable role, helping the head chiefs keep the people unified. Lk͏ʷut Smx̣e (Far Away Grizzly — Louis Vanderburg) was a trusted sub-chief to Salish head chief Sɫṃx̣e Q̓͏ʷox̣wqeys (Claw of the Little Grizzly — Chief Charlo). Mr. Vanderburg was a key participant in numerous negotiations with the government, delegations to Washington and Helena, and other efforts to protect and defend the sovereignty and continuance of the Salish nation during an extremely difficult period in tribal history. He stood with Chief Charlo through decades of resistance against the government’s attempts to force the Salish nation to leave the Bitterroot Valley. Recognizing the importance of the Salish remaining unified, Mr. Vanderburg also stood against entreaties from other tribal members that would have divided the people and undermined Chief Charlo. As Louis’s son Čicnmtú (Victor Vanderburg) later related, “Several of the Indians made offers to my father, Louis Vanderberg [sic], to lead the people over to the Jocko. He 1884 delegation to Washington. turned them all down and said Back row: Hand Shot Off (John Hill), Peter Ronan, Nk̓͏ʷuʔ Sx͏ʷí (One Man that Charlot was the chief of Walking—Michel Revais). Middle row: Sq̓leps Sk͏ʷalší (Sandhill Crane’s Necklace—Antoine Moiese), Sɫm̓x̣e Q̓͏ʷox̣wqeys (Claw of Little Grizzly — the Bitterroot Salish and that he Chief Charlo), Lk͏ʷút Smx̣e (Far-Away Grizzly — Louis Vanderburg. Front: [Louis] would not go until Charlo Reddish Beard or Red Arm (Thomas Abel Adams). (MHS, photo 954-526) went.”6 SQCC / CSKT — Beartracks Bridge — 4 Mar. 2021 — page 4 Louis Vanderburg also stood with Chief Charlo in fighting false allegations that the chief had signed the so-called “Garfield Agreement” of 1872, which set terms for the relocation of the Salish to the Flathead Reservation. Chief Charlo, backed by Vanderburg and other Salish leaders and warriors, steadfastly refused to put his hand to the paper, despite James Garfield’s threats of violence. Consistent with Garfield’s instructions, official printed copies of the agreement with an “x” mark next to Chief Charlo’s name. Chief Charlo denied signing, and was vilified in Montana’s press as a liar and treaty breaker. In 1883, he was finally vindicated when a senator tasked a clerk with digging up the original field copy of the agreement. Through it all, and despite worsening conditions, Louis Vanderburg and the majority of the Salish people remained with their chief in the Bitterroot Valley.7 In 1889, as conditions for the Salish became truly dire, and as US Original 1872 Garfield Army General Henry Carrington arrived to force the issue of removal, Agreement, showing no “x” by Louis Vanderburg did offer his respectful advice to Chief Charlo. Mr. Chief Charlo’s name. (NARA) Vanderburg told the Chief that for the survival of the people and the nation, they should now consent to move north to the Flathead Reservation. As Chief Charlo’s son and successor as head chief, Martin Charlo, later related, “One of the leaders of the Salish, Vanderberg [sic], asked my father to take us over [to the Jocko]. He said that the time had come for us to go.” So highly did Chief Charlo value and respect Louis Vanderburg’s counsel that Martin Charlo recalled it was only at that point that “My father sent word that we would move.”8 Louis Vanderburg died in August 1923 at the age of 108.