CHARLIE CONRAD: WHISKEY TRADER?

THE WHISKEY TRADE:  It is a sore point with many, and rightly so, for the whiskey trade finished what smallpox had begun and the Blackfoot Confederation was nearly wiped out. It is a shameful chapter in the history of the West, to be sure, a tale of greed and prejudice which has been all too often repeated in the history of the world, made worse by the fact that the liquid dispensed was not always whiskey as you and I know it, but often a lethal swill made from whatever was at hand that could give it the proper color and “kick,” although there were a few traders that actually sold real whiskey to the Indians. Two such were Joe Kipp and James Willard Schultz[1], and although the effects were much tamer, in the long run, it was still bad for the native peoples. But what was Charlie’s role in this sordid tale?

The standard position taken in most recent books on the whiskey trade seems to be that all white traders were ipso facto whiskey traders. It seems that the concept of an honest and moral trader is anathema to the academicians, yet such a thing should not be unthinkable, though I admit such a person would be a rara avis in that place at that time. We are still researching this vexing situation, but I will state that I do not think that Charlie Conrad traded whiskey to the Indians. I may be proven wrong in time, but I do not think so.

It has been pointed out repeatedly that the I. G. Baker Co. stocked whiskey at Ft. Benton as if this fact alone was sufficient to prove that they were trading it to the aboriginal population. However, it should be noted that Baker had a booming trade with the local saloons and populace, as in addition to its use as a method to help one forget one's troubles, it also doubled as a cheap medicine, whether as a topical or an internal. Some folks would give their children a shot of whiskey for a cold, a practice that held on at least until my wife's childhood! The whiskey that the Baker Co. stocked was choice, quality stuff intended for legal sale only.

Let us ask this question: Who better knew who sold whiskey of any sort to the tribes, the would-be recipients or later historians?

It should be obvious that the tribes themselves certainly knew who sold them whiskey—and who did not. They were fully aware of Charlie’s character and chose him as their representative during the Ceded Strip negotiations because of this knowledge.[2]  Further, in discussing how the Indians regarded Charlie, Judge Dudley DuBose stated, “All of the Indians there know him personally and have dealt with him for years.... Mr. Conrad, although he traded with the Indians, never traded in contraband goods with them, and always dealt fairly with them; and, as one of them expressed it to me, the Indians know who their friends are.”[3]  The Rev. John McDougall, a man who was in the forefront of the fight against the whiskey traders also stated that Charlie and the I. G. Baker Co. had never sold whiskey to the Indians.[4] For these and several other reasons, we presently believe that Charlie was never directly or indirectly involved in the whiskey trade.

— Richard L. Hardesty, 9/17/22

NOTES

1.    Blackfeet and Buffalo, Norman: Univ. Oklahoma Press, 1982, p. 54. “They operated out of Ft. Conrad (or Conrad’s Post), which Kipp had purchased from I. G. Baker & Co. It had been built by Charley Conrad in 1875 and was named for him.”

2.    Charlie was chosen by the chiefs of the Piikuni to represent them as their attorney-of-fact in the negotiations with the Federal government for that portion of their lands which came to be called “the Ceded Strip” and which later became the eastern half of Glacier National Park. He was chosen for his character as stated in the contract: “... because they have full confidence in his fidelity, impartiality and honor, ....” Contract between Chas. Conrad and the Blackfeet Indians. Conrad, Campbell & Stanford Family Papers, K. Ross Toole Archives, University of Montana, Missoula. 185/I(2)/3/13.

3.    Letter to Secretary of the Interior, Hoke Smith from Hon. Dudley DuBose, Ft. Benton. Conrad, Campbell & Stanford Family Papers, K. Ross Toole Archives, University of Montana, Missoula. 185/I(2)/3/13. 
    Judge DuBose was the District Judge for  the 10th Judicial District, Ft. Benton. Fourth & last-born child of Brig. Gen. Dudley McIver DuBose & Sarah Toombs of Georgia, Judge DuBose served as a U. S. Senator from Georgia prior to moving to Montana.

 

4.    “The [Canadian] Government alone for many years was a large source of business and income for this active firm, [i. e., I. G. Baker & Co..] and as they did not deal and had not dealt in intoxicating liquors of any kind, we could not but be in hearty sympathy with them.” McDougall, John. On Western Trails in the Early Seventies. Toronto: William Briggs, 1911. Pg 212-213.
    The Rev. McDougall had taken refuge with Charlie and Col Macleod in Charlie’s store at the newly established NWMP post at Ft. Macleod in late November of 1875 and was reflecting on Charlie and his business. 

Copyright ©2022 Richard L. Hardesty. All Rights Reserved

WHO WAS CHARLIE CONRAD'S FIRST WIFE?

CHARLES EDWARD CONRAD'S first wife and the mother of his first-born son, Charles Edward Conrad, Jr. (Edward hereinafter) has been thought to have been known for many years. The Conrad family knows her as Sings-in-the-middle Woman and this is the name reported in James Murphy’s Half-Interest in a Silver Dollar (Missoula [MT]: Mountain Press, 1983). This name appears to have been taken from James Willard Schultz’s book, Blackfeet and Buffalo (Norman: Univ. Oklahoma Press, 2nd  printing, [1968], p. 295.),[1] wherein a woman of that name is identified as wife to Spotted Cap, the name by which C. E. Conrad was known to the Piikuni (Southern Piegan)[2]  and she was said to be a woman of the Blood tribe. 

Her name has also been reported as Sits-in-the-middle Woman, but I have found nothing to document that name, so must consider it as dubious.

There is yet a third similar name that has been documented. Charles Price Hubbard was an early resident of Ft. Benton, arriving there in 1860 and knew, or was familiar with, most of the folk in Benton and kept extensive diaries and notes. His son was William P. Hubbard. In a letter to Joel Overholser of Ft. Benton dated Sept. 10, 1971,[3] William Hubbard quoted from his father’s diary a list of those involved in the fur trade whom his father had known and with whom he had worked.

The list began with Alexander Culbertson[4]  and included Joe Kipp[5] and many others whose names are well-known to historians. The entry that interests us is as follows:  “Charles Conrad, called by the Piikuni Spotted Cap, and his Blood tribe wife, Sings-in-the-water Woman....” [emphasis added].

Interesting as these names are, they are English translations of the name by which she was known by the Piikuni of Montana, which likely was not the name by which she was known by her own people, the Kainai (Bloods) of Canada.

Research has yielded two instances of the use of her Blood name. The first instance is in Edward’s baptismal record[6] from Cluny, Alberta. The second instance is in Edward’s marriage record[7] from Montreal. In both cases, it is spelled as the French pronounce it, Cayoise. This name in the Kainai language is Kaiyis,[8] which translates into English as ‘Dried Meat.’[9] While not nearly as romantic as any of the above-given Piikuni names, it has the benefit of being the historically accurate name by which she was known among her own people.

So now we know her name, both as the Piikuni called her and as she was known to her own people. Yet, this does not tell us who she was. Where did she fit into the tribe? Who was her father? Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any documentation for any of her relations. A careful and thorough review of extant records pertaining to the Kainai by Dr. Hugh A. Dempsey have turned up nothing[10]and we have not found anything about her elsewhere other than that which is recorded herein.

So many questions about this woman remain unanswered and we are no closer to knowing who she was, and until we are, she will be a tantalizing enigma, and we will be the poorer for our ignorance of her.

--- Richard L. Hardesty. Copyright ©2022.  All Rights Reserved

NOTES

1.  The book was written much earlier but not published until 1962 and reprinted.

2.  This name is recorded several times in Schultz, op. cit.  The Piikuni version of the name is given on p. 173 of that work. The Blackfoot Confederacy was comprised of the following tribes: in Montana , the Piikuni (Southern Piegan); in Canada, the Piikani ( Northern Piegan), the Kainai (Blood), and Siksika (Blackfoot). The Piegans were also called Blackfeet. Two other tribes were often allied with the Confederacy, the Tsúùtínà (Sarcee) and the A'aninin (Gros Ventre).

3.  Letter and related materials in the collections of the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research Center, Fort Benton, Montana.

4.  Mr. Culbertson built the original fur trading post of Fort Benton and is considered the founder of the town of that name.

5.  Joseph (Joe) Kipp was, among many other things, a scout for the Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP) and much ink has been spilled about this fascinating man. Born 1849, his father was James Kipp, an important early fur trader at Ft. Union & elsewhere, and his mother was Earth Woman, a Mandan.

6.  Cluny, Sainte-Trinité, Registre des baptêmes des Blackfoot, 1865-1915. Missionary Oblates, Grandin Archives at the Provincial Archives of Alberta, Accession, PR1971.220, Box 252, Item 2489.

7.  Actes d’état civil et registres d’église du Québec (Collection Drouin), 1621 à 1967. Gabriel Drouin, comp.  Drouin  Collection.  Montreal,  Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

8.  Jack Holterman, in  King of the High Missouri, [Helena and Billings: Falcon Press, 1987], (p. 191). The Kainai rendering of the French approximation and English translation was provided to Mr. Holterman by Dr. Hugh A. Dempsey, Chief Curator Emeritus of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, and author of Red Crow: Warrior Chief.

9.  Per Dr. Dempsey, supra. Such a name sounds odd to non-native ears, but we should remember that it was traditional that the father of a new-born child most often would name the baby after the first thing he saw while holding the child for the first time. That is the reason that some names were common, such as Black Kettle. Often the child would be given another name later in life, perhaps several over the course of its life.

10.  Dr. Hugh A. Dempsey, Pers. comm. late May, 2012.