From this week’s Hungry Horse News . . .
Back in 1872 a Salish and Kootenai Warrior named Running Coyote was on the outs with the tribe. He had a wife on one side of the divide and a Blackfeet wife on the other side of the divide.
In an attempt to make amends, Running Coyote along with Blackfeet Warriors Greengrass Bull, Boy Chief and Calf Tail captured several buffalo calves near Buffalo Lake on Blackfeet lands and took them over the Continental Divide to the Salish and Kootenai as a gift.
It didn’t work out for Running Coyote, he still wasn’t forgiven. But the buffalo remained and two other men, Michel Pablo and James Allard took possession of the herd. About 26 years later, the reservation was opened up to homesteading and the free-ranging herd of about 300 animals had to go.