Swan Valley Massacre of 1908

With the rise of the fur trade with Europeans in the late eighteenth century, many Salish and Pend d’Oreilles became involved as trappers and traders.

In the early 19th century, Jesuit Catholic missionaries, primarily French-speaking, came to live among the Salish in the Bitterroot Valley with the intent of converting the natives.

According to the 1855 treaty, the confederated tribes retained the right to hunt, gather, and fish in their aboriginal territory, some of which was outside the reservation boundaries.

After Montana acquired statehood in 1889, it established its own hunting and fishing regulations, to be enforced by game wardens.

In September 1908 a party of eight Pend d’Oreille entered the ancient hunting grounds of the Swan Valley on the eastern side of the Mission Mountain range.

Before they had left the reservation, they purchased state hunting permits to avoid trouble, although this was not required under the Hellgate Treaty.

Peyton returned the next day with guns drawn, and demanded that the Pend d'Oreille leave by the next morning.

Peyton shot Camille Paul and Atwen, the two leaders of the party, who were unable to reach their guns.