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Fallon County - Indigenous Science and Paleontology

Background Info/ Historical Story:

“Signs of the plains. Signs of what? Signs that creatures other than mere animals had passed that way. In the grasses, on the hill-tops, among the rocks, in dry washes and on exposed surfaces, in fact almost anywhere, one may find spear points and arrow heads of different sizes, shapes and materials. One may find war clubs, hammers of stone, scrapers and small mortars. Some of these are on the surface and some are dug out of crevices or caves, and others are often turned up by farm machinery. Then there are the pottery remains. Some of these have been found among the Medicine Rocks and in other places, though they are not plentiful. Any Indians found living here after the coming of the white man did not make pottery. They preferred to dig a pit and line it with a heavy buffalo hide filled with water and hot rocks. They also carried the meat and water in skin bags, so it is believed that the pottery must have been made by people of a much more ancient race. Inscriptions have also been found on cliffs and on cave walls. Some of the earliest pioneers tell of inscriptions being seen on the Medicine Rocks. They were of Indian origin and no longer visible. [Editor's Note-in our story of Medicine Rocks is a picture of carvings and pictures taken since 1940.] Many people have seen the patterns of rocks found in and around the country. They are not haphazard formations but have been laid in rings, squares and wedges and other designs, which indicate some definite purpose behind their placing. In many places on the plains have been found the remains of "piskuns," or buffalo drives. There is an old legend among the Plains Tribes that once, way back in the dim past, the Indians were very hungry. They had secured no meat for many days. One night a very little old, old woman had a vision. She dreamed that an animal friend of hers, to whom she had been kind, appeared to her and instructed her how to arrange a "piskun " or buffalo drive. In the morning she reported her dream to the men of the camp. Since the Indians believed in dreams, the instructions were immediately carried out. They located a steep declivity, secured large boulders and arranged them in two walls which ended at the edge of the cliff. Having completed this work, they located a buffalo herd and started it toward the cliff. Many of the buffalo were forced between the rock walls and on over the cliff where they piled up at the bottom. The tribe was saved from starvation and Indians continued, for no one knows how long, to use this method of hunting buffalo.”- O’Fallon Flashbacks, 1940 by Lorene E. Kirschten

  • It is important to note the language that is being used to describe the Indigenous people of Montana. It is dismissive and patronizing. There is a wealth of Indigenous history in the Fallon County area, thankfully we can appreciate it and do it in a more respectful manner.

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