James Willard Schultz

Dreadful River Cave

"Schultz in 'The Dreadful River Cave, ' has presented another of his inimitable Indian stories. Having been adopted by the Blackfoot tribe and lived among them for years, he is well qualified to write." Oakland Tribune, Jan. 16, 1921 "The story of Black Elk, a young brave and his exciting adventures...Schultz is one of the last of the old frontiersmen and Indian fighters...joined a tribe of Blackfeet Indians and for years roamed with them over the buffalo-covered plains." Dayton Daily News, Sept. 12, 1920 Did the famous Blackfeet chief, Black Elk, uncover a mysterious water-dwelling cryptid in a river cave located in what is now Glacier National Park in Montana? Adopted Blackfeet tribe member James Willard Schultz relates the suprising story as told to him by Chief Black Elk in his 1920 book "The Dreadful River Cave: Chief Black Elk's Story." In relating how he first obtained Black Elk's true-life account of the mysterious river cave in Glacier National Park, Schultz states: "Camping one time with Black Elk, he told me this tale of the Dreadful River Cave. I never attempted to enter the cave, but how many, many times I have paused at the foot of its falls, watching...." About the author: James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, (August 26, 1859 - June 11, 1947) was an American author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfeet Indians. He operated a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and lived among the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82. He was given the name Apikuni by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Apikuni in Blackfeet means "Spotted Robe." Schultz is most noted for his 37 books, most about Blackfoot life, and for his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park. Historically, Blackfeet were nomadic bison hunters and trout fishermen, who ranged across large areas of the northern Great Plains of western North America, specifically the semi-arid shortgrass prairie ecological region. They followed the bison herds as they migrated between what are now the United States and Canada, as far north as the Bow River. In the first half of the 18th century, they acquired horses and firearms from white traders and their Cree and Assiniboine go-betweens. The Blackfoot used these to expand their territory at the expense of neighboring tribes.