Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-06-29
By WALTER z. TAYLOR

by WAA1EM IL AA4AOEA
Among the notable individuals
and wool Of northwest history,
none had a more interesting life
than did the Indian woman,
Madame Boisverde, who Is known
to history by her Indian name,
K0-c0me-ne Pe-ca. She might
honestly be called the n0rthwest'B
first suffragette, and about her
there Was also dash Of Aimee
Mcpherson.
Ko-come-ne Pe-ca, too, had an eye
for business and she capitalized on q
homemade religion. Her weird rites
and prophecies made her one Of the
richest Indians of her time the owner
Of many horses and other property
valuable in an Indian society. The
''enfant terrible" Of the Kootenai tribe,
she refused to be a sit-by-the-fire,
preferring TO spend her time fighting
In the frequent wars between the
Kootenai and Blackfeet peoples. Her
lapses from the moral code Of the In
Kootenai tribe, and her merry high
links IN the camp of David Thompson
caused that righteous Scotch Presby-
terrain to request her French husband
to take here away Madame Boisverde
probably thumbed her nose, or made
some similar gesture Of defiance, IN
ThompSons direction when she left,
but she was destined to eat crow years
later when she was forced TO seek the
Scotchman's protection.
Upon leaving David ThompSon's
camp, Ko-come-ne Pe-ca also left her
husband behind, dressed herself as q
man, and joined q war party Of
Kootenais on their way to do battle
with their ancient enemies, the Black
feet. In battle the Indian woman re-
vealed notable qualities Of generalship
and soon had q wide reputation as
war leader. She was courageous and
crafty and even induced a number of
young men to place themselves In her
command. The Kootenais did not care
to have Ko-come-ne Pe-ca around
their camps, but were always willing
to have her and her fighting cavalry
along when there was trouble at hand.
For information regarding Ko-come-
ne Pe-ca we must depend on David
Thompson and others who wrote Jour-
nails of early times In the northwest.
After leaving her birthplace in the re-
gion that is now northwestern Mon
tana, the remarkable Madame Bois-
verde next turns up at Spokane House
in what is now the state of Washing
ton. This was IN the year 1911. It was
at Spokane House that Ko-come-ne
Pe-ca embarked upon the adventure
that was to make her famous among
Indian nations from Montana to the
shores Of the Pacific ocean and win
for her the nickname, "the letter car
rier."
Finan Mcdonald was in charge Of
Spokane House and had an important
letter which he wanted delivered to
John Stuart, another Hudson's Bay
trader stationed at Fort Frazer In |
British Columbia, hundreds Of miles to |
the north. Those were days when |
among the hostile tribes Of
the great wilderness was dangerous /
and nobody, Indian or white, wanted /
TO undertake the job OF delivering the |
letter. At this point Ko-come-ne Pe-ca |
on the scene and said she /
would carry the letter. She didn't know |
where Fort Frazer was, except that 1t |
was In a general northerly direction |
and was located on the Frazer river. !
On this journey, as usual, Ko-come-
ne Pe-ca dressed as a man and, to
further deceive the Indians along the
way. she. took along young Indian
girl whom she passed off as her wife
As she passed from tribe to tribe on
her trip Ko-come-ne Pe-ca began to
ell the Indians OF her supernatural
oowers and Of the magic she could per-
Orm. She told how she had changed
Ter own sex and also told Of a race
II giants with whom she was IN COM
munication. These giants, according 10
xo-come-ne Pe-ca's prophecies. would
Irrive IN the not too distant future
o deal misery TO the Indians. The
Indians were impressed
Nth Ko-come-ne pe-cass powers and
ww6ActtnnB, and news Of her coming I
Fmy@aed ahead 30 every Tndaan camp.