Philip S Long

Jerry Potts Philip S Long

The Blackfoot Confederacy, in the early 1800's was one of the most feared tribes on the North American Continent. It is proud Canadian history how a handful of scarlet coated men, the North West Mounted Police, were able to make peace with this tribe, and other plains Indians, with no major battles being fought. All this, however, would not have been accomplished so swiftly had it not been for one mixed-blood scout, Jerry Potts. There have been many historical novels written about numerous heroic figures of the old west such as Kit Carson, Davey Crocket, Daniel Boone, Jim Bridger, and many, many others. Now, for the first time, our Montana and Canadian hero of the famous old "Whoop-Up" country gets full recognition for his heroic deeds. After a hundred years we suddenly realize that another outstanding hero existed and lived an adventurous life, equaled by very few. What he did for our great West should now be known for the great accomplishment it was. Potts was raised at a time when, to gain any objective, one had to be a fighting man, and that he was. His many battles and adventures with his Indian people, as well as his white people on his father's side, make his life a story that is almost on the verge of being incredible. Yet, overshadowing all this, his loyalty to his employers, the North West Mounted Police, made him a diplomat, and a keeper of the peace that few frontiersmen have equaled.