William J. Hays, 1860. Montana Historical Society

In times of plagues and sickness, the Indians sought the assistance of the white traders. During the smallpox epidemic at Fort Union in 1837, the post took immediate steps to prevent the spread of the disease. Since there was no vaccine at the post, the traders in accordance with instructions in a medical book, inoculated 30 Indian women and several men with the smallpox itself. Their efforts proved fruitless as practically all of the Indian women died. At one time there were 51 cases of that malady at the fort. Abandoned Fort William was used for a hospital for Indians, the old women being the attendants. During the cholera epidemic at Fort Berthold in 1851, Kipp, the bourgeois, vainly served out small doses of whiskey to prevent the disease. Kurz described a scene at the post during the epidemic:

Our surroundings have the appearance of a hospital—eight decrepit old women squat beside one another in the sunshine along by the palisades, pick off the lice from their bodies, and eat with relish the flesh of wild animals. The young sister-in-law of Quatre Ours lies naked in the corner of the bastion, while her husband continually goes to and fro, bringing her fresh water from the river; a blind girl, convulsed with cramps, pounds her abdomen with her fists in an effort to get rid of the dreadful pain. . . . [93]

Although the fur traders exploited the Indian and depraved him with their liquor, they regarded themselves on the whole as benefitting the red man. In answer to charges that he cheated the Indians, Manuel Lisa in 1817, voiced these sentiments:

. . ... ten months in the year I am buried in the depths of the forest, and at a vast distance from my own house. I appear as a benefactor, not as a pillager: of the Indian. I carried among them the seed of the large pumpkins; . . .also the large bean, the potato, the turnip; and these vegetables will make a comfortable part of their subsistence; and this year I have promised to carry the plow. Besides, my blacksmiths work incessantly for them, charging nothing. I lend them traps, only demanding a preference in their trade. My establishments are the refuge of the weak, and of the old men no longer able to follow their lodges; and by these means I have acquired the confidence and friendship of the natives and the consequent choice of their trades. [94]

Others of the trading fraternity expressed similar views. Denig pointed out the numerous acts of charity of the traders who were continually called upon to treat afflicted Indians with white man's medicines and skill. The forts served as hospitals for the sick and a place of refuge for the old, the lame, the feeble, and the crippled. A few of the trading posts were financial liabilities. Voicing similar sentiments, Kurz contended that the material well-being of the Indian was improved by his contact with the whites. [95]