Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk

I heard an interesting tidbit at the annual Terry Roping Club meeting held recently at the Lazy JD Bar and Restaurant in Fallon, Montana.

Mark Dolatta, describing some of the local colorful Terry history, said that in Montana a gathering of four or more Indians (p.c. Native Americans) is considered a war party and you are allowed to shoot them on sight.

Mark Dolatta – Terry resident and local historian in Prairie County, Montana

That awful thought stuck in my head and I was determined to find out the real story. My research found out the facts behind this and some other arcane laws. Most of those have luckily since been repealed but some are still on the books even if seldom enforced.

Let’s put to rest once and for all about it being legal to shooting Indians on sight.

In Montana seven or more Indians were considered a raiding or war party and it was legal to shoot them. That law did exist during the Indian Wars but has since been repealed.

However:

It is illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sundays, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all.

It is still illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone. I can’t quite figure out if they meant for the driver or the sheep to have a chaperone. But just to be sure bring one of each and have a double date.

In South Dakota on the other hand if there are more than five Indians on your property you may shoot them. And if three or more Indians are walking down the street together, they can be considered a war party and fired upon

North Dakota is the least progressive state where it is still legal to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon.

And be careful before you decide to move to Nebraska where a parent can be arrested if his or her child cannot hold back a burp during a church service

In Wyoming it is illegal for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking and you may not take a picture of a rabbit during the month of June. Please don’t get these two laws mixed up or you may be hung over at dawn for sure.

In Texas a recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed. Now what do you think those Texans were thinking or drinking while that law wound its way up to the Governor’s office for his final signature?

In closing this article I leave you with one plea: “Please don’t shoot any Indians any where!”

The information for the above article was obtained from the Librarian and Information Science News web site at: http://www.lisnews.org/