TEXT: Possibly “flat-head”.

Since the late eighteenth century, the fur trade had enticed a number of Iroquois to move west among the Flathead Indians. Most of the Flathead lived in and around the Bitterroot Valley in present-day Montana. However, a few small groups of Flathead Indians had moved east to the mouth of the Kansas River in Indian Territory. At a later council meeting, Young stated that Dana wanted to “go over the mountains to see his uncle,” suggesting that Dana’s uncle was likely living with the majority of the Flathead in the West. On 27 February, Young, apparently relying on information from Dana, cited the supposed numerical strength of the Flathead and other American Indian nations in the West and stated that “they want Mormonism.” (Fahey, Flathead Indians, 25, 40, 66; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Apr. 1845; Council of Fifty, Minutes, 27 Feb. 1845.)

Fahey, John. The Flathead Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974.