AUGUST 12, 2009

JOE MEDICINE CROW–LAST CROW WAR CHIEF–RECEIVES PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

Born October 27, 1913, on the Crow Reservation in Montana (MT), Joseph heard from his step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, a U.S. Cavalry scout, a 1st-hand account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Graduating from Linfield College (1938), he earned a master’s degree from the University of Southern California (1939)—the first Crow tribe member to earn a master’s. As an infantry scout during World War II, Joseph became the last Crow war chief, completing the four required tasks: touching an enemy without killing him, disarming an enemy, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy’s horse. In 1948, he was appointed tribal historian and anthropologist. In 1999, Joseph addressed the United Nations. His books include Crow Migration Story, Medicine Crow, and From the Heart of Crow Country. Honors: Bronze Star and French Legion of Honor Chevalier medal (2008), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009). Joseph died April 3, 2013, in Billings, Montana.

Sources:

Mike McPhate, "Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102," New York Times, 4/4/2016.  Retrieved 6/26/2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/joseph-medicine-crow-tribal-war-chief-and-historian-dies-at-102.html

Joe Medicine Crow," PBS.  Retrieved 6/26/2019, https://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5177.htm

Joseph Medicine Crow," Montanakids. Retrieved 6/26/2019, http://montanakids.com/cool_stories/Famous_Montanans/Crow.htm

Photo:  Pete Souza, 8/12/2009.  Public Domain.