Born in 1913 on the Crow Reservation in Montana, Joseph Medicine Crow was raised in the warrior tradition of his people — which he put to good use while serving in France and Germany.
When Joe Medicine Crow died in 2016, he was the last living Plains Indian war chief, ending a tradition that stretched back hundreds of years.
Becoming a war chief was not easy — and even less so after the U.S. government had all but eradicated the Indigenous way of life on the Great Plains. The feat required passing four tests, including touching a living enemy, stealing an enemy’s weapon, and successfully leading a war party. Finally, a person had to sneak into an enemy camp to steal a horse.
Generations of men passed this test and became war chiefs. But the last feat became all but impossible as Native Americans were forced onto reservations and horses slowly disappeared from the battlefield in the 20th century.
And yet Joe Medicine Crow managed to accomplish all four tasks almost by accident, and in a place few members of the Crow Nation had ever visited. He earned the honor fighting Nazis in Germany with the U.S. Army.
Joe Medicine Crow’s Warrior Upbringing
Born on the Crow Reservation in Montana in 1913, Joe Medicine Crow learned the traditions of the Crow Nation from an early age. His grandfather, White Man Runs Him, had been a scout for General Custer prior to the Battle of Little Bighorn. His other grandfather, Chief Medicine Crow, was a revered war hero.
Joseph Medicine CrowJoe Medicine Crow was the first member of his tribe to earn a master’s degree, and left his Ph.D. program to volunteer for service in World War II.
Joe grew up hearing stories about Crow warriors. He learned to ride horses bareback, survive the harsh Montana winters, and hunt game. Joe also heard how his ancestors had become celebrated warriors and war chiefs.
As he grew older, his tribe’s history inspired Medicine Crow to study history and anthropology in college. And in 1939, he became the first member of the Crow Nation to earn a master’s degree. But on his way to a doctorate, Medicine Crow left the University of Southern California to volunteer for the Army.
Joe Medicine Crow came from a long line of Crow scouts. The Army recognized his skills and assigned Joe to scout for the 103rd Infantry Division in 1943. And by the end of 1944, he was in France, pushing the Nazis back to Germany.
