The Last War Chief:

Joseph Medicine Crow and the Continuity of History

In the annals of the American West, history is often bifurcated into two distinct eras: the pre-reservation past of the free-roaming Plains tribes and the modern, sedentary present. This stark division often obscures the continuity of Indigenous identity, creating a false narrative that the "warrior spirit" vanished with the buffalo. However, in the life of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow—known to his people as Bacheitche or "Good Man"—this timeline collapses. He was not merely a passive observer of Montana history; he was a living vessel who carried the ethos of the 19th century into the 21st. His historical significance lies not only in his celebrated status as the last traditional War Chief of the Apsáalooke (Crow) people but in his dual role as an academic scholar and a traditionalist who fundamentally altered how the history of the West is understood and preserved.

The Echoes of the Valley

Born in 1913 near Lodge Grass, Montana, Joseph Medicine Crow entered a world suspended between the fading echoes of the Indian Wars and the encroaching realities of early 20th-century America. His significance begins with his proximity to the source. He did not learn of the Battle of the Little Bighorn from textbooks written by distant academics; he absorbed the accounts directly from the men who rode there. His step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, had served as a scout for Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

As a child, Medicine Crow was subjected to the rigorous physical conditioning of a pre-reservation warrior—running barefoot in the snow and bathing in the icy Little Bighorn River—while simultaneously navigating the rigid structures of government schooling. This early period of his life is historically vital because it established him as a "bridge figure." In the quietude of the reservation, listening to the elders recount their exploits, Medicine Crow became the custodian of an oral history that countered the dominant, often inaccurate, settler narratives of the time. He was, as historian Herman Viola later noted, the opportunity to "shake hands with the 19th century."

The Scholar’s Path

While his grandfather prepared him for a life of warfare that supposedly no longer existed, Medicine Crow pursued a weapon his ancestors had never known: higher education. His academic journey broke profound barriers in Montana and beyond. After attending Bacone College and Linfield College, he enrolled at the University of Southern California, where, in 1939, he became the first member of the Crow tribe to earn a Master’s degree.

His thesis, titled The Effects of European Culture Contacts Upon The Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians, remains a critical document in Native American studies. At a time when anthropology was largely a study of Indigenous people by outsiders, Medicine Crow reversed the gaze. He utilized the tools of Western academia—sociology and anthropology—to document his own people’s resilience. This scholarship laid the groundwork for his later influence in Montana, proving that Indigenous history could be written from the inside out, blending scholarly rigor with tribal intimacy.

The Warrior’s Way

The theoretical warrior ethos Medicine Crow studied and embodied faced its ultimate test during World War II. It is here that his life ascends from biography into legend, offering a powerful counter-narrative to the victimization often centered in Indigenous histories. Serving as a scout for the 103rd Infantry Division in Europe, Medicine Crow did not merely fight for the United States; he fought as a Crow warrior, consciously applying ancient martial requirements to modern mechanized warfare.

To achieve the rank of War Chief, a Crow warrior must complete four specific deeds, or "coups": touch a living enemy, take an enemy's weapon, lead a successful war party, and steal an enemy's horse. In the chaos of the European theater, amidst artillery and machine-gun fire, Medicine Crow accomplished all four.

He fulfilled the first two deeds in a single encounter in a French alleyway, where he collided with a German soldier, disarmed him, and spared his life. He fulfilled the third by leading a squad through a minefield to retrieve dynamite. The final deed—stealing an enemy horse—was perhaps the most poetic. In a feat that collapsed the centuries, Medicine Crow slipped into a German encampment and stampeded fifty horses of the SS, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode into the dawn. When he returned to Montana, he did not just return as a veteran; he returned as a War Chief, validated by the tribal elders who recognized that the spirit of their culture had survived the ocean crossing. This validated the Crow cultural identity in a modern context, proving to the younger generation in Montana that their traditions were adaptable and enduring.

The Keeper of the Winter Count

Upon his return to the reservation, Medicine Crow was appointed Tribal Historian and Anthropologist, a position he held for decades. His work in this era reshaped the public history of Montana. For generations, the site of Custer’s defeat was known as the "Custer Battlefield National Monument," a name that centered the U.S. military perspective. Medicine Crow was instrumental in the decades-long effort to correct this narrative, leading to the site's redesignation as the "Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument" in 1991.

He utilized his "Winter Count"—a mnemonic device of oral history—to assist archaeologists and historians in properly interpreting the events of 1876. He could point to specific ravines and ridges where his grandfather had told him events occurred, allowing modern researchers to align physical evidence with oral tradition. This methodology revolutionized historical research in the American West, demonstrating that oral histories were not merely "myths" but precise, evidentiary records.

Legacy in the Big Sky

Joseph Medicine Crow passed away in 2016 at the age of 102. His life spanned the horse-and-buggy era to the digital age, yet his demeanor remained rooted in the quiet dignity of the Plains. His impact on Montana is woven into the state’s educational curriculum, its museums, and its public consciousness. He was a frequent lecturer, an author, and a diplomat who charmed presidents and schoolchildren alike.

When President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, it was a recognition not just of a soldier, but of a keeper of stories. Medicine Crow’s life teaches us that history is not a static object to be observed in a glass case. It is a living, breathing force. By carrying the war deeds of his ancestors into the fight against tyranny in Europe, and by carrying the stories of his elders into the halls of academia, Joseph Medicine Crow ensured that the Apsáalooke people would never be relegated to the past tense. He stands as a pillar of Montana history, a testament to the endurance of the human spirit, and the eternal resonance of a good man’s life.

Works Cited

"Crow Indian Veterans Project Collection." Little Big Horn College Archives, Little Big Horn College. http://lib2.lbhc.edu/lbhc-library/archives/collections/crow-indian-veterans-project. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

"Joseph Medicine Crow." Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, National Park Service, 28 Sept. 2022, https://www.nps.gov/bica/learn/historyculture/joseph-medicine-crow.htm. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

"Joseph Medicine Crow Collection." Little Big Horn College Archives, Little Big Horn College. http://lib2.lbhc.edu/lbhc-library/archives/collections/joseph-medicine-crow. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

McPhate, Mike. "Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102." The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/joseph-medicine-crow-tribal-war-chief-and-historian-dies-at-102.html. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

Medicine Crow, Joseph. "The Effects of European Culture Contacts Upon The Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians." USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, 1939, https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF15M6QU6. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

The National WWII Museum. "Joe Medicine Crow: 103rd Infantry Division." The National WWII Museum, 20 Apr. 2020, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/joe-medicine-crow-103rd-infantry-division. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.