Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Joe Medicine Crow: The Last Crow War Chief

Episode Date: July 13, 2020

This episode is the story of a man, who if you don’t know his name, you probably should: Joe Medicine Crow. Joe Medicine Crow was a scholar, an author, a historian, a spokesperson, and a warrior. In fact, he was the last person to have earned the title of War Chief in the Crow Nation, and he earned that title in a way you probably wouldn’t imagine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is the story of a man who, if you don't know his name, you probably should. Joe Medicine Crow. Joe Medicine Crow was a scholar, an author, a historian, a spokesperson, and a warrior. In fact, he was the last person to have earned the title of War Chief in the Crow Nation, and he earned that title in a way you probably wouldn't imagine. Here is fascinating and inspirational story on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed.

It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is brought to you by the Travel Photography Academy. Have you ever been on a trip and wondered why your photos don't turn out like the images you see in travel magazines? If you're going to spend thousands of dollars on a trip and hundreds to thousands of dollars on a camera, you owe it to yourself to get the highest quality images from your trip. That's why I created the Travel Photography Academy.

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Joseph Medicine Crow was born on October 27, 1913 on the Crow Indian Reservation in South Central Montana. He was born into a prestigious family in the Crow Nation. His father was Leo Medicine Crow, a chief in the Crow tribe, and who became a war chief himself at the age of 22. His grandfather was White Man Runs him, who served as a scout for General Custer and was witness to the Battle of Little Bighorn. Prior to World War II, he became the first member of the Crow Nation to earn a postgraduate degree when he earned his master's degree from the University of Southern California in 1939. His thesis was, the effects of European culture contact upon the economic, social, and religious life of the Crow Indians, which became one of the

go-to documents on the culture of the Crow tribe. He had completed his coursework for his Ph.D. by 1941, but the start of the war put his plans on hold. He took a job as a teacher and then worked in a shipyard before joining the Army in 1943. In the military, he was assigned as a scout to the 103rd Infantry Division in the 6th Army Group. As a scout, his job was not to engage in direct combat with the enemy. Scouts are reconnaissance units. Their job is to go ahead of the main unit and get information about the enemy. While they mostly have the same equipment as standard troops, their job is to get information, not necessarily to fight. At this point, it's necessary to explain what is required to become a Crow War Chief. War Chief is an honor that is earned,

not given. To become a war chief, you have to accomplish four acts of bravery in the course of combat. All four must be completed to be granted the title of War Chief. The four things are, 1. You must touch an enemy during battle without killing them. This is also known as Counting Coup. 2. You must take an enemy's weapon. 3. You must successfully lead a war party and must return alive after the completion of the mission. And four, you have to steal an enemy's horse. Achieving all four of these things is difficult to do even if you're engaged in battle on the Great Plains.

But most people would have fought it to be especially hard, if not impossible, to achieve, in a mechanized war in Europe. While fighting in the war, Joe kept his heritage and traditions with him the entire time. Before going into combat, he would apply red war paint to his arms beneath his uniform and would keep a sacred yellow-painted eagle feather in his helmet, which was given to him by a Sundance Medicine Man before he left for Europe. Joe completed the first of his four tests when his unit was advancing on the Sigfried line. The Siegfried line was the German defensive fortification, which lined the German border from Switzerland to the North Sea,

was heavily fortified with concrete bunkers all along the border. His unit was facing entrenched German forces. His commanding officer gave him instructions to lead a small group of seven soldiers to assault the bunker, blow it up with TNT, and then go through the opening to allow the rest of his unit to advance through. It might have been a suicide mission, but Joe's commander thought he was the only person who could do the job. Joe advanced with his men under fire and managed to take out the bunker with the explosives. There is a legend that when Joe rushed through the opening they created, he became the first American in World War II to set foot on German soil.

But it's a tale that's impossible to confirm. With this mission, Joe completed the first of the four requirements in becoming a war chief. Despite being a scout, he managed to successfully lead a war party and return alive. He was awarded a bronze star for gallantry for his actions in clearing the German bunker. The next step occurred as his unit was advancing through Germany. As they were moving through a German village, Joe became separated from his unit. He was rounding the corner of a building when at the exact same time, a German soldier was rounding the same corner. They unexpectedly collided with each other, bumping helmets.

Thinking fast, Joe grabbed the Germans' rifle and threw it to the ground. Dropping his own weapon, he began a hand-to-hand fight with the soldier. Joe eventually gained the upper hand, choking the soldier. As life was leaving the German soldier, he began to call out for his mother. This act of the German soldier calling out for his mother caused Joe to break his chokehold and he allowed the soldier to run away. However, he still had the Germans rifle, which he took from them at the start of the fight. Joe had completed two more of the war chief requirements. He touched an enemy without killing them, and he took an enemy's weapon.

The fourth and final requirement of stealing a horse seemed impossible. There just weren't that many horses on the Western Front. Contrary to popular belief, the Germans actually did use a large number of horses in World War II. two, but it was mostly on the eastern front. Maybe that'll be a topic for another episode someday. As they moved through Germany, Joe's unit happened upon a farm where senior German SS officers were holed up. The camp had 50 thoroughbred racehorses in a canal. The unit was going to attack the camp in the morning, but that evening, Joe made a request to his commanding officer to sneak in before the attack and to get the horses out before the shooting started. That morning

before the attack commenced, Joe snuck into the camp, armed with nothing but a rope, and his Colt 1911 pistol. As the guards were inside one of the buildings, he went up to what he thought was the best horse, used the rope as a bridle, and mounted at bareback. He then managed to stampede all 50 horses out of the open gate of the corral.

As soon as he was clear, his unit opened fire. As he rode away, he began singing a crow song of praise. Against all odds, he managed to achieve the fourth and final requirement to become a crow war chief. When he returned back to his tribe in Montana, he was given a hero's welcome. The elders wanted to hear about his war stories, and as he was telling them the story of stealing the horses, the elders realized that he had completed all four requirements to become a war chief.

Joe hadn't even realized he had done it until then. Joe's exploits in the war were only the beginning of a remarkable life. Joe became a spokesperson for the Crow Nation and a noted historian. He was given the title of Keeper of Memories for the Tribe. He was the author of many books about Crow history and culture. He was also a popular speaker on the subject of the Battle of Little Big. Bighorn, passing on the oral stories told to him by his grandfather. He was granted three honorary doctorate degrees.

In 1999, he was invited to speak in front of the United Nations. In 2008, he was granted the Legion of Honor in France for his actions in World War II, and in 2009, he was granted the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Joe Medicine Crow passed away in 2016 at the age of 102. He was the last Plains Indian ever to earn the title of War Chief. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James McAlla. Special thanks to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Please remember to leave a review over on Apple Podcasts.

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