Memoirs of a White Crow Indian (Thomas H. Leforge) As Told by Thomas B. Marquis


Book Description

There's no better way to meet someone from over a hundred years ago than through an old memoir. It's 1928, a memoir of Thomas Leforge has been released for print. A self-described Ohio born American becomes an Army scout as a white Crow Indian.He's in charge of the Crow scouts riding with Custer at the Little Big Horn. He's not there for the fight but witnesses the aftermath. He talks about things most have never heard of. He not only becomes a soldier scout, but understands the Crow tongue and Indian sign-language so he interprets. He marries into the Crow family, respects their culture, and becomes a Crow warrior in every sense of the word. While there he learns about a life of the purest form; freedom. Thomas LaForge is so vivid while telling his stories he encapsulates your mind's eye putting you in the moment. Giving you no choice but to be a witness of every word spoken, every action taken. He'll make you smell the buckskins, see the sky, smell the smoke of each campfire, you'll feel the quiet lying in the grass while evading discovery. With each word you will feel the adrenaline like you are there with him. His stories breathe; taking you to the very center of that instant. You'll leave the page thinking I'm glad I'm out of there, as though it just happened.... You won't want to put this book down. Not only will you not want to put this book down but in many instances you'll witness some of the very "actors", places, and things he describes throughout his vast saga. A concentrated effort was made to search out as many individuals' images as possible to make his story complete while placing them strategically as able. Except for one 'surprise' image that most have always said had never been taken before. This fully indexed volume will be a great addition to anyone's historical library. Definition: memoir; noun, a narrative composed from personal experience "every memoir reminds us of the faraway and long ago, of loss and change, of persons and places beyond recall" Abigail McCarthy




Memoirs of a White Crow Indian (Expanded, Annotated)


Book Description

Tom Leforge was a legend in his time. Interpreter and scout, he lived among the Crow Indians, as a Crow, for decades. If not for a broken collar bone, Leforge would have been with the six Crow scouts that accompanied General George Armstrong Custer to the Little Bighorn. Instead, he watched from a hospital wagon as the troops marched off to their destiny. Days later, he interpreted Crow scout Curly's account of the battle for Lt. James Bradley of General John Gibbon's Montana column.This is one of the most important memoirs of early Montana and the Indian Wars. Compiled by Leforge's friend, Dr. Thomas Marquis, this is a modest, self-deprecating, and often humorous account of a white man who was fully accepted into Indian life.Leforge's observations on Crow culture and the vanishing way of life that he was a part of is fascinating and detailed. Though he left the tribe for two decades to live among whites, he returned to the Crow reservation in his later years as the place where he felt most comfortable.Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of a time that changed the country forever.




Memoirs of a White Crow Indian


Book Description

Thomas H. Leforge was "born an Ohio American" and chose to "die a Crow Indian American." His association with his adopted tribe spanned some of the most eventful years of its history--from the Indian Wars to the reservation period—and as interpreter, agency employee, chief of Crow scouts for the 1876 campaign (he was with Terry at the Little Big Horn), bona fide Crow "wolf," and husband of a Crow woman, he was usually in the midst of the action. His story, first published in 1928, remains a remarkably accurate source of historical and ethnological information on this relatively little known tribe.




Biilaachia-White Swan


Book Description

The story of the Apsaalooke (Crow) men who scouted for the Seventh United States Cavalry in 1876 has been told by historians, with details sometimes distorted or fabricated. Biilaachia--better known as White Swan--survived the Battle of Little Bighorn despite severe wounds. One soldier recalled him standing beside his horse, firing at the Sioux: "He would not mount up and try to get away but stood and fought." White Swan continued to scout off-and-on for the U.S. Army until 1881 and recorded his 22 combat actions in 37 paintings and drawings. Done in traditional Plains warrior biographic style, his complete body of work is presented here for the first time, along with the history behind each depiction. His life is detailed in photographs, some never before published, and four little-known interviews, as well as extensive research about the Apsaalooke people.




Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself


Book Description

Provides explanation of what occurred on that day in 1876 when Sioux and Cheyenne warriors overwhelmed the Seventh Cavalry.




The Crow Indians


Book Description

First published in 1935, The Crow Indians offers a concise and accessible introduction to the nineteenth-century world of the Crow Indians. Drawing on interviews with Crow elders in the early twentieth century, Robert H. Lowie showcases many facets of Crow life, including ceremonies, religious beliefs, a rich storytelling tradition, everyday life, the ties of kinship and the practice of war, and the relations between men and women. Lowie also tells of memorable individuals, including Gray-bull, the great visionary Medicine-crow, and Yellow-brow, the gifted storyteller. The Crow nation today is vital and active, creatively blending the old and the new. The way of life recounted in these pages provides insight into both the historical foundation and the enduring, vibrant heart of the Crow people in the twenty-first century.




Being Indian and Walking Proud


Book Description

This book explores the identity of American Indians from an Indigenous perspective and how outside influences throughout history, from the arrival of Columbus in 1492 to the twenty-first century, have affected Native people. Non-Native writers, boarding school teachers, movie directors, bureaucrats, churches, and television have all heavily impacted how Indians are viewed in the United States. Drawing on the life experiences of many American Indian men and women, this volume reveals how American Indian identity comprises multiple identities, including the noble savage, wild savage, Hollywood Indian, church-going Indian, rez Indian, urban Indian, Native woman, Indian activist, casino Indian, and tribal leader. Indigenous people, in their own voices, share their experiences of discrimination, being treated as outsiders in their own country, and the intersections of gender, culture, and politics in Indian-white relations. Yet the book also highlights the resilience of being Indian and the pride felt from being a member of a tribe(s), knowing your relatives, and feeling connected to the earth. Being Indian and Walking Proud is a compelling resource for any reader interested in Indigenous history, including students and scholars in Native American and Indigenous studies, anthropology, and American history.




The American Indian Mind in a Linear World


Book Description

Now in its second edition, The American Indian Mind in a Linear World examines the persistence of Native peoples in retaining their own worldviews, from the pre-Columbian era into the twenty-first century. The book explores the ways in which Indian people who are close to their cultural traditions think in a circular fashion, understand by relying on visual analysis, and make decisions from an Indigenous logic. Yet, Comanches have a different reality from Mohawks, Apache ethos is not like that of the Lakotas, and Indian men and women see things differently. How and why is the Native mind different from the western world? Why have white teachers and missionaries tried to change the minds of Native students? The Indian perspective is not wrong; it is simply different and inclusive, another way of looking at the world and universe. This edition updates the discussion with a new chapter on contemporary American Indian intellectualism and further analysis of the preservation of Indigenous traditional knowledge. Approachable and engaging, this volume is a key resource for students and scholars of Native American and Indigenous studies and Indigenous history.




Montana Legacy


Book Description

A rich and varied tapestry, Montana Legacy looks at the people, cultures, places, and events that shaped present-day Montana from Plentywood to Butte, Great Falls to Virginia City, and Billings to Browning. Designed to make you think about Montana history in a new way, this anthology features sixteen essays chosen for their relevance, readability, and scholarship. The volume's editors carefully selected topics that range across two centuries from the fur trade to power deregulation - and expose Montana's cultural and geographical diversity. Join them in this exploration of Montana's past and gain a better understanding of Montana's future. (6 x 9, 392 pages, b&w photos)