Thomas H. Leforge (1850-1931) was the author of Memoirs of a White Crow Indian, his highly detailed account of living among the Crow Indian nation during the mid- to late-1800s, first published in March 1928 by The Century Company at the hand of one Thomas Marquis, and republished by the University of Nebraska Press. The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a tribe of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone The Century Company was an American publishing company founded in 1881 The University of Nebraska Press, founded in 1941 is a Publisher of Scholarly and popular-press books
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Early years
Born in Portsmouth, Ohio July 9, 1850, he moved with his family to Missouri, then to Kansas, before they finally left in 1864 for Virginia City, Montana in search of gold. Portsmouth is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Scioto County. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link Virginia City is a town in and the County seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. His family set out in prairie wagons with experienced guides on the Bridger Trail variant of the Bozeman Trail. James or Jim Bridger (March 1804 &ndash July 17 1881 was among the foremost mountain men, trappers scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the Oregon Trail to the gold rush territory of Montana.
The white Indian
Leforge joined the Montana militia in 1867 in the Bozeman, Montana and Livingston, Montana areas, acquiring both military experience and acquaintance with native Americans tribes and ways (including raiding parties by Piegan Blackfeet, his father working near Fort Ellis, Montana. The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service Bozeman is a city in and the County seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state Livingston is a city in and the County seat of Park County, Montana, United States. The Piegan Blackfeet ( Aamsskáápipikani (Southern Pikáni /Piegan or simply as Pikáni in Blackfoot) are a tribe of Native Americans The Piegan Blackfeet ( Aamsskáápipikani (Southern Pikáni /Piegan or simply as Pikáni in Blackfoot) are a tribe of Native Americans Fort Ellis was an early United States Army outpost established August 27, 1867, to the eastern side of present-day Bozeman Montana, as settlers (These and all other narrative details herein derive from Leforge's own account). [1]
In 1868 he attached himself to a party of Crow Indians under Yellow Leggings (a counselor of Blackbird) and befriended his son Three Irons. He acquired the Indian name of Fast Runner for sprinting, but was later renamed Horse Rider for equestrian skill, which name he would be known by in the tribe for the rest of his days (and unknown by his white name). Yellow Leggings formally adopted him in a camp in the Livingston area. Occasionally visiting his parents, Leforge divided his time chiefly between the Crow camps and Fort Ellis, becoming a camp follower during hostilities with Indians and closely befriending the young Sioux-French guide Mitch Bouyer (whose name his book spells Buoyer). A camp follower is a Person who follows Military camps in order to sell goods or services that the Military does not supply Sioux (pronounced SUE are a Native American and First Nations people Mitch Bouyer (sometimes spelled 'Bowyer' 'Buoyer' or 'Buazer' or in Creole 'Boye' (1837&ndash June 25, 1876) was an interpreter and guide in the Old West Bouyer also lived among and married into the Crow, and joining Leforge in numerous actions. Leforge associated himself with the Mountain Crow, as distinguished from the River Crow, who tended to live to the north of the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone River is a Tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 671 miles (1080 km long in the western United States.
Leforge became fluent in the Crow language and sympathetic to the people, marrying a girl named (in translation) Cherry and taking up residence near Fort Parker. The Fort Laramie Indian Treaty of 1868 which closed travel on the Bozeman Trail and the Yellowstone Valley stipulated that the re-defined Crow Reserve would have a new “centerpoint” or Though hired formally as a blacksmith, he served the fort as a scout and intermediary, and the tribe as scout (or "wolf") and warrior. He was a financial intermediary for trade, a diplomat (negotiating a treaty with the Shoshone, and served in other capacities. The Shoshone ( or) are a Native American tribe with three large divisions the Northern the Western and the Eastern He avoided scouting in pursuit of the Nez Perce because of sympathy for their case. The Nez Perce (ˌnɛzˈpɝs are a Tribe of Native Americans who live in the Pacific Northwest region ( Columbia River Plateau) of the United Though he did scout against the Bannock, he condemned the attacks on them during their surrender. The Bannock or Banate are a Native American people who traditionally lived in the northern Great Basin in what is now southeastern Oregon and He briefly married his wife's cousin on the cousin's request, though they separated due to white disdain for polygamy. On Cherry's death due to illness while she was away, he married Bouyer's widow Mary, in honor of a mutual pledge to look after each other's family. They would later divorce amicably when he decided to return to white society to seek a fortune in mining and timber ventures. Leforge married again, with children as in his earlier marriages, though after a few years he and this wife also parted when he decided to return to the simpler life of Crow society. Ironically, by this time it was beginning to fade through cultural assimilation.
Leforge narrowly avoided death alongside Bouyer and the other Crow scouts at the Battle of the Little Big Horn due to an injury he sustained when a pronghorn antelope calf spooked his horse. The Battle of the Little Bighorn &mdashalso known as Custer's Last Stand, and in the parlance of the relevant Native Americans, the Battle of the Greasy Grass The pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana) also pronghorn antelope or prong buck, is a species of Ungulate Mammal native to interior He served as the de facto leader and cultural intermediary for the original Crow scouts and headed a second group into subsequent actions.
He died in 1931. [2]
Leforge's book
Besides Bouyer and his wife Mary, other names Leforge mentions or discusses of interest to regional history include Nelson Story, Yankee Jim George, Barney Bravo, Chick Suce, Jim Beckwourth, Pierre Chien, Tom Bowyer, Skookum Jim, medicine man Father of All Buffalo, Colonel Eugene M. James Pierson Beckwourth ( April 6, 1798 or 1800 Frederick County Virginia - October 29, 1866, Denver) (a Keish ( c 1855 &ndash July 11 1916) better known by his European name Skookum Jim Mason, was a member of the Tagish First Nation " Medicine man " is an English term used to describe Native American spiritual figures such individuals are often viewed by scholars concerned with these Baker, Jim Bridger, Chief Looking Glass, Chief Washakie of the Shoshone, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Crow Chief Blackfoot, General Hugh L. Scott, General Alfred Howe Terry, General John Gibbon, Lieutenant James Bradley, and General George Armstrong Custer. James or Jim Bridger (March 1804 &ndash July 17 1881 was among the foremost mountain men, trappers scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western Chief Looking Glass ( Allalimya Takanin c1832-1877 was a Nez Perce war leader who with Chief Joseph, directed the 1877 retreat from eastern Chief Washakie c(1804-1808-1900 was a renowned warrior who first appears in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. Chief Joseph (March 3 1840 &ndash September 21 1904 was the chief of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa band of Nez Perce Indians during General The Nez Perce (ˌnɛzˈpɝs are a Tribe of Native Americans who live in the Pacific Northwest region ( Columbia River Plateau) of the United This article is about the US Army Chief of Staff for the Pennsylvanian senator see Hugh Scott Hugh Lenox Scott ( September 22, Alfred Howe Terry (November 10 1827 &ndash December 16 1890 was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory John Gibbon ( April 20, 1827 &ndash February 6, 1896) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil This article describes the English astronomer for other people sharing the name see James Bradley (disambiguation James Bradley (March 1693
Leforge's book is replete with non-professional first-hand anthropological observations and insights into the cultural, social, military, and spiritual ways of the Crow as well as other tribes before their significant assimilation into American culture.
References
- ^ Leforge, Thomas. Memoirs of a White Crow Indian, passim. University of Nebraska Press, 1974.
- ^ Lef - Len - New General Catalog of Old Books & Authors
External links
- Works by or about Thomas Leforge in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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