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"PLENTY COUPS: A CHIEF AMONG CHIEFS"

by C. Adrian Heidenreich, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Montana State University Billings
online publication (Copyright 2015):
Friends of Chief Plenty Coups Association: http://www.friendsofchiefplentycoups.org/
1. PLENTY COUPS RECOGNIZED AS PRINCIPAL HEAD CHIEF OF THE CROW
According to the 1886 census, the Crow population was 3,123 people in 514 lodges and
26 local bands. At age 38, Plenty Coups was the leader of the largest Crow band and one of the
most progressive of the chiefs. His community in the Pryor District included 294 people in 47
lodges, mostly tipis and some cabins.
Members of the Crow Tribe and the U. S. government eventually recognized Plenty Coups
as the principal chief of the Crow, in both a practical and honorary sense. At 1899 hearings at
Crow Agency regarding selling the western portion of the reservation, Coyote that Runs (High
Bird) (age 38) said "Plenty Coos and Pretty Eagle are the two head chiefs of this tribe of Indians."
Little Big Horn battle scout White Man Runs Him (age 41) stated:
"Big Medicine is the chief of the police force. My other chiefs are here -- Plenty Coos,
Pretty Eagle, Two Leggins, Medicine Crow, Bell Rock, The Wet, Old Dog, and others are
here.... I will agree to whatever they have proposed to do."
The youngest was age 44, most were in their 50s, and the oldest was 71. In early 1908, four
years after Pretty Eagle died, when Bureau of Indian Affairs Inspector James McLaughlin was
sent to negotiate another land sale, the 59 men present endorsed Plenty Coups as principal chief.
In a vision when he was young, Plenty Coups saw himself as an old man, feeble and
childless, sitting at a house under cottonwood trees, near a sacred spring beside Pryor (Arrow)
Creek. We are at that place today, the first two-story house occupied by a Crow on the
reservation.
2. THE CROW CONCEPT OF "CHIEF"
To establish one's bravery and skill, the Crow required four standard deeds of valor and
difficult war deeds, commonly called coups. The deeds were: be the first in a war party to touch
an enemy, capture a weapon from an enemy in a hand-to-hand encounter, capture a horse from
within an enemy camp, and lead a successful war party (one in which all come home safely). A
man who did so then was a chieftain (ba-cheet-che), a "good or valiant man" worth something.
Traditionally, there were three types, or levels, of "chief": (1) a chieftain, an adult man
who had accomplished the four standard war deeds and was eligible for further leadership; (2) a
chieftain who became leader of a camp or band (local community) or recognized as a leader who
helps represent the people, often as part of an advisory council; and (3) a leader who represents
his people (constituents) to a wider tribal, inter-tribal, and national community or political entity, as
a delegate and signer of various documents.

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There was more than one chief at any one time. As groups of people and their leaders
sought different hunting grounds, trade, and visiting opportunities, or when they had different
opinions, various divisions or bands of the tribe each were led by their own chiefs. Chiefs both
rivaled and cooperated with each other, and they relied on consensus as much as possible, like
Congress or a legislature. Eminence and social position was based on individual merit, and
fundamentally the Crow were democratically organized.
As Plenty Coups emerged as a tribal leader in the reservation context, he worked in
cooperation with others. Speaking to Agent John E. Edwards during 1899 hearings, he said:
"Whenever there is any dealings between the whites, the commission, and the Indians,
I always go to the Indians and ask what they think about the matter, and then I go to the
white men and ask what they think... if they have got anything to say in regard to selling
of this land I want them to get up and say so in this council and not outside of here."
The democratic participation continued, although the political structure gradually changed in the
reservation setting. A major factor was that younger people could not become leaders by earning
war honors, and many attended off-reservation boarding schools and then returned. Favoring
older members of the military clubs, kinsmen, and local community members persisted.
3. HISTORIC CROW CHIEFS
The Crow had many chiefs over the decades. Plenty Coups was a descendent of Long
Hair / Red Plume (Feather) at the Temple, a famous Mountain Crow leader who was the first
signer of the 1825 Friendship Treaty with the U.S. government during the fur trade days.
Arapooash [Eelpuash], Rotten Belly or Sore Belly, was a prominent River Crow leader. Following
those two, Red Bear and Big Shadow / Big Robber became leaders of the Mountain Crow.
Twines His (Horses) Tail / Rotten Tail was principal leader of the River Crow.
Black Foot usually is recognized as the greatest Crow chief during the 1860s and 1870s.
He became principal leader after the deaths of the other principal leaders, and united the River
Crow and Mountain Crow. His followers gave him the name "Sits-in-the-Middle-of-the-Land." He
was a mentor to his son, Iron Bull / White Temple. Apparently, he was a mentor also to the young
warriors Pretty Eagle and Bull That Goes into (Facing) the Wind, who was later to be named
Plenty Coups.
4. THE PROPHETIC VISIONS OF PLENTY COUPS
In addition to bravery and skill in combat, according to Two Leggings "the prerequisite for
public success" was a "life-guiding medicine," a spiritual power that came from fasting and
visions. Plenty Coups qualified on both accounts. Along with several others of his generation, by
the time he was in his mid-twenties he had achieved the distinction of chieftain.
Plenty Coups started fasting in hopes of acquiring a dream, vision, or visitation by spiritual
helpers when he was young. During several fasts, mostly in the 1860s, he received powerful
insights. In one, he saw many buffalo coming out of a hole in the ground; they spread over the
plains and disappeared. Then, similar but strange animals from another world came out of the
hole and covered the plains, stopping to graze. They were cattle, replacing the buffalo. The
visions of Plenty Coups and others affirmed the advice of their forebears that the Crow should
adapt to the White man's powerful culture and use it to their own advantage as much as possible.

5. DELEGATIONS TO LARAMIE IN 1867-1868 AND WASHINGTON, D.C. IN 1873 & 1880

In 1867 and 1868, Sits in the Middle of the Land (age 72), led delegations of Crow chiefs
to the Laramie treaty councils. Plenty Coups was 20 years old, and could have been present, as
well as 22-year-old Pretty Eagle. The Crow leaders were eloquent. However, they recognized
that the transcontinental railroad through Wyoming divided the buffalo herds and would bring
more non-Indians into the region. They agreed to an "agricultural reservation" of 8 million acres.
In 1869, the first Crow Agency was established on Mission Creek east of Livingston. Four years
later, in 1873, Sits in the Middle of the Land (age 78) participated with eight other leaders in the
first Crow delegation to Washington, D.C.
Crow Agency was moved to Absarokee in 1875. In 1880, five years later and three years
after Sits in the Middle of the Land passed to the "Other Side Camp," six Crow leaders again
were recruited to travel to Washington, D.C. Old Crow (who had gone in 1873 at age 38), Two
Belly, and Long Elk were in their forties. The youngest were in their thirties: Pretty Eagle,
Medicine Crow, and Plenty Coups. Based on the negotiations, the Crow Tribe agreed to sell 1.5
million acres in the first Crow Agency area and allow the Northern Pacific railroad right-of-way up
the Yellowstone Valley, as well as to begin farming and send children to school.
During that 1880 trip, the delegates visited George Washington's home, and Plenty Coups
was inspired. He said hopeful words to Washington:
"...in the silence there I sent my thoughts ... I said: 'Great Chief, when you came into
power the streams of your country's affairs were muddy. Your heart was strong... Your
people listened, and you led them through war to the peace you loved. ... As you helped
your people, help me now, an Absarokee chief, ... I, too, have a little country to save for
my children.'"
In 1928, he and his wife Strikes the Iron willed his house and some land to be used as a park and
recreation ground for both Crow and White people, "a reminder to Indians and white people alike
that the two races should live and work together harmoniously," as he said. The Plenty Coups
home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1999 by the U.S. National Park Service.
The Chief Plenty Coups State Park has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic
Places since 1970.
6. BUFFALO GONE, FARMING, AND STRESS
At the Mission Creek and Absarokee Agencies, the Crow people subsisted on hunting,
rations, and some farming. By the mid to late 1880s, the buffalo were gone and non-Indian
cattlemen and farmers began to fence the plains. Crow population of some 3,000 was about
1,000 fewer than a decade earlier, and sixty percent of the Crow were on food welfare. Plenty
Coups said regarding that time: "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the
ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little
singing anywhere." Two Leggings, Pretty Eagle, and others expressed the same feelings.
The Crow Agency was moved to the present location in 1884. Plenty Coups settled on
land in the Pryor Creek valley, Pretty Eagle in the Bighorn valley, and Medicine Crow on Lodge
Grass Creek. All in their mid-30s, they opted to farm and use reservation lands as pasture and
grow hay to sell to nearby ranches and Fort Custer.

Some Crow yearned for the old days of inter-tribal warfare and the bravery and actions
required to become a chieftain. In 1887, Wraps His Tail (named Sword Bearer after a vision
quest) led a brief rebellion against the Crow agent and U.S. Army troops from Fort Custer
(present Hardin). In his mid-20s, he was supported by some leaders, including Crazy Head,
Spotted Horse, Bear Wolf, and Deaf Bull. Making an effort to appear neutral and urging caution
among their people, Pretty Eagle, Medicine Crow, Bull Nose, and Old Dog played important roles
during the incident, simultaneously cultural, political, and symbolic. Eventually, Wraps His Tail
was killed by a Crow policeman.
Such conflicts notwithstanding, in general Crow leaders participated to work together in
the transition from the nomadic life to settled rural reservation life. Nearly all of them urged their
people to continue practicing traditional ways, trying to protect and preserve as much as they
could, and asserting their rights to lands which were being settled by non-Indians.
7. CROW LEADERS AS NEGOTIATORS OF A CULTURE UNDER SIEGE
From the 1880s to the 1920s, Indians lived in a context of bureaucratic control. The 1884
Rules and Regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, reissued in 1894 and again in 1904, made
Indian religion and some social customs "Indian offenses" (crimes). There were five different
Bureau of Indian Affairs agents on the Crow Reservation between 1899 and 1921. As wards of
the government, Indians needed permission to gather for group meetings, engage in social and
other events, and travel, even on delegations to Washington, D.C. Referring to issues relating to
controversial actions of the Business Committee, agent Evan Estep wrote in 1913 that "The old
Indians are credulous in the extreme" and of "the mixed bloods who are by far the most
mischievous and troublesome," and emphasized that "it is absolutely necessary that they be
made to understand that they are still wards of the government."
The Crow were pressured continually to sell their land. In 1890, the principal politically
active leaders were in their forties. In 1890, chiefs Wet, Pretty Eagle, Plenty Coups, and Bell
Rock agreed reluctantly to the sale of another 1.5 million acres. About the same time, because of
poor range conditions, Plenty Coups, Wet, Pretty Eagle, Bell Rock, Medicine Crow, and Spotted
Horse wanted sheep removed from the reservation. They protested the system of bidding to run
cattle, for the Crow wanted to choose who leased the land. "Don't send any strangers whose
faces we don't know," said Plenty Coups.
In negotiations nearly a decade later, Plenty Coups reminded the commissioners that
some provisions of the 1890 land sale had not yet been implemented, including delayed annuity
payments and day schools:
"You have told me something and now I am going to tell you something. When you have
made these settlements to the Indians, then you can come back and I and my people will
talk to you about these lands that you now want."
Pretty Eagle and Spotted Horse agreed with the statement by Plenty Coups.
8. VANISHING RACE
The idea of Indians as a "vanishing race" was a major theme in American popular culture
at the turn of the twentieth century. In 1900, the Crow tribal population was fewer than 2000

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people, half the number of the mid-1870s. The Crow Agent reported that one-third of the people
were wholly and two-thirds were partly in "citizen's dress," meaning dressing like non-Indians.
Twenty-one per cent used enough English for ordinary conversation, and 15 per cent could read.
The total Montana Indian population was 11,000, or 4 per cent of the Montana population of just
under a quarter million people. Indians owned only 10 per cent of the Montana land base.
Anthropologist Robert Lowie wrote that when he visited the Crow between 1907 and 1930, the
acculturation "process had become essentially completed. ... But that did not hold for speech,
belief, or social custom."
There are many dimensions to the cultural context of the vanishing race idea. NonIndians were interested in Indians. Anthropologists, photographers, and artists documented their
rich culture, including language, kinship, and religion. Travelers were fascinated, and the
Burlington Northern and other railroads promoted tourism. Philadelphia and New York
businessman Rodman Wanamaker sponsored the "Last Great Indian Council" on the Custer
Battlefield in 1909, and many Indian leaders from several tribes came. Crow who were involved
included Plenty Coups (61), Bull Don't Fall Down (67), Bull Snake (57), and Custer scouts Goes
Ahead, Hairy Moccasin, Curley, and White Man Runs Him (all in their 50s). Wanamaker also
wanted to build a memorial to Indians in New York harbor. In 1913, Indians from several tribes
were in attendance at the dedication of the Memorial. The Crow present were elders Plenty
Coups (65), Medicine Crow (65), and White Man Runs Him (55); younger leaders were Richard
Wallace (46), Frank Shively (32), and Robert Yellowtail (25).
In 1921, Plenty Coups was chosen as "Chief of All Chiefs" to participate at the dedication
of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Indian voting rights act was passed in 1924. The U.S.
government re-evaluated "The Problem of Indian Administration" in 1928, which led to the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934. William Wildschut had interviewed Plenty Coups and Two Leggings,
and Frank Linderman interviewed Plenty Coups for their autobiographies.
The possibility of cultural persistence is based on social context, community values,
ideology, and political options. The Crow simultaneously adapted to and fought the acculturation
process forced on them. Even under stress, and often in defensive structuring, the Crow culture
reflected great resilience. Rather than vanishing, they perpetually revised and renewed their
cultural life.
9. PLENTY COUPS AND OTHER CROW LEADERS DURING THE 20TH CENTURY
During the early years of the 20th century, Plenty Coups continued to work cooperatively
with other Crow leaders, both of his own and younger generations. It was not an easy task, given
the complex, divisive issues and forceful individuals who enjoyed the challenges of tribal politics.
Between 1907 and 1909, there were bitter disagreements among members of two newly formed
clubs. Crow Indian Lodge members consisted mostly of younger Crow men in their twenties and
thirties who opposed agent S. G. Reynolds. The Elks Lodge consisted mostly of older Crow, who
generally cooperated with the Agent. The two clubs were reminiscent of the old warrior societies
in their rival recruitment tactics and in their "teasing" and more forceful criticisms of each other.
Then came the threat of Congressional bills to open the Crow Reservation to non-Indian
use and ownership, and to gradually eliminate the reservation. The first was introduced by
Montana Senator Joseph M. Dixon in 1906-1907, and there was a sequence of several others
during the next decade. Negotiations on those bills dragged on for many years.

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In February 1908, Bureau of Indian Affairs Inspector James McLaughlin held hearings at
Crow Agency. Plenty Coups (60) was the first to speak, saying: "I do not want to bargain with
the Government or anyone else to dispose of our lands; the land is mine and I do not want to sell
it at all." Bell Rock (66) said: "I do not want any more bargains or sales, and I want you to take
my words direct to the President." Other Crow men agreed. Knows the Ground (70), Medicine
Crow (60), and Coyote Runs (High Bird) (47) suggested that younger educated Crow visit the
President. Plenty Coups and 9 delegates went to Washington, D.C., as well as an opposing
group of delegates who accompanied muckraking journalist Helen Grey.
At council meetings in November 1909, 46-year-old Scolds the Bear wanted "the whole
tribe [to] work together towards advancement." Thirty-year-old Russell White Bear, a former
Carlisle Indian School student who had returned in 1903 to farm and teach at the Pryor boarding
school, urged that the tribe should be united, and challenged the council:
"Now as we are sitting here tonight we can get up and shake hands with one another and
be altogether as one people. .... if we make a demand to the government, then the
government will listen to us and will consider the demand we make if we are one. ... Do
not consider anyone as a CIL, and do not consider anyone as an Elk, forget that, and
consider yourselves all as Crow Indians."
All in their 60s, elder leaders Plenty Coups, Yellow Crane, and Bell Rock stood up and endorsed
his appeal with brief speeches. Others followed.
10. EDUCATION AS KEY TO THE FUTURE
In negotiations with the government, and discussions with each other, education was
important to Crow leaders. At a council in 1889, Plenty Coups told the government's agent that
he encouraged his followers to send their children to school. "Then," he observed, "when they
come back they can work in the issue [supply] room, can talk Indian and English." Ten years
later, in 1899, Pretty Eagle opened the Crow side of negotiations, and finished with the statement:
"I have said all that I care to say at this time; my young men will read a paper to you that will tell
the things that I have been thinking of." Spotted Horse said "Here gathered near me you see the
boys we sent to school... they are young men now and can read and write; they are men now
that we look on with confidence." Thirty-year-old Carl Leider then read from a written itemized list
of Crow tribal concerns.
In 1908, sixty-year-old Medicine Crow told Carl Leider, James Hill, and Frank Shively -- all
in their 30s: "I call upon you to devise a plan whereby we may have some land retained for the
raising of horses and cattle. We put you in school to learn the white man's ways and be able to
help us -- see what you can do for the benefit and interest of the whole tribe. ... You understand
how to do things."
The most often-quoted statement attributed to Plenty Coups in his advice to young people is:
"Education is your most powerful weapon. With education you are the white man's equal;
without education you are his victim and so shall remain all your lives. Study, learn, help
one another always."
Confirming what he had advocated in 1898, encouraging his followers to send children to school,
the young educated Crow were beginning to be the new chiefs along with the old, endorsed by
their elder leaders.

11. BILLS TO OPEN THE CROW RESERVATION TO NON-INDIANS

From 1908 to 1920 and later, in his sixties Plenty Coups was involved with many fellow
tribesmen in the preparation of letters, petitions, agreements, and trips to Washington, D.C. All of
them involved a mix of young and old, and there was much discussion, with agreements and
disagreements among them.
Elders in their 70s included Old Dog and Knows the Ground. Plenty Coups, Medicine
Crow, and Bell Rock were in their 60s. Men in their 50s included Bull That Don't Fall Down, Big
Medicine, Curley, White Man Runs Him, Packs the Hat, Ralph Saco, Coyote that Runs (High
Bird), and Plain Owl. Those in their 40s included Bull Well Known, Hides, Sees (Looks) With His
Ears, Sharp Nose, Strikes on the Head, Spotted Rabbit, Holds the Enemy, Richard Wallace,
Stops, Snapping Dog, Frank Shane, Carl Leider, and Horace Long Bear. In their 30s were Fred
Geisdorf, Ben Spotted Horse, Leo Bad Horse, Joe Martinez, John Frost, Frank Shively, James
Hill, David Stewart, Alex Upshaw, Sam Davis, Jack Stewart, Russell White Bear, Thomas
Medicine Horse, George Hogan, Frank Reed, James Carpenter, and Arnold Costa. Joseph
Cooper, Frank Yarlott, and Robert Yellowtail were in their 20s.
12. POLITICS OF THE ELDERS AND EMERGING YOUNG LEADERS, 1917-1930
Following World War I, beginning in 1917, bitter tribal politics continued. There were such
issues as opening of the reservation, grazing, oil, and mineral leases, distribution of tribal monies,
and the tribal rolls. Many people attended the numerous council meetings at home on the
Reservation. A number of delegations visited Washington, D.C. Unlike earlier delegations, not all
of them were official, and not all agreed with each other. The delegations with which Plenty
Coups was associated tended to be those participated in by other widely recognized traditional
and younger leaders, and therefore the most representative of overall tribal interests and welfare.
In 1917, Senator Thomas J. Walsh again sponsored a bill "for the opening and settlement
of a part of the Crow Indian Reservation." Plenty Coups (69) was chosen as "delegate at large"
to travel with others to Washington, D.C. Two were chosen from each of the 7 Reservation
districts, and a few others went on their own. Elders in their 70s included Bell Rock, Two
Leggings, and Medicine Crow. In their 50s were Gray Bull, Packs the Hat, Yellow Brow, Coyote
Runs (High Bird), Richard Wallace, and Spotted Rabbit (who brought his wife). In their 40s were
Joe Cooper, Ben Spotted Horse, John Frost, Jack Covers Up, James Hill, and Frank Shively.
Younger people in their 30s included Jack Stewart, Russell White Bear, Thomas Medicine Horse,
James Carpenter, Arnold Costa, Frank Yarlott, Mortimer Dreamer, and Hartford Bear Claw. The
youngest, in their 20s, included Barney Old Coyote, Harry White Man, Robert Yellowtail, and
Jasper Long Tail.
Years later, Robert Yellowtail remembered that trip or another to Washington. In
preparation, Plenty Coups, Medicine Crow, Gray Bull, and Bell Rock held traditional war
ceremonies in a hotel room the night before the hearings. The ceremonies included burning of
buffalo chips from a buffalo living at the National Zoo, songs, and prayers. The bill was defeated
when Senator Walsh withdrew it.
However, in 1919, Senator Walsh again was working on a bill for the allotment of Crow
tribal lands. Plenty Coups, age 71, was leader of traditional Crow and a tribal representative
respected by non-Indian bureaucrats and legislators. Again he led a delegation to Washington.

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Afterward, Victor J. Evans, an attorney in Washington, D.C., wrote to Plenty Coups and the
others:
"I cannot close this letter without expressing to each one of you my appreciation and
admiration of those men in your delegation who have stood forth in an honest, fearless
way as champions of the rights of the Crow Indians. They certainly did credit to their tribe
and to themselves, and I am sure they made a lasting impression upon the Senate
Committee in the Hearings given the Crows."
In 1920, a substitute bill was passed, called the Crow Act of 1920. It included provisions for nonIndian homesteaders, but not a general opening of the Crow reservation, and also for education
of Crow children in public schools.
13. CONTINUING COOPERATION & CONFLICT
In 1920, when Plenty Coups was age 72, he continued to be concerned about the pace of
adaptation by older people to the changing reservation conditions and also maintenance of the
reservation and future opportunities which might be available to the young. Crow elders and
youth had been mobilized together to fight the bills to open their reservation. However, there was
a continuing generation and gender gap. Often, there was contention among the Crow. Even
more challenging was conflict with agents who considered Indians as wards of an enlightened
government, who did not like the people to make their own decisions, especially if they were
opposed to official policies or involved extended discussions.
After S. G. Reynolds arrived as new agent in 1902, he "announced that he would
discontinue the practice of meeting the tribe in [what he called] the 'common and useless powwow or council.' " Likewise, in the 1920's, Superintendent C. H. Asbury expressed his attitude
toward the Tribal councils, which he viewed as consisting of a lot of rambling talk:
"We seldom pay any attention to such councils and they hand in their reports of their
action and if it seems advisable, we forward it to Washington though I think they generally
forward copies themselves."
However, he also wrote that if he tried to restrict meetings "this office and the Bureau would be
charged with an attempt to dominate and limit their freedom of speech and action, so we let them
get together and talk to their hearts' content."
Negative attitudes were expressed by others from time to time, sometimes with more
assertive language. When confrontational muckraking journalist Helen Grey was involved in
politics on the Crow reservation during 1906-1908, the U.S. Government sent Z. Lewis Dalby to
investigate her claims. In one meeting with the Crow, Dalby became angry, and Plenty Coups
asked him to go home. Dalby later warned Plenty Coups:
"Your position here as chief is not an official or necessary position. You have such
influence as the Department of the Interior is willing that you should exercise. If the
Department of the Interior finds that you are exercising that influence to the detriment of
the Crow Indians, then your influence will be taken away from you."
In contrast, photographer Edward S. Curtis, who witnessed the incident, wrote to James A.
Garfield, Secretary of the Interior, that Dalby's anger "was most unfortunate, for I doubt the

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possibility of the Government making the most of the Crow tribe without cooperating with and
having the aid of Plenty Coups."
Such negative views of Crow democracy and opposition to tribal deliberations eventually
failed. A Tribal business committee was created in 1910, providing the community with
opportunities to discuss their concerns, including differences of opinion. That Tribal business
committee continued to function, and its success eventually led by 1920 to a general council form
of government. Two men in their 40s who had been delegates with Plenty Coups were elected
Crow Tribal Chairmen. The first was Ralph Saco (Gets Down Often), who served in 1920-1921
from age 44 to 45. The second was James Carpenter, who served during 1921-1927 from age
40 to 46. The seventh was Robert Yellowtail, who served during 1941-1946, from age 52 to 57.
With good reason, Superintendent C. H. Asbury himself wrote in 1921, "it has been
difficult to prevent the [business] committee meetings from merging into a general council in
which everybody takes part..." Twelve years earlier, Russell White Bear had been 20 years old
when 30-year-old Carl Leider addressed the council with a written itemized list of Crow tribal
concerns. At age 30 himself in 1909, he foretold the election of educated Crow as tribal chairmen
and a Crow as BIA superintendent on his own reservation when he suggested that educated
Crows be put in charge of the agency bureaucracy, with the government agent acting as the
Tribe's lawyer.
14. CONTINUING INFLUENCE OF PLENTY COUPS & OTHER LEADERS
Plenty Coups and Bell Rock both passed to the "Other Side Camp" in 1932. Two
Leggings had passed in 1923, Medicine Crow in 1920, and Pretty Eagle in 1904. Those leaders
and others of their generation grew up and came of age in a culture of nomadic hunters and
warriors. Mentored by impressive leaders including Sits in the Middle of the Land and others,
they achieved the distinction of "chieftains" or "good men" by their mid-twenties. Still in their early
30's, they began the transition to become reservation leaders when some of them traveled as
tribal delegates to Washington, D.C., in 1880, and for many years afterward. As elders, they
continued to be prominent as delegates, but gradually younger men assumed the major
responsibilities.
The influence of Plenty Coups has continued. Crow elder Barney Old Coyote, Jr.,
originally from St. Xavier in the Big Horn District on the eastern side of the Reservation and who
was 9 years old when Plenty Coups passed away, said: "His ability to fashion a consensus
around thorny issues was a key to his leadership acumen." Philip Beaumont, Sr., a Crow elder
from Pryor who had family ties to Plenty Coups and was 11 years old when Plenty Coups passed
away, remembered the chief's "eloquence... He was an idol for all students, especially through
his influence on our parents, and we all tried to emulate him... Plenty Coups influenced in our
minds how to be good leaders."
The same can be said of other Crow leaders, both old and young, with whom Plenty
Coups worked as Chief among Chiefs, in Cooperation through Wisdom.
==

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REFERENCES:
Bradley, Charles Crane, Jr. - The Handsome People; a History of the Crow Indians and the
Whites. Billings, Montana: Council for Indian Education, 1991.
Heidenreich, C. Adrian - "Plenty Coups Park Historic Perspectives Study." Prepared for Chief
Plenty Coups State Park, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 1997. (on file at Park)
Hoxie, Frederick E. - Parading Through History; the Making of the Crow Nation in America, 18051935. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Hoxie, Frederick E. - "Building a Future on the Past: Crow Indian Leadership in an Era of Division
and Reunion." In Indian Leadership (Walter L. Williams, editor), pp. 76-84. Manhattan, Kansas:
Sunflower University Press, 1984.
Linderman, Frank B. - Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crows. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
2002. (original: American: The Life Story of a Great Indian. New York: John Day, 1930)
Little Big Horn College Library resources: http://lib.lbhc.edu/index.php
==
NOTES:
(1) This essay was prepared for the Plenty Coups Day of Honor at Chief Plenty Coups State
Park, 5 September 2015. The theme was: Chief among Chiefs: Cooperation through Wisdom.
For the 30-minute public presentation, it was abbreviated. A longer version, with full references
and footnotes, eventually will be published elsewhere.
(2) I thank Library Director Tim Bernardis and Archivist Jon Ille of Little Big Horn College for help
in searching for information about names, dates, and pictures related to some of the individuals
mentioned in this essay. Ruth Ferris, Librarian at Washington Elementary School in Billings,
made useful comments about content. Tim and Ruth are board members of the Friends of Chief
Plenty Coups Association.
(3) The lists of names do not include everyone, but include most of the prominent delegates who
made trips to Washington, D,C. Sometimes they agreed with Plenty Coups and sometimes they
disagreed. Not included are the many other Crow people (community members and leaders) who
attended various meetings (formal and informal) held on the Crow Reservation.
(4) The ages of individuals involved in meetings and delegations between 1908 and 1920 are
calculated to 1912 (unless otherwise indicated), and intended to approximate the ages and
cohorts they represented.
(5) C. Adrian Heidenreich, Ph.D. (University of Oregon) is Professor Emeritus, Native American
Studies / Anthropology, Montana State University Billings (Eastern Montana College). He is an
adopted member of the Heywood and Mary Lou Big Day family. Crow name: dxxiia de itche
= "Goes to War in a Good Way." He has been involved with the Friends of Chief Plenty Coups
Association as consultant and Board Member since 1992.

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