Congressional Record

Seventy-Second Congress, First Session

 

Eulogy of Chief Plenty Coos of the Crows
SPEECH
of
HON. SCOTT LEAVITT
OF MONTANA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Saturday, March 5, 1932

Mr. WASON. Mr Chairman, I yield five minutes to the gentleman from Montana [Mr. LEAVITT].
Mr. LEAVITT. Mr. Chairman, I have asked for this time to call attention to a matter entirely different from any yet presented this afternoon.
It is not customary to announce to the Congress of the United States the passing of any private citizen of this country unless he has achieved distinction of the first order "We a nnounce here the passing of former Members of this body and of the Senate. We announce here the passing of f ew other men, and only those who have given great service to their country. Recalling that standard, I have chosen to announce the passing of one who has graced the history of my State of Montana. He was the Indian chief named Plenty Coos or perhaps more correctly Plenty Coups. He whose leadership among his people was such that when at the close of the Great War the body of the Unknown Soldier was returned for burial in Arlington Cemetery and a choice was to be made of a chieftain to represent our Indian citzenship, one worthy to speak for and represent all of them, the choice fell on Plenty Coos, the chief of the Crows
You will find today in the Arlington Cemetery among those tributes that were then placed upon the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, among the bronze plaques and wreaths and flags of the great nations of the earth, the feathered war bonnet and coup stick of Plenty Coos. By his hand they were laid as a tribute of all the Indian tribes and nations upon the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There today they recall the fact that there was no group of our citizenship that gave more bravely and more fully - to the sacrifices of that war than did the Indian people.
Many of you perhaps noticed this morning an Associated Press item reading as follows:

PLENTY COOS, 85, CHIEF OF CROW INDIANS; DIES

BILLINGS, MONT., March 4. - Plenty Coos, chief of the Crow tribe who represented the American Indians at the burial of the unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery, died today at his reservation home at Pryor, south of here. For many months Chief Plenty Coos had been ill, blind, and crippled. He was 85 years old.
Known as a chieftan particularly skillful in negotiations with the Government, Plenty Coos was often the central figure in ceremonies honoring celebrities coming to this section. Among the notables he inducted into the Crow Tribe were Marshal Foch, Vice President Curtis, former Gov. Frank 0. Lowden, of Illinois, and Maj Gen. James G. Harbord.

It is not the custom of the Crow Indians to give this honor of adoption indiscriminately, and it was with the greatest of dignity that Chief Plenty Coos conducted ceremonies of this kind. A year ago last fall, when Mrs. Leavitt and I were on our way back east to our duties in Wash-

ington, we stopped on the Crow Reservation for a council. We found that a ceremony had been arranged, and Chief Plenty Coos adopted Mrs. Leavitt into the Crow Tribe, the first and only woman who has ever been given that honor. [Applause.] The chief presented her with a dress of red material upon which there were shown many elks' teeth. It was a signal and particular honor which came us through the adoption of my wife because of their appreciation of her. That was the last occasion upon which I saw that fine and stately old leader of his race.
I speak, therefore, with somewhat of personal sentiment with regard to the passing of this great man. I speak of him as a great main because he had in him such elements of leadership among his people as marked him as a statesman. His history has been written, and those of you who are interested can find it in a book entitled "American," written by Frank B. Linderman, a Montana author. It is one of the most interesting tales ever written about an American Indian. It traces back to the days when the Indians were living the tribal life of the buffalo days. It depicts his exploits as a warrior and a hunter. It shows him as the wise counsellor of his people when the white man came into his country. His life was in truth a symbol of the absorption of the American Indian into the citizenship of the United States. His was one of the finest characters I have ever known.
[Here the gavel fell.]
Mr. WASON. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman from Montana three additional minutes.
Mr. LEAVITT. Chief Plenty Coos was an orator of the first order. I have heard him an various occasions in councils I had the honor of attending when the affairs of his tribe were being discussed. He spoke, of course, through an interpreter, drawing his imagery from the mountains and from the sky, from the wind whispering through the grass. Always he was calling attention to the needs of his people, not speaking particularly about their wrongs, although it was plain to see that the injustice that had been too often meted out to the Indian race tugged at his heart. He was speaking about the future, about the things we ought to do for the children of the Indian race, and what they ought to do for themselves. He was speaking for the young men and young women, for the boys and for the girls; the opportunities they should have through education in our schools; the opportunities they should have through proper training in health and in access to good hospitals; the rights they had to their homes and lands, and the training they should have to enable them to produce the things they need for their welfare and for their health. These were the things that were always in th mind of Plenty Coos. His heart and voice were ever for the good of his people. When he came here to Washington representing them these were likewise the things he presented here. He pointed a way which his tribesmen will be proud to follow.
It is a matter of sincere regret to me to announce to you the passing of this supreme representative of the Indian race. He was a man of such caliber and such high character, and his service was so outstanding that it is entirely fitting that the American Congress should pause for moment to do him reverence. [Applause.]