Pine Leaf
Encyclopedia
Counting coup
Counting coup refers to the winning of prestige in battle, rather than having to prove a win by injuring one's opponent. Its earliest known reference is from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" where Laertes and Hamlet conduct a mock swordfight before King Claudius and Queen Gertrude...
in the 1830s. She is described in the autobiography of James Beckwourth
James Beckwourth
James Pierson Beckwourth was an American mountain man, fur trader, and explorer. An African American mulatto born into slavery in Virginia, he later moved to the American West. As a fur trapper, he lived with the Crow for years...
as well as in Edwin T. Denig's chronicle on the tribes of the upper Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
.
She was born to the Gros Ventres
Gros Ventres
The Gros Ventre people , also known as the A'ani, A'aninin, Haaninin, and Atsina, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana...
and at the age of about 10 taken prisoner by a raiding party of Crows. She grew up in this tribe and showed a disposition to assume masculine habits. While always dressing in female clothing, she was learned in horse keeping, hunting and warfare, mostly against the Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
. She had at least four female wives and earned a strong voice in the tribes council, ranking the third person in the whole tribe of 160 lodges. In 1854 she was killed by Gros Ventres Indians near Fort Union
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is the site of a partially reconstructed trading post on the Missouri River and the North Dakota/Montana border twenty-five miles from Williston. It is one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks of the United States...
. She was compared with the Berdêche and can be considered two spirited.
Beckwourth describes her as a fearsome warrior, and claims that as a child she took a vow to kill at least one hundred enemies by her own hand. He further describes adventures experienced at her side, including a romantic relationship and marrying her immediately before he left the Crows. It is possible that Beckwourth may have exaggerated this relationship, as historian Bernard DeVoto
Bernard DeVoto
Bernard Augustine DeVoto was an American historian and author who specialized in the history of the American West.- Life and work :He was born in Ogden, Utah...
wrote that Beckwourth is reliable save for three areas: numbers, romance, and his own importance.
Further Reading
- Benjamin Capps: Woman Chief, new ed. 2002: Chivers Press. ISBN 978-0754081791