Crow Tribe: 50 Historic Photos From The Dying Days Of The Wild West

These one-of-a-kind early 20th-century photos depict the Crow tribe as their way of life was on the verge of changing forever.

1 of 51

A member of the Crow tribe known only as "Wolf."

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

2 of 51

Men on the Crow Reservation gather around the fire.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

3 of 51

A Crow warrior named Horse Goes Ahead.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

4 of 51

A young Cheyenne boy puts on his father's headdress.

Montana. 1907.Library of Congress

5 of 51

A mother holds her baby in her arms.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

6 of 51

A man living on the Crow Reservation smokes a cigarette as he poses for his portrait.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

7 of 51

A Crow rider's silhouette against the horizon.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

8 of 51

An old Crow warrior, Strikes One With A Lance, poses for a portrait.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

9 of 51

Crow men hurtle arrows.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

10 of 51

An unidentified member of the Crow tribe stands with his headdress upon his head.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

11 of 51

Crow warriors cross a fjord on horseback.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

12 of 51

The Crow reservation under a darkening sky.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

13 of 51

A family gathers in a hut to eat.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

14 of 51

The warriors of the Crow tribe ride off, headdresses upon their heads.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

15 of 51

Four horsemen of the Crow tribe ride forward.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

16 of 51

Four men wearing nothing but their breechcloths get ready to race.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

17 of 51

The tribe gathers together for the tobacco planting dance.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

18 of 51

Hairy Moccasin, one of the scouts who served General Custer during his last stand.

When it became clear that the battle would be lost, Hairy Moccasin put on the clothing of a Crow warrior, wanting to die a Crow.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

19 of 51

A woman bakes pottery over the fire.

Montana. 1903.Library of Congress

20 of 51

A mother of the Crow tribe.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

21 of 51

A man goes to work building his tepee, setting up a campsite at the reservation.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

22 of 51

The tribe works together to build a massive tent for a ceremony.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

23 of 51

The tribe, waving an American flag above them, ride through the camp in honor of a woman named Spotted Rabbit.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

24 of 51

Crow warriors ride over the hills.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

25 of 51

White Man Runs Him, a Crow scout who helped lead General Custer into the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Montana. 1905.Library of Congress

26 of 51

The Crow Reservation, seen from across the water.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

27 of 51

Ashishishe, better known as Curly, was one of the only survivors of the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

28 of 51

A man cleans himself in the water by the reservation.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

29 of 51

The warriors pause to let their horses drink from the river.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

30 of 51

A Crow woman called Carries the War Staff.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

31 of 51

A proud father, standing before his tepee, holds his newborn child.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

32 of 51

A young girl and her puppy.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

33 of 51

A gathering of members of the Crow tribe inside a tent.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

34 of 51

A young girl draped in jewelry.

Montana. 1905.Library of Congress

35 of 51

Crow riders travel through the fields and past the reservation.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

36 of 51

The riders survey their home.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

37 of 51

Musicians and dancers line up and get ready for the tobacco planting ceremony.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

38 of 51

Two riders on the reservation.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

39 of 51

White Man Runs Him dons an elaborate headdress full of white feathers.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

40 of 51

The members of the Crow tribe pause for a rest during a ceremonial dance.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

41 of 51

A young girl named Little Iron Horse shoots the defiant stare that may have earned her the name.

Montana. 1905.Library of Congress

42 of 51

The reservation is covered in a thick layer of snow, here called "The White Death."

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

43 of 51

A Crow family grave.

Montana. 1905.Library of Congress

44 of 51

An old Crow man in his headdress.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

45 of 51

A new log cabin is built on the reservation. The new, European-style home stands next to the traditional tepee of the tribe, marking the start of a major change in the Crow style of life.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

46 of 51

A young Crow woman called Takes A Horse.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

47 of 51

A Crow family, now living in an American settler-style home, sits down for dinner.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

48 of 51

The children of the Crow tribe take classes in an American reservation school.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

49 of 51

George No Horse and Pipe-Tomahawk stand in front of a settler-style home, looking at the reservation as their world changes around them.

Montana. 1910.National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution

50 of 51

Chief Plenty Coups, Chief of the Mountain Crow Band, called the "last great chief" of the Crow tribe.

Montana. 1910.Museum of Photographic Arts

51 of 51

Stunning Photos Of The Crow Tribe Taken Just Before Their Culture Was All But Stamped Out

View Gallery

Richard Throssel was a member of the tribe. He was born a Cree (one of the largest native populations of Canada) in 1882, but after he moved onto the Crow Reservation in Montana in 1902, the Crow tribe accepted him as one of their own.

From 1902 to 1911, Throssel lived among the Crow tribe as one of them, photographing the lives of some of the last great Native American warriors.

At the time of Throssel's stay, the Crow tribe was indeed a dying breed. They had been the so-called Indians of the Wild West, heroes who had fought in historic battles. Among them were the scouts who led General Custer to his last stand – six men who, when the battle turned bleak, had donned their headdresses, determined to die as Crow warriors.

And when Throssel arrived, the people of the Crow tribe were largely still living by the old Native American traditions. They lived in tepees, held ceremonial dances around the fire, and trained their boys to be hunters and warriors.

But life was changing. The tribe had been forced onto a reservation and was slowly being pushed into the lifestyle of the settlers. While Throssel was there, the Crow tribe was building its first wooden home, erected in the style of the white settlers. At the same time, schools were set up and the children of the Crow tribe were sent into classes where they learned in English, tutored by white teachers and missionaries.

Throssel's photos are thus an incredible, rare look at the life of a Native American tribe right as their lives were changing forever — a time when the last tepees were taken down and the face of America was irrevocably transformed.

There are other photos of Native Americans at the turn of the 20th century, but Throssel was perhaps able to capture the most honest, unvarnished snapshot of a tribe as they truly lived. These photographs are not imagined scenes from a romanticized past — they are real photos of real people, taken by one of their own.

After seeing these poignant images of the Crow Tribe, check out these incredible photographs of early 20th-century Native American masks as well as another look at turn-of-the-century Native American life.