Pine Leaf was born into the Gros Ventre tribe in 1806. About the age of 10, she was captured by the Absaroke (Sparrowhawk) Indians, better known by the name "Crow" given to them by the white man, and adopted by a man who had lost his sons to conflicts with the Blackfoot.

Pine Leaf had no interest in learning or pursuing the duties and obligations of the women of her tribe. While she was very feminine in her dress and appearance, Pine Leaf chose the path of the warrior and the activities of the males in her tribe. She was encouraged in these pursuits by her foster father who, along with other men in the village, began teaching her male responsibilities while she was still quite young. She was considered a Two spirited.

Her determination to follow the path of the warrior was set while she was still with her own people, the Gros Ventre. Accounts have it that she had a twin brother who had been killed by the Blackfoot. She vowed to avenge her brother's death, and to take no husband until she had killed 100 enemy warriors with her own hands. She became equally skilled in the use of Native war weapons as well as the white man's gun, and soon became a mighty force in the Crow camp.

Pine Leaf achieved the status of warrior when she single-handedly turned a Blackfoot ambush in order to protect a fort that was sheltering both Crow and white families. With her new standing and respect in her village, Pine Leaf gathered ambitious young men around her and led them to successful raids against the Blackfoot. Her victories were many, and were counted by her growing herd of horses and the scalp locks she collected.

Her accomplishments were not ignored by the tribe, and Pine Leaf was soon made a part of the Council of Chiefs. There, she became known as Woman Chief, the name which is best known among white historians. So powerful was she that she was ranked third in a band of 160 lodges. She acquired four women as wives who took care of her home, her holdings, and performed the womanly duties she had no taste for.

White men who crossed Pine Leaf's path along the fur trade route were totally confounded by her. They had never seen, or even heard of, such a woman who could strike such terror in the hearts of men. They were confused, fascinated, and intimidated by her very presence. Since there was nothing in their own cultures they could compare to Pine Leaf, she became known as the Absaroka Amazon among the white traders. She became almost a mythical figure to them.

James Pierson Beckwourth, a black man and a freed slave, lived among the Crow for a number of years. In Beckwourth's autobiography, it is clear that he was quite smitten by Pine Leaf. By his own words, he pursued her with great fervor, but she would have none of him. James P. Beckwourth, in 1831, wrote,

"...one of the bravest women who ever lived... She possessed great intellectual powers. She was endowed with extraordinary muscular strength, with the activity of the cat and the speed of the antelope... solemnly vowed that she would never marry."

Nonetheless, Beckwourth proposed marriage to her, she refused, when he persisted, she agreed, telling him "when the pine leaves turn yellow". Several days passed before he realized pine trees are evergreen.

Following the Treaty of Laramie in 1851, Pine Leaf gave up her warrior ways to became active in peacemaking with the tribes of the upper Missouri and often visited her own people, the Gros Ventre. While there was an uneasy peace which lasted for several years, Pine Leaf was ambushed and killed by her own blood - the Gros Ventre.

Source: excerpts from: http://www.meyna.com/pine.html - et alii

Image: Scan from The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, edited by Thomas D. Bonner, Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1856