Distinctly Montana Magazine

62 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 T HE MEDAL OF HONOR, AMERICA'S HIGHEST MILI- TARY DECORATION FOR VALOR, WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH CONGRESSIONAL ACTS ON DECEMBER 21, 1861, AND JULY 12, 1862, WHICH AUTHORIZED ITS CONFER- MENT TO MEMBERS, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY AND ARMY. On March 25, 1863, Private Jacob Parrott be- came the first recipient of this award. For more than 50 years, the MOH was the only medallic award for gallantry in combat. The advent of a tiered-rank structure for U.S. military decora- tions in the twentieth century and adoption of precisely defined eligibility criteria made conferment of the Medal of Honor an increasingly rare event and contributed to its venerated status. When this article was submitted for publication, 3,552 Medals of Honor had been awarded to 3,533 recipients, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. That total includes five recipients who were enshrined, two posthumously, at ceremo- nies on February 24 and March 2, 2026. Most notably, the hon- or accorded 100-year-old Navy Captain Royce Williams (Ret.) provided long-overdue recognition of his extraordinary perfor- mance in a legendary, 35-minute-long dogfight, during which he single-handedly shot down at least four Soviet MiG-15s, on November 18, 1952 (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY- EJG8U5mzw&t=13s). Citing aviation historians, Rear Admiral Doniphan Shelton, who long championed Williams's cause, de- scribed the 7:1 encounter as "unmatched in the Korean War, un- matched in the Vietnam War, [and] unmatched ever since then." Classified according to operational theaters and the era during which they occurred, 422 Medals of Honor commemorate gal- lantry in engagements fought during the Indian Wars. Approx- imately 100 of those medals were issued for valor demonstrated on the battlefields of Montana. Archaeologist Douglas Scott provides this statistical breakdown of MOH awards associated with the Great Sioux War (1876–1877): "thirty-one for Cedar Creek, Montana and related engagements; twenty-four for the Little Bighorn; four for the Rosebud battle; three for the fight in the Wolf Mountains; two for the Slim Buttes fight; and twelve for [miscellaneous skirmishes and achievements]." The Battle of the Rosebud, which transpired on June 17, 1876, was one of the largest pitched battles ever fought between the U.S. Army and Plains tribes. However, it produced an inexpli- cably low number of Medals of Honor, one of which was be- stowed upon Trumpeter Elmer Alonson Snow for his harrowing ride across the "Gap." During Captain Anson Mills's second cavalry charge, Snow sustained a bullet wound, one that frac- tured bones in both forearms, thus rendering the limp-wristed Medals of Honor Conferred for Gallantry Displayed on the Battlefields of Montana during the Plains Indian Wars by DOUGLAS A. SCHMITTOU Profiles in Valor

• Cover