Aug. 14, 1964 - “Pretty Walking Bird” was made a daughter of the Crow Indian tribe today to the sound of slow tom-toms in a little cinderblock gymnasium on the tribal reservation in Billings, Mont.
Mrs. Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson — the Indians combined her lifelong nickname with her penchant for travel in selecting her Crow name — accepted the ceremonial royal blue blanket that made her the adopted daughter of George and Evelyn Old Elk.
Then she bobbed and shuffled, somewhat timidly but smiling broadly, as members of the Crow tribe steered her around the floor in a traditional dance.
The President’s wife flew west this morning to the “Big Sky Country” of Montana. This is considered hostile Goldwater territory, but the 1,000 Montanans who turned out to greet her at the Billings airport were polite if restrained, and the Indians on the reservation were more than friendly.
The Crows, famous among the Indians of the Great Plains as hunters and horseback riders, decided last night to make Mrs. Johnson one of their own. They had telephoned the White House several days ago to ask her moccasin size (7½ quad-A — very narrow) so that they could give her a pair.
Mrs. Johnson will tour some of the wildest sections of Montana, Wyoming, and Utah during the next three days and will return to Washington next Tuesday. All three states have Republican Governors and went for Richard M. Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election.
Today, in the stifling gymnasium, packed with solemn faces surmounted by feathered headdresses, Mrs. Johnson said:
“In this land of picturesque country and picturesque names, I feel a special kinship. At last I’m among people who probably won’t find my name of Lady Bird unusual.”
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