Born in 1863, a member of the Sioux tribe, the only known Native American to have Overman powers, White Crow grew up to be a fairly average brave. Late in the 1870's White Crow's tribe, under the leadership of Chief Sitting Bull, were forced to move into Canada to avoid persecution by the US government. However, in 1881, famine forced them to return from Canada to the USA, where they had to surrender to US government forces. Sitting Bull was imprisoned and the rest of the tribe were transported back to the reservation.
Shortly after reaching the reservation, as the Sioux desperately looked for a way out of the box in which the white man had put them, White Crow developed powerful Overman abilities - strength, speed, toughness, enhanced senses and the ability to run like the wind. The Sioux saw this as a sign that the gods were aiding them, and with White Crow, now using the name Thunderbird, at their head the Indians on the reservation broke out. After freeing Sitting Bull they began a war to throw the white man off their land. With Thunderbird at their head, the Sioux were easily able to attack and destroy a number of forts, recruiting many Indians as they went.
In late 1881, as the US government was building a huge cavalry force to destroy these 'upstart savages', an attack on a fort went horribly wrong for the Sioux - two men in the fort (who later became Bannerman and Scalphunter of the Guardians of Democracy) gained Overman powers when they were nearly killed and together they were able to defeat Thunderbird. Seeing this the Indians morale crumbled and they fled, seeing Thunderbirds defeat as a sign that the gods had deserted them. After many reprisals the Indians were finally returned to their reservations, and Thunderbird was imprisoned for trial, kept unconscious by drugs. Although a few groups of Indians tried to free Thunderbird, none were successful. In 1885 a judgement was finally passed on him, and he was executed with the aid of a field gun while unconscious, an apparently frail figure whose muscles had wasted after years unconscious.
Although portrayed at the time as a ravening bloodthirsty savage, less biased analysis showed that Thunderbird was merely a man fighting for his people against white oppression. Because of this, in the twentieth century Thunderbird became a symbol of the American civil rights movement.
Although originally not particularly handsome or striking, after he gained his powers White Crow became very much more handsome and impressive, almost an idealised Sioux brave.