Elmer Crow and his grandson. Photo from Elmer Crow Memorial / Facebook

Elmer P. Crow, Jr., a member of the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho, died on Friday after saving his grandson from drowning.

Crow, 69, jumped into the Snake River after the seven-year-old fell in. He was able to lift his grandson out of the water and boaters retrieved the boy.

Crow, however, did not make it. "His final act of lifting my nephew above the water for those last few moments was what saved his grandson's life but cost him his own," his son, Jeremy, said on Facebook.

Crow was instrumental in efforts to increase runs of the lamprey, a subsistence food for tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

Get the Story:
Nez Perce elder drowns in Snake River (AP / The Lewiston Tribune 7/28)
Nez Perce Elder Dies After Saving Grandson From Drowning (The Boise Weekly 7/28)