Born on the banks of the Republican River around the year 1845, Crazy Horse (Tashunkewitko), a name synonymous with the spirit of the Oglala Sioux, lived a life tragically cut short at approximately thirty-three years. His death occurred at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877, marking the end of a remarkable era and a poignant loss for his people.
A Vision of Physical Perfection
Descriptions of Crazy Horse often paint a picture of uncommon handsomeness. While perhaps not possessing the sheer imposing stature of a figure like Gall, he was celebrated for his physical perfection and harmonious symmetry, likened to an Apollo in form. Beyond mere physical attributes, he embodied a refined and graceful essence, representing a true type of the noble Native American.
A Gentle Warrior and True Brave
Comparisons were often drawn between Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph, both figures of modesty and courtesy. However, a fundamental difference lay in their inherent nature. Crazy Horse was a born warrior, driven by an innate sense of duty and courage, while Joseph’s path led him toward peace through different means. Crazy Horse was a gentle warrior, a true brave who championed the highest ideals of the Sioux nation. He epitomized the spirit of selflessness, courage, and dedication to his people’s well-being.
Judging a Man by His Own People
In considering the legacy of Crazy Horse, it is crucial to view him through the lens of his own people’s estimation, rather than through the biased accounts of his adversaries. This perspective offers a more authentic and nuanced understanding of his character and motivations.
A Boyhood Steeped in Tribal Tradition
The early years of Crazy Horse unfolded during a time when encounters between the western Sioux and white men were infrequent, primarily limited to traders and soldiers. He was raised with meticulous care, immersed in the rich tapestry of tribal customs and traditions.
During this period, the Sioux placed immense value on the training and development of their children, both sons and daughters. Every milestone in a child’s growth was celebrated with public feasts held in their honor. These events served as opportunities for parents to demonstrate extraordinary generosity, often giving generously to the needy, even at the expense of their own comfort, thereby instilling in the child a profound sense of self-denial for the greater good.
A child’s first independent steps, their first spoken word, the first game they successfully hunted, and the attainment of adulthood – each of these moments was marked by a feast and dance, where the less fortunate benefited greatly from the parents’ generosity. These acts of selflessness reflected the core values of big-heartedness, courage, and dedication to the well-being of the community.
These inherent traits, while virtuous within their traditional context, became a source of vulnerability when confronted with a society built upon commerce and personal gain. It was within this shifting landscape that the life of Crazy Horse began to unfold.
A Mother’s Love and a Father’s Training
Crazy Horse‘s mother, like all mothers, was deeply devoted to her son’s well-being. She never interfered with his father’s rigorous physical training, recognizing its importance in shaping him into a strong and capable warrior.
His parents instilled in him a strong sense of spirituality and patriotism, laying a foundation that made him acutely aware of the demands of public service from a young age.
An anecdote from his childhood illustrates his innate generosity. When he was four or five years old, his band was trapped by a severe winter storm, facing severe food shortages. Despite the scarcity, his father, a tireless hunter, braved the harsh conditions and eventually returned with two antelopes.
Without authorization from his parents, the young Crazy Horse rode his pony through the camp, inviting the elderly to his mother’s teepee for meat. Consequently, his mother had to distribute almost all of the meat, keeping only enough for two meals.
The following day, when the child asked for food, his mother reminded him that the elders had taken it all, adding, "Remember, my son, they went home singing praises in your name, not my name or your father’s. You must be brave. You must live up to your reputation."
A Love for Horses and the Hunt
Crazy Horse possessed a deep affection for horses, and his father gifted him with a pony at a very young age. He became an accomplished horseman, accompanying his father on buffalo hunts. Initially, he was responsible for holding the pack horses while the men pursued the buffalo, gradually learning the art of the hunt.
In those times, the Sioux had limited access to firearms, and hunting was primarily conducted with bows and arrows.
Another story from his boyhood recounts an encounter with a bear. Around the age of twelve, he and his younger brother were searching for ponies when they stumbled upon wild cherry trees laden with ripe fruit. As they enjoyed the treat, a bear startled them with a sudden growl and charge.
Young Crazy Horse quickly pushed his brother up into a tree and mounted one of the horses, which, frightened, bolted away. Regaining control, he turned the horse back toward the bear, yelling and swinging his lariat. The bear initially stood its ground but eventually turned and fled.
An elder who recounted this story believed that even at a young age, Crazy Horse possessed an aura of power that deterred even a grizzly bear. It is also believed that the bear was driven off by the lasso line.
It was customary for Sioux boys to wait in the fields after a buffalo hunt until sunset, when the young calves would emerge, searching for their mothers. The boys would then engage in a mock hunt, lassoing the calves or driving them back to camp. Crazy Horse proved to be a determined participant, and one day, the older boys challenged him to ride a large bull calf.
Crazy Horse accepted the challenge and remained on the calf’s back as it ran bawling across the hills, pursued by the other boys on their ponies. The calf eventually collapsed, trembling and exhausted.
A Warrior Emerges
At the age of sixteen, Crazy Horse joined a war party against the Gros Ventres. He positioned himself at the forefront of the charge, immediately demonstrating his bravery by closely following Hump, one of the most respected Sioux warriors, drawing the enemy’s fire and circling around their advance guard.
When Hump’s horse was shot from under him, a surge of warriors rushed to kill or capture him. Amidst a hail of arrows, the young Crazy Horse leaped from his pony, helped his friend into his own saddle, and sprang up behind him, carrying him to safety despite being hotly pursued.
This act of courage cemented his association with Hump, a renowned figure in Indian warfare. Hump, then at the height of his career, declared Crazy Horse to be the rising warrior of the Teton Sioux.
During this period, as was customary for young men of his caliber, he dedicated considerable time to prayer and solitude.
The details of his experiences during these times of fasting in the wilderness and on the summits of bald buttes remain unknown, accessible only to those who have lived through the trials of life to a respected old age.
Despite being highly sought after by his peers, Crazy Horse remained reserved and modest. However, in moments of danger, he invariably rose above them all, exhibiting natural leadership qualities.
An Ideal Sioux Brave
Crazy Horse embodied the ideal Sioux brave. From an objective viewpoint, he was an ideal hero, living at the height of the American Indian’s epic struggle and embodying the most refined and ennobling aspects of their spiritual life, which have since been eroded by contact with a materialistic civilization.
He cherished his friendship with Hump, the peerless warrior, and the two became close despite their age difference, earning them the nickname "the grizzly and his cub."
Together, they repeatedly turned the tide for the Sioux in skirmishes with neighboring tribes. However, one day they faced a losing battle against the Snakes.
As the Sioux retreated, overwhelmed by superior numbers, Hump fell during a final, desperate charge. Crazy Horse and his younger brother, though dismounted, killed two of the enemy, enabling their retreat.
It was noted that when Crazy Horse pursued the enemy into their strongholds, he often refrained from killing, instead striking them with a switch, demonstrating his fearlessness and disdain for wasting ammunition.
Tragically, it was while attempting this feat that Crazy Horse lost his only brother, who closely emulated him. A group of young warriors, led by Crazy Horse, had attacked a frontier post, killing a sentinel, stampeding horses, and chasing a herder to the stockade gate, drawing the garrison’s fire.
While the leader escaped unscathed, his younger brother was shot down from his horse and killed.
Generosity and Leadership
Before reaching the age of twenty, Crazy Horse returned from a major winter buffalo hunt with ten buffalo tongues, which he donated to the council lodge for the councilors’ feast.
In a single winter day, Crazy Horse had killed ten buffalo cows with his bow and arrows, sharing his bounty with unsuccessful hunters and those without swift ponies.
As the hunters returned, they chanted songs of gratitude. Crazy Horse, knowing his father was an expert hunter with a good horse, took no meat home, embodying the spirit of his early teachings.
Rising to the Occasion
Crazy Horse came of age during a critical period of conflict between the United States and the Sioux. Even before that time, he had proven his value to his people in intertribal warfare.
He had repeatedly risked his life, often saving others as well as himself in what were considered miraculous acts. He was neither an orator nor the son of a chief, yet he possessed a natural charisma and the respect of his peers.
At the age of twenty-one, Crazy Horse attended a council of all the Teton Sioux chiefs to determine their future policy towards the encroaching settlers. Previous agreements had been made by individual bands, each acting independently and fostering friendly relations.
They initially believed that the country was vast enough to accommodate both them and the white traders. They had even permitted the Oregon Trail. However, to their dismay, forts were built and garrisoned within their territory.
While some influential figures, such as White Bull, Two Kettle, Four Bears, and Swift Bear, still desired peace and were willing to negotiate another treaty, the majority of the chiefs advocated for strong resistance. Even Spotted Tail, who later became a prominent peace chief, sided with the majority in 1866, deciding to defend their rights and territory by force. Attacks were to be launched against the forts within their country and against any trespassers.
Although Crazy Horse did not participate in the discussions, he and all the young warriors supported the council’s decision. Despite his youth, he was already a respected leader among them.
Other notable young braves included Sword, the younger Hump, Charging Bear, Spotted Elk, Crow King, No Water, Big Road, He Dog, and Touch-the-Cloud, an intimate friend of Crazy Horse.
The attack on Fort Phil Kearny marked the beginning of the new policy. Crazy Horse was chosen to lead the attack on the woodcutters, intended to lure the soldiers out of the fort while a force of six hundred warriors lay in wait.
The success of this strategy was further enhanced by his skillful command of his men. From that point onward, a general war ensued. Sitting Bull recognized him as a key war leader, and even the Cheyenne chiefs, allies of the Sioux, acknowledged his leadership.
Throughout the subsequent ten years of defensive war, he never delivered a speech, though his teepee served as a gathering place for young men. He was entrusted with implementing the council’s decisions and was frequently consulted by the elder chiefs.
Like Osceola, Crazy Horse rose to prominence rapidly; like Tecumseh, he was always eager for battle; like Pontiac, he continued to fight even as his allies sought peace; and like Grant, the silent soldier, Crazy Horse was a man of action rather than words.
Crazy Horse triumphed over Custer, Fetterman, and Crook. He won every battle he undertook, with the exception of one or two instances where he was caught off guard amidst his women and children, even then managing to safely extract himself from difficult situations.
The Battle of Little Bighorn
Early in 1876, messengers brought word from Sitting Bull that all the roaming bands would converge on the upper Tongue River in Montana for summer feasts and conferences. Conflicting information circulated from the reservation.
Rumors suggested that the army intended to fight the Sioux to the bitter end, while others claimed that another commission would be sent to negotiate with them.
The Indians assembled in early June, forming a series of encampments stretching three to four miles, each band maintaining its own separate camp.
On June 17, scouts reported the advance of a large contingent of troops under General Crook. The council dispatched Crazy Horse with seven hundred men to intercept and engage them. These warriors, primarily young men, many under the age of twenty, represented the elite of the hostile Sioux.
They set out at night to gain an advantage over the enemy, but within three or four miles of Crook’s camp, they unexpectedly encountered some of his Crow scouts. A brief exchange of gunfire ensued, and the Crows fled back to Crook’s camp, pursued by the Sioux.
The soldiers were alerted, making it impossible to breach the well-defended camp. Despite repeated charges by Crazy Horse and his bravest warriors to draw the troops into the open, they only succeeded in provoking their fire.
By afternoon, he withdrew, returning to camp disappointed. His scouts remained to observe Crook’s movements, later reporting that he had retreated to Goose Creek and appeared to have abandoned any further attempts to disturb the Sioux.
It is now understood that Crook, rather than Reno, bears the primary responsibility for the events surrounding Custer’s demise.
Reno had little opportunity to act, fortunate to have survived. However, had Crook continued his march as ordered, to rendezvous with Terry, with his thousand regulars and two hundred Crow and Shoshone scouts, he would have inevitably intercepted Custer’s advance, potentially altering the outcome and ending the war with the Sioux.
Instead, he retreated to Fort Meade, consuming his horses along the way, in a land teeming with game, out of fear of Crazy Horse and his warriors!
The Indians then crossed the divide between the Tongue and the Little Bighorn, feeling secure from immediate pursuit. However, despite their precautions, they were caught unawares by General Custer amidst their midday games and festivities, while many were away on the daily hunt.
On June 25, 1876, the sprawling camp stretched for three miles along the flat river bottom, behind a thin screen of cottonwoods – five circular rows of teepees, ranging from half a mile to a mile and a half in circumference.
Scattered throughout the camp were large, solitary white teepees, the lodges of the young men’s "clubs."
Crazy Horse was a member of the "Strong Hearts" and the "Tokala" or Fox lodge. He was observing a game of ring-toss when word arrived from the southern end of the camp about the approaching troops.
The Sioux and Cheyennes were "minute men," responding instantly despite being caught by surprise. Chaos erupted among the women and children.
Dogs barked, ponies ran in all directions, pursued by their owners, while many of the elders sang their lodge songs to encourage the warriors or praised the "strong heart" of Crazy Horse.
The leader quickly saddled his favorite war pony and prepared to ride with his young men to the southern end of the camp when a fresh alarm sounded from the opposite direction. Looking up, he saw Custer’s force atop the bluff directly across the river.
Swiftly assessing the situation, he realized the enemy planned to attack the camp from both ends simultaneously. Knowing that Custer could not ford the river at that point, he immediately led his men northward to the ford to cut him off. The Cheyennes followed closely.
Custer must have witnessed that remarkable charge across the sagebrush plain, and one wonders if he understood its significance. In a matter of minutes, the plains’ wild general had outmaneuvered one of the Civil War’s most brilliant leaders, ending his military career and his life.
With this daring charge, Crazy Horse seized his most celebrated victory from what appeared to be a perilous situation, as the Sioux could not know how many soldiers followed Custer. Custer was caught in his own trap.
To the soldiers, it must have seemed as though the Indians rose from the earth to overwhelm them. They closed in from three sides, fighting until not a white man remained alive. They then moved down to Reno’s position, finding him so well entrenched in a deep gully that it was impossible to dislodge him.
Gall and his men held him there until the approach of General Terry forced the Sioux to break camp and disperse in different directions.
The Final Surrender
While Sitting Bull was pursued into Canada, Crazy Horse and the Cheyennes wandered relatively undisturbed for the remainder of the year, until the army surprised the Cheyennes during the winter, but inflicted minimal damage, perhaps due to their awareness of Crazy Horse‘s proximity. His name commanded respect.
Delegations of friendly Indians were sent to him periodically, urging him to return to the reservation, promising a fair hearing and just treatment.
He resisted for some time, but the rapid depletion of the buffalo, their sole means of survival, likely weighed heavily on his decision.
In July 1877, he was finally persuaded to come to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with several thousand Indians, primarily Oglala and Minneconwoju Sioux, under the explicit understanding that the government would address their grievances.
At this point, General Crook appointed Spotted Tail, who had been of great service to the army, as the head chief of the Sioux, which was met with resentment by many. The attention given to Crazy Horse offended Spotted Tail and the Indian scouts, who plotted against him.
They informed General Crook that the young chief planned to murder him at the next council and incite the Sioux to another war.
He was advised not to attend the council and did not, sending another officer in his place. Meanwhile, Crazy Horse‘s friends discovered the plot and informed him. His response was, "Only cowards are murderers."
His wife was critically ill at the time, and he decided to take her to her parents at the Spotted Tail agency, prompting his enemies to spread rumors that he had fled. A party of scouts was sent after him.
They caught up with him as he rode with his wife and one other but did not attempt to arrest him. After leaving the sick woman with her family, he visited Captain Lea, the agent for the Brules, accompanied by all the warriors of the Minneconwoju band.
This voluntary escort made an impressive display on horseback, shouting and singing, creating a tense situation, as described by Captain Lea himself and the missionary, Reverend Mr. Cleveland.
The scouts who had followed Crazy Horse from the Red Cloud agency were advised to remain hidden, as some of the warriors had proposed publicly horsewhipping them.
Under these circumstances, Crazy Horse again demonstrated his leadership by restraining the young men.
He told them calmly, "It is well to be brave on the battlefield; it is cowardly to display bravery against one’s own tribesmen.
These scouts have been compelled to do what they did; they are no better than servants of the white officers. I came here on a peaceful errand."
The captain urged him to report to army headquarters to explain himself and refute the false rumors, and upon his agreement, provided him with a wagon and escort.
It has been suggested that Crazy Horse returned under arrest, but this is untrue. Indians have claimed to have been involved in bringing him in, but their accounts are unfounded.
He went willingly, either suspecting no treachery or determined to defy it.
Upon reaching the military camp, Little Big Man walked arm-in-arm with him, and his cousin and friend, Touch-the-Cloud, walked ahead. After passing the sentinel, an officer approached and walked on his other side.
Crazy Horse was unarmed, except for the knife carried for everyday use by both women and men. Unsuspectingly, he walked towards the guardhouse when Touch-the-Cloud suddenly turned back, exclaiming, "Cousin, they will put you in prison!"
"Crazy Horse cried, "Another white man’s trick! Let me go! Let me die fighting!" He stopped and tried to break free and draw his knife, but Little Big Man and the officer restrained both his arms.
While he struggled, a soldier stabbed him in the back with his bayonet. The wound was fatal, and he died that night, his old father singing the death song over him and later carrying away his body, insisting that it must not be further defiled by the touch of a white man.
They concealed his body somewhere in the Badlands, where it remains to this day.
Thus, one of the most capable and honorable American Indians passed away. His life was exemplary, his record unblemished. Crazy Horse was never implicated in any of the numerous massacres along the trail, but he was a leader in nearly every open battle.
Individuals like Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph are rare, even among so-called civilized societies.
The reputations of great men are often tarnished by questionable motives and policies, but these two figures stand as pure patriots, as deserving of honor as any who have lived in the vast spaces of a new world.
Source: As told by Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)
FURTHER READING:
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglallas
