Crazy Horse: Oglala Sioux Warrior
Man and Legend, the Soul of this Sioux Hero Extraordinaire
Though there are many notable chiefs and warriors (Sitting Bull, Spotted Tail) from the history of American Plains Indians, none, however, brought the ferocity that Crazy Horse delivered during his time.
Becoming a Warrior
The Grattan and Harney Massacres of 1854 and 1855 deepened Curly's resolve to protect his people from the invading white emigrants and soldiers. Both occasions he witnessed the aggression of the U.S. cavalry when chiefs were shot during negotiations and, as in the Battle of Blue Water Creek (Harney Massacre), a Brule Sioux village was surrounded and obliterated.
Warfare
Crazy Horse is probably best remembered for his participation in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer's command was completey obliterated by the Sioux nation. Crazy Horse led this attack that virtually surrounded the Custer command. Additionally, Crazy Horse led the campaigns in the following battles, The Fetterman Massacre of December, 1866 and the Battle of the Rosebud of June 1876.
Warrior Vision
Crazy Horse during his teen years experienced a vision which marked his warrior career. He must be the first to ride into the enemy, not take any scalps--wear a stone behind his ear, a red hawk (some accounts say a red hawk feather) in his hair. The vision showed he could not be killed except when bound, and he would die by the hands of his own people.
Boyhood
Except that he was the son of Crazy Horse, a holy man, Curly's boyhood was like that of any other Sioux, male youth. He learned to ride, shoot and hunt. He learned the warrior path through the elder warriors of his tribe.
After one battle with a Sioux enemy when Curly repeatedly charged into enemy lines dodging their fire, his name was changed to Crazy Horse, the name of his father:
My son has been against the people of unkown tongue.
He has done a brave thing;
For this I give hm a new name, the name of htis father,
and of many fathers before him--
I give him a great name
I call him Crazy Horse.
The Intrigue of Crazy Horse
Perhaps some of the popularity and continued interest in the life of Crazy Horse is buried in the mysteries shrouding his life. He was not an extrovert. He frequently shunned large groups of people, prefering his solitude. He was buried secretly--gravesite unkown.
Crazy Horse displayed generosity and concern for the members of his immediate village as well as the members of other villages. As a boy, he did not gloat over status, but possessed an air of humility. Crazy Horse was a devout family man.
Though resolute in the heat of battle he was known to weep over the loss of loved ones. When his young daughter (named, They are Afraid of Her) died, he visited her grave scaffold, crawled next to the body of the child and wept. Perhaps the tears were not only for the loss of the girl, but for all the years of pain and loss he and his people had endured.
The Death of Crazy Horse
As foretold in his vision, when he saw that a jail cell was to be his abode (Fort Robinson) he resisted. His arms were restricted. It was then this fierce warrior received the fatal wound from a bayonet. He died slowly in the presence of family and friends.
Source
Mari Sandoz, Crazy Horse, Strange Man of the Oglalas, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 1992, pgs. 121-413.
