Crazy Horse's Life

Early Life
Crazy Horse was a great American Indian leader. He led several different battles and raids. He was also admired by many different people. Crazy Horse had a mostly normal childhood. Crazy Horse was born in approximately the fall of 1840. He was named “in the Wilderness”, which was pronounced Cha-O-Ha. Crazy Horse was a Sioux. The Sioux is divided up into three different groups, the Dakota, Lakota, and the Nakota. From here the Sioux were divided up even more into smaller groups. Crazy Horse’s father was an Oglala Lakota. He was also an American Indian holy man, also named Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse’s mother was a Brule Lakota, and died while Crazy Horse was still young. With his mother gone, his older sister, younger brother, and aunt helped raise him. Growing up, Crazy Horse was an unusual child. He was very quiet, thoughtful, and liked to listen more than he spoke. He also had an odd appearance. He had a slender, narrow face, and light skin. He had brown wavy hair, which is why his nickname was “Curly” growing up. Because of his overall appearance, when white people saw him, they thought he might be a white child captured by Indians.


Vision Quest
Before a Sioux boy could become a man, he had to go on a vision quest. Being a Sioux, this meant that young Curly had to go on a vision quest. On a vision quest you go to a deserted place, alone. Throughout life, your vision is supposed to help guide and protect you. Vision quests are taken very seriously. The boy was supposed to prepare for a long time, usually with the help of a holy man. Curly went on his vision quest when he was about thirteen, however, he didn’t prepare. For two days he sat on a hilltop, not eating or sleeping. By then he was ready to leave. When he stood up to mount his horse, he felt dizzy, and weak. Then he saw a man sitting on a horse. This man was not wearing a war bonnet, but had just a single hawk feather in his hair. When the man spoke, he told Curly how to prepare for battle. He said that he should never wear a war bonnet or paint his horse. He said to instead, just sprinkle some dust on himself, and his horse. He also warned Curly to never take anything from his defeated enemies. Also in the vision, Curly saw arrows and bullets hit the rider, yet he did not die. He also saw large, white hail spots appear on his body, and a small lightning bolt on his cheek. When he returned home he told his father what he had seen. His father wasn’t happy about this, and thought that Curly should have prepared more. Nevertheless, he knew the vision was important to Curly, so his father told him to do as the rider had said, and dress as the rider had.


Growing Up
There were all sorts of things that Curly went through while growing up. As a child, his father had taught him how shoot a bow and arrow. He also learned how to ride horses and hunt. In the summer of 1855, Curly discovered first hand what the whites could do when he visited his Brule relatives at their camp. When he arrived he found that the camp had been burnt to pieces, and dead bodies everywhere. Curly didn’t go out with a war party until he was seventeen. He and some other Indians raided an Arapaho Indian Village. The Arapahos had some horses that the Sioux wanted. When the fight was over, the Sioux took the horses back to their village. Curly had fought very bravely that day. Because of this, Curly’s father, Crazy Horse, decided to pass his name on to his son. He then went by worm, and Curly went by Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse then took part in a number of raids. The other children around the village admired and wanted to be like Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse was also an outstanding hunter, as well as a fighter. Because of his great hunting skills, he often caught more buffalo then he needed. He gave this buffalo to the elderly, and to widows. In 1865 the Sioux conducted a number of raids. Crazy Horse often would act as a decoy in these raids. In a July raid, Crazy Horse fooled the 11th Calvary into an ambush over the Platte Bridge Station, where the soldiers had no chance to escape. Because of this performance, Crazy Horse was made a “shirt wearer.” He was given a special sheepskin shirt with 240 locks of hair sewn onto it. These stood for each of his brave deeds.

Love Life
Crazy Horse only had one true love on his life. When he was about twenty years old, he fell in love with a woman named Black Buffalo Woman. The problem was that a lot of other men wanted to marry her, too. Her uncle was Red Cloud. In the summer of 1862, Red Cloud led a raid against the Crow. This raid took about two weeks. When Crazy Horse returned back to the village, Black Buffalo Woman had already married a man named No Water. Some say that Red Cloud tricked Crazy Horse because he wanted Black Buffalo Woman to marry into a rich and important family. Years went by, but Crazy Horse still loved Black Buffalo Woman. In 1871, she agreed to run away with him. No water found out about this, and chased after them. When he found them, No Water shot Crazy Horse in the face. Crazy Horse however, had only been wounded, so his family nursed him back to health. In 1872, Crazy Horse accepted the fact that he would never be with Black Buffalo Woman. He ended up marrying a woman named Black Shawl. A year later they had a daughter named They-Are-Afraid-Of-Her. Unfortunately, she died of cholera while she was still young. Crazy Horse the kept to himself even more.


The Battle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of Little Bighorn is probably one of the most known about Indian battles, and Crazy Horse helped lead it. In 1875, the government said that they wanted Sioux land. In that same year the government declared that the Sioux had to go live on a reservation. They said that anyone that was not there by January 31, 1876 would be considered an enemy. Crazy Horse refused to go to the reservation. He and his people joined forces with sitting bull, and a lot of Sioux bands. By June 1876 they had over 10,000 Indians together. This large group of people set up camp in valley of Little Bighorn. The Indians had spotted Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leading the 7th Calvary that day. Custer was known to hate Indians. He was also desperate for glory, and took foolish risks. He had been ordered not to attack if he found Indians, but to wait for more soldiers. Custer however wanted this victory badly because he thought it would help his career. Custer decided to divide the 7th Calvary up into three groups. The first group was lead by Major Marcus A. Reno, and was to attack from the south. The second group was led by Captain Fredrick Benteen. His group would scout the surrounding area, and make sure no Indians escaped. Custer led the third and final group. He and his men would travel along a steep ridge and down a ravine to a river. Once they crossed the river they would be in the northern half of the camp. Around 3:00pm, Reno and his men struck. They entered from the south, but didn’t make it to far into the camp. Within 20 minutes, many of Reno’s men were killed, and even more had been injured. Reno and his remaining men retreated. After this Crazy Horse quickly rode up north to defeat Custer. The Indians reached Custer before he even had crossed the river. The Indians spread out going in all directions. They had Custer’s men surrounded. The Indians killed all of Custer’s men, including Custer himself. After the battle the Indians split up and headed off in different directions, knowing that more soldiers would be on their way.


Later Life
Crazy Horse went on fighting the whites until the end. He would sometimes raid the miners in the Black Hills. In December of 1876, a man named Colonel Nelson Miles asked Crazy Horse to surrender. There had been several blizzards, and game was scarce. Crazy Horse’s people were cold and hungry. Crazy Horse wanted to hear what Miles had to say, so he sent 8 men to his fort. As the men approached the fort, the guards fired, only 3 survived. A peaceful agreement was now impossible for Crazy Horse, but things got worse. As the days passed the temperature dropped, sometimes below zero. Crazy Horse’s people were now desperate for food. In February of 1877, General George Crook urged Crazy Horse to surrender. He promised that Crazy Horse and his people would have their own reservation by Powder River. Crazy Horse agreed to this and surrendered. His people gave up all of their weapons. When they arrived at Fort Robinson, where Crook was, they were all ready to leave for their reservation. Unfortunately, this was just a broken promise; there was no reservation for them. Crazy Horse ended up living in a lodge outside of Fort Robinson. Many Indians, and white soldiers admired Crazy Horse at the fort. This made some of the other Indians leaders there jealous. They didn’t want Crazy Horse getting any special treatment. Because of this, they started a rumor saying that Crazy Horse was planning on running away, then fighting them. Also, No Water still despised Crazy Horse for running away with his wife, so he told General Crook that Crazy Horse was plotting to kill him. At word of this, Crazy Horse fled to his wife’s uncle’s reservation. Crazy horse wanted to tell Crook the truth that he hadn’t actually said any of that. Crook, however, no longer cared about what Crazy Horse had to say. The moment Crazy Horse arrived back at the fort; four Indians grabbed him and took him to the guardhouse. At this, Crazy Horse drew his knife, but before he could do anything, a white soldier stabbed him with a bayonet. Crazy Horse cried to the Indians, “Let me go, my friends. You have hurt me enough.” Crazy Horse died soon after that. Crazy Horse really was a great American Indian leader.