Crazy Horse

Birth and Childhood

         Crazy Horse was born along Rapid City, South Dakota to the east of the Pacho Sapa, Black Hills. He was born in 1842. He was killed in 1877.  He was born into two tribes. The Oglala and the Brule-Sioux.  He was the son of an Oglala medicine man by the same name, and his Brule wife the sister of Spotted Tail.  His mother died when he was young, and his father took her sister as his wife, the sister of of spotted tail to help raise Crazy Horse.  When he was a child, people called him curly. Before he was 12, he had killed a buffalo and received  his own horse.  At the age of sixteen, he held his fathers name Crazy horse.                 

Crazy Horse The Warrior

         When the Brule leader was killed, Crazy Horse underwent a vision quest.  In this quest he had a meaningful dream of a rider in a storm on horseback, with long unbraided hair, a small stone in his ear, zigzag lighting decorations on his cheek, and hail dotting on his body.  He was a very mighty warrior although he never scalped anyone. The storm continued and a red-backed hawk flew over the rider's head. When he told his father , his father saw it as a sign of greatness in battle, after the vision his father renamed him Crazy Horse.  When he was 16 he rode into his first battle just like in the dream, with long unbraided hair and an earring he rode fearlessly as Crazy Horse the Warrior   

The Chief 

           After getting wounded at his first battle trying to scalp someone, he never scalped anyone again.  He became known throughout the Sioux for his courage in the Bozeman trails of 1866-68 under the Oglala, Red Cloud, when the army began building a road in powder river country from the Oregon trail.  He was one of the youngest chiefs, along with Hump.  He was one of the youngest chiefs the Sioux or the Oglala had ever had, he was also one of the greatest.  He was never selfish; he always did what was best for the Tribe. He was a real chief.           

The Death of a Great Warrior and Chief 

        During Custer's last stand Custer was leading an attack on the camp where Crazy Horse was.  Custer was trying to find the back of the camp to get the element of surprise on his side, then he accidentally ended up right in the middle of the camp.  Custer and all his men were killed.  The Indian women  stabbed his ears so he could hear his promises. He promised he would never wage war on the Sioux.  Crazy Horse was captured and taken to Fort Robinson.  They were taking him to a cell when he realized what was going on.  He tried to bolt out of the jail house, when on of his own tribe held him while he got stabbed and killed.   

Bibliography

http://jbtank.com/indians/crazyhorse.html  Crazy horse

http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/CRAZYHOR.html  Crazy Horse

www.indians.org/welker/crazyhor.htm   Crazy Horse Tashunkewitko

8th Grade American History

2005 Project