Crazy Horse
written by: The Biography Channel revised by: April Smith
Crazy Horse was born in 1840, near present-day Rapid City, South Dakota. Crazy Horse was fair-skinned and had brown, curly hair. He did not look like the typical Native American. His appearance made him a loner. Crazy Horse's birth had come during a great time for the Lakota people. The Lakota were a division of the Sioux Tribe. The Lakota division was the largest band of the tribe. Their territory was very large. It ran from the Missouri River to the Big Horn Mountains in the west. They made very few treaties with the whites.
In the 1850s, however, life for the Lakota began to change considerably. As white settlers began pushing west in search of gold and a new a life out on the frontier, competition for resources between these new immigrants and the Lakota created tension. Military forts were established in parts of the Great Plains, bringing in even more white settlers and introducing diseases that took their toll on the native Indian populations.
In August 1854 things changed for the Lakota Tribe. The Grattan Massacre started when a group of white men, led by Lieutenant John Grattan, entered a Sioux camp to arrest men who had killed a settler’s cow. Chief Conquering Bear refused to give in to their demands. Then, one of the white soldiers shot and killed the chief, the camp's warriors fought back and killed Grattan and his 30 men. The Grattan Massacre is considered the conflict that started the First Sioux War between the United States and the Lakota. It was also the beginning of Crazy Horse’s distrust of whites.
The conflicts between the Lakota and the U.S. continued to get worse and eventually war broke out. Crazy Horse was at the center of many key battles. In one important victory for his people, Crazy Horse led an attack on Captain William J. Fetterman and his brigade of 80 men. The Fetterman Massacre, as it came to be known, proved to be a huge embarrassment for the U.S. military. Even after the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which guaranteed the Lakota important land, including the Black Hills territory, Crazy Horse continued his fight.
Crazy Horse had one goal. It was to retake the Lakota life he'd known as a child, when his people had full run of the Great Plains. But there was little hope that would ever happen. Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, and the U.S. government's backing of white explorers in the territory, the War Department ordered all Lakota onto reservations. Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull refused.
On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a force of 1,200 Oglala and Cheyenne warriors against General George Crook and his brigade, successfully turning back the soldiers as they attempted to advance toward Sitting Bull's encampment on the Little Bighorn River. A week later Crazy Horse teamed up with Sitting Bull and together they destroyed the Seventh Cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn killing Col. George Custer and 100 of his men. It was perhaps the greatest victory ever by Native Americans over U.S. troops.
Following the defeat of Custer, the U.S. Army struck back hard against the Lakota aiming for Native Americans’ total surrender. While Sitting Bull led his followers into Canada to escape the wrath of the Army, Crazy Horse continued to fight.
In the winter of 1877, food supplies began to shorten, Crazy Horse's followers started to abandon him. On May 6, 1877, he rode to Fort Robinson in Nebraska and surrendered. He was instructed to remain on the reservation, but he defied orders that summer to put his sick wife in the care of his parents. He was arrested and returned to Fort Robinson, where, in a struggle with the officers, he was killed. He passed away with his father at his side on September 5, 1877.
Years after his death Crazy Horse is still revered for being a visionary leader who fought hard to preserve his people's traditions and way of life.
In the 1850s, however, life for the Lakota began to change considerably. As white settlers began pushing west in search of gold and a new a life out on the frontier, competition for resources between these new immigrants and the Lakota created tension. Military forts were established in parts of the Great Plains, bringing in even more white settlers and introducing diseases that took their toll on the native Indian populations.
In August 1854 things changed for the Lakota Tribe. The Grattan Massacre started when a group of white men, led by Lieutenant John Grattan, entered a Sioux camp to arrest men who had killed a settler’s cow. Chief Conquering Bear refused to give in to their demands. Then, one of the white soldiers shot and killed the chief, the camp's warriors fought back and killed Grattan and his 30 men. The Grattan Massacre is considered the conflict that started the First Sioux War between the United States and the Lakota. It was also the beginning of Crazy Horse’s distrust of whites.
The conflicts between the Lakota and the U.S. continued to get worse and eventually war broke out. Crazy Horse was at the center of many key battles. In one important victory for his people, Crazy Horse led an attack on Captain William J. Fetterman and his brigade of 80 men. The Fetterman Massacre, as it came to be known, proved to be a huge embarrassment for the U.S. military. Even after the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which guaranteed the Lakota important land, including the Black Hills territory, Crazy Horse continued his fight.
Crazy Horse had one goal. It was to retake the Lakota life he'd known as a child, when his people had full run of the Great Plains. But there was little hope that would ever happen. Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, and the U.S. government's backing of white explorers in the territory, the War Department ordered all Lakota onto reservations. Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull refused.
On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a force of 1,200 Oglala and Cheyenne warriors against General George Crook and his brigade, successfully turning back the soldiers as they attempted to advance toward Sitting Bull's encampment on the Little Bighorn River. A week later Crazy Horse teamed up with Sitting Bull and together they destroyed the Seventh Cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn killing Col. George Custer and 100 of his men. It was perhaps the greatest victory ever by Native Americans over U.S. troops.
Following the defeat of Custer, the U.S. Army struck back hard against the Lakota aiming for Native Americans’ total surrender. While Sitting Bull led his followers into Canada to escape the wrath of the Army, Crazy Horse continued to fight.
In the winter of 1877, food supplies began to shorten, Crazy Horse's followers started to abandon him. On May 6, 1877, he rode to Fort Robinson in Nebraska and surrendered. He was instructed to remain on the reservation, but he defied orders that summer to put his sick wife in the care of his parents. He was arrested and returned to Fort Robinson, where, in a struggle with the officers, he was killed. He passed away with his father at his side on September 5, 1877.
Years after his death Crazy Horse is still revered for being a visionary leader who fought hard to preserve his people's traditions and way of life.