The Wild West of Yester-Year
Crazy Horse
By Rachel Kovaciny
A few years ago, we
took our kids camping in South Dakota. We hiked in the
Badlands, visited Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore, and took a
trail ride in the Black Hills that gave us glimpses of the
uncompleted statue of Crazy Horse. We didn’t have time to
visit it, but it made me glad to at least see it from a
distance. One day, I’d like to see it up close, because it
is an amazing sculptural undertaking!
Why are they carving
a giant statue of this American Indian leader in the Black
Hills of South Dakota? Let’s find out!
Crazy Horse (Tasunke
Witco in his native language) was born around 1840 in South
Dakota, in the Oglala Lakota tribe of the Sioux Indians. His
father was a medicine man called Crazy Horse who eventually
passed his name to his son as a way of imbuing him with his
power and importance. Young Crazy Horse was a respected
warrior by his mid-teens. When he went on the traditional
vision quest, he saw himself as a mighty warrior with
lightning streaks on his cheeks and hail stones on his body,
and that is how he painted himself to prepare for battle
from then on.
In 1854, Crazy Horse took part in his first fight
against encroaching U.S. military forces. He fought in many
battles, raids, and skirmishes over the next twenty years,
mainly against white soldiers and settlers. By 1865, his
tribe knew him as a “shirt wearer,” which is a kind of
sub-chief and leader of warriors.
For most of the
1860s, Crazy Horse and many other Lakota people lived in the
Black Hills of South Dakota, which a treaty designated as
their land forever. But when they discovered gold there in
1874, white prospectors ignored the boundaries of native
territories and swarmed in, seeking it. Crazy Horse and his
warriors at first combined with Cheyenne forces to fight the
interlopers, then moved north to join the larger force led
by Lakota chief Sitting Bull.
In 1876, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lead the battle
against General George Custer and the Seventh US Cavalry.
This became known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn or
Custer’s Last Stand, because Custer and all his cavalry
troops died that day. It’s considered the last great victory
for the American Indians fighting the white settlers who
were moving into their traditional hunting grounds. Crazy
Horse and his warriors played a pivotal part in the battle
by stopping the cavalry reinforcements that were on the way
to support Custer.
Crazy Horse’s last
significant confrontation with the U.S. military took place
during the Battle of Wolf Mountain in early 1877. After
that, he seems to have realized fighting against the
soldiers and settlers would not help his people regain their
homeland. He led many of his tribe to the Red Cloud Agency
in 1877 because they were starving, seeking to establish
peace with the white people around him. Crazy Horse settled
near the agency so he could lead and counsel his followers
there.
Later that year,
Crazy Horse met with U.S. military leaders at Fort Robinson
to negotiate a permanent truce. The peace talks broke down
because of disputes over mistranslations. Eyewitness
accounts say the soldiers misinterpreted something Crazy
Horse said and thought he meant to attack, so they tried to
restrain him and take him to the fort’s jail. Crazy Horse
struggled against them, possibly thinking they were going to
execute him. He drew a knife to defend himself, though his
friend Little Big Man tried to warn him not to resist. A
guard retaliated by lunging at Crazy Horse with a bayonet
and mortally wounded him.
Crazy Horse died in
the fort from that wound on September 5, 1877, at only
thirty-seven years old. His fearless leadership of his
fellow Oglala Lakota warriors and his devotion to defending
and protecting his people made him an enduring hero.
The statue of Crazy
Horse in the Black Hills is not based on any photographs or
paintings of the famous war chief. Crazy Horse refused to
have his photograph taken or his portrait painted or drawn
because he feared it would take away part of his life force.
Reportedly, he would say, “Would you imprison my shadow
too?” whenever someone asked to photograph him. The statue’s
face is based on descriptions from people who knew him,
including his half-sister. Carving the statue began in 1940,
and they hope to have much of it completed by 2037. Maybe
that’s when I’ll try to go back and see it again! ♦