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Quick Facts
- NAME: Crazy Horse
- OCCUPATION: Folk Hero, Warrior, Political Leader
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1842
- DEATH DATE: September 05, 1877
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Rapid City, South Dakota
- PLACE OF DEATH: Fort Robinson, Nebraska
- Full Name: Tashunka Witco
Best Known For
Crazy Horse was an Oglala Sioux Indian chief who fought against removal to an Indian reservation. He took part in the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Videos see all videos
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Crazy Horse - Vision Quest (2:21)
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Crazy Horse - Early Life (3:28)
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Crazy Horse - Death (4:02)
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Crazy Horse - Vision Quest
An inside look into the first vision quest that famed Native American warrior Crazy Horse went on.
Crazy Horse - Early Life
Learn about the early life of Crazy Horse, a member of the Lakota tribe within the Sioux Nation.
Crazy Horse - Death
Learn about the circumstances that led to the death of famed Native American warrior Crazy Horse.
Crazy Horse - Battle at Little Big Horn
An inside look at the Battle of Little Big Horn between the Native Americans and forces led by General George Custer.
Quiz
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Play NowCrazy Horse. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:07, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082.
Crazy Horse. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082 [Accessed 26 May 2013].
"Crazy Horse." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 05:07 http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082.
"Crazy Horse," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082 [accessed May 26, 2013].
"Crazy Horse," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082 (accessed May 26, 2013).
Crazy Horse [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082.
Crazy Horse, http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082 (last visited May 26, 2013).
Crazy Horse. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082. Accessed May 26, 2013.
Even after the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which guaranteed the Lakota important land, including the coveted Black Hills territory, Crazy Horse continued his fight.
Beyond his seemingly mystical ability to avoid injury or death on the battlefield,
Crazy Horse also showed himself to be uncompromising with his white foes. He refused to be photographed and never committed his signature to any document. The aim of his fight 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 to decimate General George Armstrong Custer and his esteemed Seventh Cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, perhaps the greatest victory ever by Native Americans over U.S. troops.
Last Stand
Following the defeat of Custer, the U.S. Army struck back hard against the Lakota, pursuing a scorched-earth policy whose aim was to extract total surrender. While Sitting Bull led his followers into Canada to escape the wrath of the Army, Crazy Horse continued to fight.
But as the winter of 1877 set in and 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. Instructed to remain on the reservation, he defied orders that summer to put his sick wife in the care of his parents.
After his arrest, Crazy Horse was returned to Fort Robinson, where, in a struggle with the officers, he was bayoneted in the kidneys. 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.
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