Crazy Horse

(1842?–77)

Leader of Lakota Sioux

Crazy Horse was one of the greatest Sioux leaders. His losing battle to stop white encroachment on Sioux land marked the end of the Sioux's nomadic hunter life on the Great Plains and the transition to reservation life. Crazy Horse is probably best remembered for his leadership at the battle of Little Bighorn.

Born circa 1842, Crazy Horse witnessed the struggle between whites and Sioux as a child. As a young man, he received his name Crazy Horse after he had a vision of a warrior on horseback immune to his enemy's bullets and arrows. The vision also prophesied that the warrior would one day be a great leader of his people.

Conflict between the Sioux and the United States was ongoing, including a major Sioux uprising in Minnesota on August 18, 1862. In 1865, the United States opened the Bozeman Trail, which ran through Native American lands in Montana and Wyoming. The government signed treaties with tribal leaders to prevent conflict between settlers and indigenous peoples. But many Sioux, including Sitting Bull, refused to sign the agreement: they did not want any whites passing through their lands.

Between 1865 and 1868, Crazy Horse fought alongside Red Cloud against settlers in Wyoming. A year after opening the Bozeman Trail, the government began constructing military posts. On December 21, 1866, Crazy [Page 198]Horse, acting as decoy, led 80 soldiers from Fort Phil Kearny into a trap set by the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho; the event became known as the Fetterman Massacre, and subsequently the United States sought peace with these Native American nations. In 1868, the U.S. government and members of the Sioux signed the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie. This treaty set aside the western Dakotas and eastern Wyoming as “unceded Indian Territory.” The government agreed to abandon posts along the Bozeman Trail and the Sioux agreed to settle on reservations. Not all tribal leaders agreed with the treaty, and the Sioux split into factions shortly after its signing. Red Cloud and his followers went to live at the agency on White River. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull still refused to cede land; they and the others who rejected settling on reservations stayed in the Powder River country.

In 1874, the U.S. government sent Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer on an expedition into the Black Hills of the Dakotas. Custer's expedition came back with reports of gold, which led to white settlers and miners moving into the Black Hills by 1875. The gold rush inspired the federal government to attempt to purchase Sioux land, but the Sioux refused. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull opposed the policy of concentration on reservations and were willing to fight to retain their land and freedom. On December 6, 1875, Pres. Ulysses S. Grant ordered all indigenous peoples on unceded land to report to agencies by January 31, 1876. Weather and distance prevented part of the Sioux nation from reporting on time, while others—including Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull—refused to report to an agency entirely. The government declared them hostile and launched a war against them.

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