Crazy Horse -- The Rebellious Chief

Crazy Horse -- The Rebellious Chief

The only alleged picture of Crazy Horse, 1877.
Some people do not believe that this is actually him

Some people would've considered Crazy Horse, an influential leader of the Native Lakota Nation (some people like to use the word "tribe", but I prefer to use Nation, because the Native American citizens were a Nation, not a tribe), as a traitor of the United States, but I consider him one of the bravest men who ever lived.

Concerning Crazy Horse, Ian Fraizer's quote in Great Plains, adequately describes his legacy:

Even the most basic outline of his life shows how great he was, because he remained himself from the moment of his birth to the moment he died; because he knew exactly where he wanted to live, and never left; because he may have surrendered, but he was never defeated in battle; because, although he was killed, even the Army admitted he was never captured; because he was so free that he didn't know what a jail looked like. His dislike of the oncoming civilization was prophetic. He never met the President, never rode on a train, slept in a boarding house, or ate at a table and unlike many people all over the world, when he met white men he was not diminished by the encounter. (1)

Unfortunately, Crazy Horse is famous (or infamous, depending on your views) as a warmonger or brutal human because of his actions after the US Government attempted to encroach on his Nation's lands in the Treaty of Laramie, and attacking General Custer and his party in the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand".  In my opinion, Crazy Horse did would any American would do if someone was attempting to steal from them -- he fought valiantly for what he thought was was right.

The Custer Fight - Charles Marion Russell (1903)

After the Battle of Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse lived true to his reputation by remaining on his lands even after his people and companions (other famous chiefs, including Sitting Bull) retreated to Canada due to rising tensions between the Lakota and the United States.  Unfortunately, due to the constant military harassment, along with the declining buffalo population, Crazy Horse finally surrendered to US Military forces in 1877 (2).

Even in captivity, Crazy Horse's rebellious reputation preceded him, which eventually led to his demise.  He refused to be photographed, refused to cooperate with the military, and left the reservation without authority in September 1877 to take his wife to her sick parents (3).

Ironically, Crazy Horse was killed the opposite way he would've killed someone -- he was stabbed in the back during a brief struggle after being arrested for leaving the reservation without authorization (see above).  Controversy surrounds his death, including whether he was actually "resisting" the officers that were trying to present him to the Officer of the Day, or whether he was murdered.  His remains were returned to his parents, who interred his body in an undisclosed location, which would be exactly what Crazy Horse would have wanted.

Today, irony still follows anything to do with Crazy Horse.  As a man who did not want to be photographed, I find it ironic, and slightly amusing that a monument of his likeness has been under construction since 1948, and is still incomplete.  While I'm not a man that usually believes in apparitions or folklore, I somehow want to believe that Crazy Horse is looking down from his eternal resting place, and having a nice chuckle at his last act of rebellion and defiance.

References:

1. Frazier, Ian. Great Plains. 2001.  Picador.
2. Public Broadcasting System, "New Perspectives of the West".  Accessed online. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm