Post by historynut1876 on Jun 12, 2006 20:30:07 GMT -6
I was going through old files and came across a short essay I wrote about Crazy Horse circa 1994 or early 1995. I am enclosing it below, just for the heck of it.
Crazy Horse and the Mystery of His True Lineage
The Surrender
On the night of May 6, 1877 Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witko) sat in his lodge reflecting on his people's proud, free past and pondering their uncertain future. No doubt the thirty-six year old Oglala/Minneconjou Lakota leader had plenty to think about; only that afternoon he led about 900 of his followers to the now historic surrender at Camp Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. For many of them it was their first time ever on a reservation and they made a grand entrance. An officer present described their surrender more as a two mile long "triumphal march." Crazy Horse's people had been on the run ever since the battle of the Little Big Horn the previous June, and with great reluctance came to the realization that any prolonged resistance with the soldiers would only be in vain.
The Victor's Visit
Later that evening, following the disarmament of all of his warriors, Crazy Horse received a visit from frontier scout Frank Grouard and First Lieutenant John G. Bourke. The officer, after a hearty handshake from Crazy Horse, noted, "I saw before me a man who looked quite young, not over thirty years old, five feet eight inches high, lithe and sinewy, with a scar in the face. The expression of his countenance was one of quiet dignity, but morose, dogged, tenacious, and melancholy."
A Fatal Struggle
Four months after his surrender the military authorities still considered Crazy Horse a recalcitrant spirit and on September 5, while being led to the Camp Robinson guardhouse he struggled hopelessly to break free and a soldier's bayonet ended his life. Ironically, Little Big Man, once a "hostile" himself, but now serving as an army scout, was holding his arms. Perhaps this ending was best for Crazy Horse. Unknown to him it was rumored the military had plans for his imprisonment seventy miles off the coast of Florida on one of seven islands collectively known as the Dry Tortugas.
The Mystery
While there are several photographs claiming to depict Crazy Horse, none are positive identifications, and very possibly none exists. He once told a would-be photographer, "Why should you wish to shorten my life by taking from me my shadow?" Therefore, today we must rely on descriptions by those who knew him to hopefully present a clearer physical description of the famous warrior. Lieutenant Bourke was both an ethnologist and historian and known to be a keen observer, yet when his description of Crazy Horse is compared with others several important details are clearly missing and that's where our mystery begins.
Surprising Descriptions
Frank Grouard described Crazy Horse as having had sandy brown hair "unlike any other man's in the tribe." Red Feather, Crazy Horse's brother-in-law, also recalled brown hair and added, "nobody on the reservation nowadays looks like him. His nose was straight and thin. His hair was very long, straight, and fine in texture." Short Buffalo remembered Crazy Horse had "a very light complexion, much lighter than the other Indians. His features were not like those of the rest of us. His face was not broad, and he had a sharp, high nose." Little Killer, connected to Crazy Horse through marriage, said the leader "had brown hair, like a white man's, and a long straight nose. His eyes were black like a Lakota's." Additionally, as a child he was called Light Hair or Curly Hair according to his close friend He Dog. Based on the above descriptions Crazy Horse's true lineage becomes questionable.
A Possible Solution
Was Crazy Horse a full-blood Lakota as commonly believed or possibly the mixed-blood son of a white trapper or trader in the late 1830s whose identity is forever lost? Certainly many trappers and traders were involved with Indian women at this time. Regardless of his physical differences as recalled by other Lakota Indians, they apparently never questioned Crazy Horse's parentage. According to them, his mother was Rattle Blanket Woman, a Minneconjou and his father, Worm, an Oglala. But still, there are those curious descriptions and at this late date it is not likely we'll ever know for certain his true ancestry.
His Mysterious Burial
Even in death, Crazy Horse would be shrouded in mystery. His parents secreted away his body but to where no one knows. "His father hid his body so not even my sister knew where it was buried. Before he was buried a war-eagle came to walk about on the coffin every night. It did nothing, only just walked about," recalled Red Feather. Showing great eloquence Black Elk stated, "It does not matter where his body lies, for it is grass; but where his spirit is, it will be good to be."
As with his ancestry, Crazy Horse's final resting place will likely remain a mystery.
Crazy Horse and the Mystery of His True Lineage
The Surrender
On the night of May 6, 1877 Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witko) sat in his lodge reflecting on his people's proud, free past and pondering their uncertain future. No doubt the thirty-six year old Oglala/Minneconjou Lakota leader had plenty to think about; only that afternoon he led about 900 of his followers to the now historic surrender at Camp Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. For many of them it was their first time ever on a reservation and they made a grand entrance. An officer present described their surrender more as a two mile long "triumphal march." Crazy Horse's people had been on the run ever since the battle of the Little Big Horn the previous June, and with great reluctance came to the realization that any prolonged resistance with the soldiers would only be in vain.
The Victor's Visit
Later that evening, following the disarmament of all of his warriors, Crazy Horse received a visit from frontier scout Frank Grouard and First Lieutenant John G. Bourke. The officer, after a hearty handshake from Crazy Horse, noted, "I saw before me a man who looked quite young, not over thirty years old, five feet eight inches high, lithe and sinewy, with a scar in the face. The expression of his countenance was one of quiet dignity, but morose, dogged, tenacious, and melancholy."
A Fatal Struggle
Four months after his surrender the military authorities still considered Crazy Horse a recalcitrant spirit and on September 5, while being led to the Camp Robinson guardhouse he struggled hopelessly to break free and a soldier's bayonet ended his life. Ironically, Little Big Man, once a "hostile" himself, but now serving as an army scout, was holding his arms. Perhaps this ending was best for Crazy Horse. Unknown to him it was rumored the military had plans for his imprisonment seventy miles off the coast of Florida on one of seven islands collectively known as the Dry Tortugas.
The Mystery
While there are several photographs claiming to depict Crazy Horse, none are positive identifications, and very possibly none exists. He once told a would-be photographer, "Why should you wish to shorten my life by taking from me my shadow?" Therefore, today we must rely on descriptions by those who knew him to hopefully present a clearer physical description of the famous warrior. Lieutenant Bourke was both an ethnologist and historian and known to be a keen observer, yet when his description of Crazy Horse is compared with others several important details are clearly missing and that's where our mystery begins.
Surprising Descriptions
Frank Grouard described Crazy Horse as having had sandy brown hair "unlike any other man's in the tribe." Red Feather, Crazy Horse's brother-in-law, also recalled brown hair and added, "nobody on the reservation nowadays looks like him. His nose was straight and thin. His hair was very long, straight, and fine in texture." Short Buffalo remembered Crazy Horse had "a very light complexion, much lighter than the other Indians. His features were not like those of the rest of us. His face was not broad, and he had a sharp, high nose." Little Killer, connected to Crazy Horse through marriage, said the leader "had brown hair, like a white man's, and a long straight nose. His eyes were black like a Lakota's." Additionally, as a child he was called Light Hair or Curly Hair according to his close friend He Dog. Based on the above descriptions Crazy Horse's true lineage becomes questionable.
A Possible Solution
Was Crazy Horse a full-blood Lakota as commonly believed or possibly the mixed-blood son of a white trapper or trader in the late 1830s whose identity is forever lost? Certainly many trappers and traders were involved with Indian women at this time. Regardless of his physical differences as recalled by other Lakota Indians, they apparently never questioned Crazy Horse's parentage. According to them, his mother was Rattle Blanket Woman, a Minneconjou and his father, Worm, an Oglala. But still, there are those curious descriptions and at this late date it is not likely we'll ever know for certain his true ancestry.
His Mysterious Burial
Even in death, Crazy Horse would be shrouded in mystery. His parents secreted away his body but to where no one knows. "His father hid his body so not even my sister knew where it was buried. Before he was buried a war-eagle came to walk about on the coffin every night. It did nothing, only just walked about," recalled Red Feather. Showing great eloquence Black Elk stated, "It does not matter where his body lies, for it is grass; but where his spirit is, it will be good to be."
As with his ancestry, Crazy Horse's final resting place will likely remain a mystery.