Crazy Horse-Sioux Hero
Strange Man of the Oglalas, Biography, by Mari Sandoz, Book Review
Circumstances play a role in the making or breaking of character. Mari Sandoz portrays the scultping events of Crazy Horse in this poignant biography.
Massacre at Blue Water Creek, Nebraska (Ash Hollow), September 3, 1855
Crazy Horse (known as Curly in his youth), was returning home to his father's lodge with a colt. He had spent the day trying to capture the animal for a friend and brother, Little Hawk. En route he came upon the scene of a devastated Sioux encampment.
The U.S. Cavalry under the orders of Col. William S. Harney (who the Sioux later nicknamed, The Butcher), had hit this village hard and swiftly to punish any Sioux for eradicacting the command under Lt. John Grattan near Fort Laramie several months before. Harney didn't care that innocent people would be killed. Harney didn't care to know that the Sioux were on the brink of starvation and that self-seeking, impetuous men on both sides were responsible for the destruction of Grattan's command.
Many were killed--and mutiliated. Curly was roughly 11 years old at the time. Vowing to protect his people, his path to warrior status began.
Strange Man of the Oglalas
Curly was born with fairer skin and hair than his indigeous brothers and sisters. He was also somewhat of a mystic. Curly saw visions.
Crazy Horse (Ta-Shunka-Witco in Sioux), was his father's name. Curly was given this name after many heroic feats not because, as legend has it, that a wild horse ran through the camp at the time of his birth.
Storyteller Style of Writing
Sandoz writes in a style akin to an Indian storyteller. As the men and women of the tribe often surrounded their fires for talk and tales, thus, is the manner that this written version of Crazy Horse springs to life. The imagery is vivid and the descriptions almost poetic.
Because of the amount of information and the style of writing, this version is not a quick read. For the reader unfamiliar with Sioux history, scanning the reference sources at the beginning and end of the book, first, would be helpful. It is easy to become lost with the information. There are many names, and sometimes the names change or people are known by more than one name, plus there are numerous battles and battle locations described.
Mari Sandoz--Author, Biographer
Mari had the fortune of growing up surrounded by the aura of Crazy Horse. She lived in the surrounding land in which Crazy Horse had lived as well. Additionally, she nurtured a close relationship with the Sioux people who knew Crazy Horse when he was alive. Thus, her book is based upon numerous, reliable, personal testimonies by those who lived and fought beside the warrior as well as collaborative resources.
Her descriptions allow the reader to join the life of the Sioux and their quest for survival as they come to accept the realizations they are no longer a free, horse-tribe of the Plains. This biography gives psychological and sociological insights as to the rise to warrior/chief status of the man, Crazy Horse.
Source
Mari Sandoz, Crazy Horse Strange Man of the Oglalas, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 1992.
