Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse was an Oglala Lakota war leader who resisted United States expansion into Lakota lands during the nineteenth century. He became renowned for his role in conflicts along the Bozeman Trail and in the Great Sioux War of 1876–77.

Crazy Horse fought in the Lakota and Cheyenne victory over George Custer at the Little Bighorn in 1876. After months of pursuit and declining resources he surrendered at Fort Robinson in 1877, where he was fatally wounded by a guard while being taken into custody.

Michael Punke’s Ridgeline shows Crazy Horse using raids and decoys against the soldiers of Fort Phil Kearny during Red Cloud’s War. Hourly History’s Crazy Horse follows his life from that conflict through the Great Sioux War, surrender and death at Fort Robinson, while separating the historical leader from later romantic legend. Nathaniel Philbrick’s The Last Stand places Crazy Horse among the Lakota and Cheyenne leaders preparing to resist the 1876 campaign that culminates at the Little Bighorn. Hourly History’s Red Cloud’s War explains the earlier struggle over the Bozeman Trail and the coalition in which Crazy Horse’s military reputation developed. American Indian Wars then situates his resistance within the much wider history of treaties, forced removal, military expansion and Indigenous defence of homelands.