Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse (Lakota: Tȟašúŋke Witkó [tˣaˈʃʊ̃kɛ witˈkɔ], lit. 'His-Horse-Is-Crazy'; c. 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White American settlers on Native American territory and to preserve the traditional way of life of the Lakota people. His participation in several famous battles of the Black Hills War on the northern Great Plains, among them the Fetterman Fight in 1866, in which he acted as a decoy, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, in which he led a war party to victory, earned him great respect from both his enemies and his own people.
Crazy Horse | |
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Tȟašúŋke Witkó | |
A 1934 sketch of Crazy Horse made by a Mormon missionary after interviewing Crazy Horse's sister, who claimed the depiction was accurate. | |
| Oglala leader | |
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| Born | Čháŋ Óhaŋ (lit. ''Among the Trees'') c. 1840 near Rapid Creek, Black Hills, unorganized U.S. territory |
| Died | September 5, 1877 (aged 36–37) Fort Robinson, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Bayonet wound |
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| Children | 1 |
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In September 1877, four months after surrendering to U.S. troops under General George Crook, Crazy Horse was fatally wounded by a bayonet-wielding military guard while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.