b'Crazy Horse continued from page 45being of the women and children and old men. Balancingwhom Crazy Horse had stolen his wife Black Buffalo Woman his desire to wage war against the white invaders with thefrom seven years ago, who had then shot him, and now, suffering that his people had endured thus far, and thealso a resident of the Red Cloud agency, was still seething likelihood of more suffering to come, was trying. He wouldwith hatred of the warrior chief.He did not reckon with pray to Wakan Tanka for guidance, and he would call onthe betrayal of his friend, Little Big Man, who had fought the power the Thunder Beings had given him to protectalongside him at the Little Big Horn. He also did not reckon his people - in life and in death. And he would try to holdwith General Crook\'s own jealousy, for after all, Crazy the land for Sitting Bull, the Lakota, and the Cheyenne"Horse had all but defeated Crook at the Rosebud, and had (Gardner, p. 276). fought the latter to a virtual standstill the last nine months, only surrendering to alleviate the trials and tribulations of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse had finally parted, Sittinghis people. On the surface, Crook exuded what may very Bull and his followers heading north to Canada, thewell have been a faux friendship, but who, like Spotted Tail, land of the Grandmother Queen Victoria and the then- Red Cloud, and No Water harbored a deep dislike for the sympathetic Mounties where for a brief time they didcharismatic Sioux chieftain. It was a simmering of jealousy find refuge. Crazy Horse would now proceed south, backif not hate that would heat up to a deadly boil. In this to the land of the Little Big Horn. He had already beenByzantine atmosphere, Crazy Horse was doomed.approached numerous times by messengers from his uncles Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, both of whom hadIn the next four months, the last months of Crazy Horse\'s already sought accommodation with the whites, whomyoung life, he would experience a deep love with another Crazy Horse disdained, especially his uncle Spottedwoman, Nelly Larabee, a brief friendship with the white Tail, whom he considered to be a toady of the whitesLieutenants Clark and Jesse Lee, both of whom tried (as far back as 1872, Spotted Tail and his warriors hadto save him, a deep hatred from his fellow Sioux and Chief Sitting Bull accompanied Sheridan, Custer, and Buffalo Bill Cody,his white captors, and finally a cold, brutal death at the participating in the famous and spectacular buffalo hunthands of his captors, betrayed to them by his relatives and held in honor of the Russian Grand Duke Alexis). Crookfriends. A story to be told next time. man command caught up with, then found the nearly 800and Miles too were applying the pressure of the proverbial lodges of Crazy Horse in the vicinity of Wolf Mountain,carrot, sending wagon loads of food and tobacco throughJust a brief note of appreciation for you, dear readers, about 100 miles south of Yellowstone, in southeasternRed Cloud to their suffering and starving kinsmen. Crazyand to my colleagues, my "bosses"better said, my Montana, just east of the Big Horn valley. They struckHorse rebuffed the peace negotiators and steadfastlygood friends Mike Barna and Erika Smith Royal, in hard in the falling snow, only to find he had hit a hornet\'srefused to meet with his uncle, but moved by the sufferingintroducing this segment of the story of Chief Crazy nest, as Crazy Horse and his mixed band of nearly 1000of the women and children, and with the knowledge thatHorse as it will mark the fifth anniversary of my writing Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, still quite armed withscores of his followers were deserting him by the day, every month since March 2018for Arizona Real plenty of ammunition were ready and willing to fight.Crazy Horse finally assented to meet with Red Cloud, whoCountry. These stories I have written have been a labor Blowing the bone whistle and shouting out commands inassured his nephew that "all is well, have no fear, come onof love for me, and I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing his distinctive voice to his men, they were able to stop thein" (to the Red Cloud agency) (Gardner, p. 281). To makethese stories of the Old West, many not so well known, to advance of Miles\' infantry by firing from hilltops but notsurrender even more enticing to the remainder of Crazyyou all, and I fully intend to keep doing so as long as the for long, as they had brought up two cannons. Horse\'s destitute people, Red Cloud sent in wagon loadsmagazine is still in circulation and for as long as I can. of hard crackers and a herd of one hundred head of beef.So, here\'s to the next five yearsand hopefully more.As Black Elk would later relate, the soldiers, "beganThat was it.shooting with the wagon guns that shot twice, becausePick up our May issue for Part 6.the iron balls went off after they fellthen the walkingOn the morning of May 5, soldiers started up the bluff, and it began to snow hard and1877, Crazy Horse gave up they fought in the blizzard. We could not stop the soldiersthe fight. He went to Red coming up, because we had not much ammunitionCloud\'s agency and met (something that was disputed by one of Bearcoat\'s officers,up with Crook\'s emissary, who later asserted the Indians used their ammunitionLieutenant William Philo rather lavishly) (Gardner, p. 273). The soldiers hadClark, a young officer who everything. But our men used spears and guns for clubswas known to be quite when the soldiers got there, and they fought hand-to-handsympathetic to the Indians, awhile, holding the soldiers back until the women couldand was the well-liked break camp and get away with the children and ponies"commander of Crook\'s (Sajna, p. 303). Indian scouts.After conferring with Clark, Crazy Horse almost stopped Bearcoat in his tracks, butCrazy Horse agreed to lay he and his men could not stop the incessant firing fromdown his arms, and thus the two cannons Miles brought up with him. In the end,formally surrendered what Crazy Horse did retreat, but just several miles away,was left of his followers, having fought Miles to a standstill, losing three men whilenearly 900 in total. He Bearcoat lost but one. would now be attached, for the time being, to Red Thus far, Crazy Horse had not only held his own butCloud\'s agency. Crazy had actually bested Crook\'s various commands, whetherHorse had come in peace. led by the cavalryman Merritt or the infantry ColonelHe had first befriended Bearcoat Miles. But he knew he could not hold out muchwhites as a very young man. longer. A warrior though he was, Crazy Horse was also aThen, as he grew to be a husband who once had a child, and he was not immune towarrior and noticed the the suffering of the women and children who had soughtdepredations of the whites, freedom and refuge with him. When Sitting Bull was finallythe soldiers, miners, and able to make a juncture with his younger friend, he urgedsettlers taking Indian land, Crazy Horse to go north with him, to the grandmotherhe had grown to hate them. country of Canada, to safety and refuge there. He beggedHe had won many battles, 04/30/2023 Crazy Horse to do so, pretty much saying they could findbut his people came first. freedom and food there, that staying in the ancient tribalNow he sought only peace lands of the Dakotas and Montana would only bringand friendship with those starvation or murder at the hands of vengeful whites butwho had been his enemies.Crazy Horse demurred, for as Gardner put it, he "was ever a warrior, in both spirit and body. And he wasn\'t so willingWhat he did not reckon80 E. Apache St. Wickenburg, AZ 85390to leave a country that was rightfully theirs. Maybe it waswith was the jealousy of simply his time to die, Crazy Horse said. Perhaps he wouldhis uncles Red Cloud and928-684-3147go south and settle the question. At the same time theSpotted Tail, the animosity of Oglala leader recognized his responsibility for the well- the very same No Water, offacebook.com/DGguns21ArizonaRealCountry.com April 2023 47'