b'The Story of Crazy Horse between 1838 and 1840" (Sajna, Mike, Crazy Horse, Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey, 2005, p. 25). But his first given name, "Curly" has been well-documented, for he was described as being fair, having a fair complexion, curly haired, said to be hazel-eyed, slight and yes, even said by those who knew him as being someone who could pass for white in his younger years. Which was quite ironic considering the depth of animosity he held towards white people until after his surrender.He remained so even into his last years.As the wife of a scout at Fort Robinson, the military outpost where Crazy Horse would later meet his demise stated upon observing him:(He was) a very handsome young man. . .he was not so dark, he had hazel eyes, nice long light brown hair. His scalp lock was ornamented with beads and hung clear to his waist; his braids were wrapped with fur. He was partly wrapped in a broad blanket, his leggings were also navy blue broad cloth, his moccasins were beaded. He was about medium height and slender" (Sajna, p. 29).Crazy Horse led a fairly idyllic life for a Sioux Indian child before the coming of the white man. He had the "run" of his village, able to go as he pleased, to play with other Sioux children, an active participant in the favorite game of Sioux boys, that was, stealing buffalo meat from the drying and smoking racks in full view of the protesting Sioux women sent out to guard such racks; to fish and to hunt (he had killed his first buffalo before he was 10 or 11 and rode his first wild horse around the same time). He learned the tribal customs and traditions of the Oglala, how stealth, cunning observation, knowing which other tribes were friendly and which were hostile, and knowing the land could mean the difference between life and death in such an unpredictable, often hostile environment. He learned the Kit Fox songthe song of the young Sioux warrior-to-be.I am a FoxI am supposed to dieIf there is anything difficultIf there is anything dangerous,That is mine to do (Ambrose, Stephen A., Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives ofTwo American Warriors, Anchor Books, New York, 1996, p 48).In short he learned the ways of a warrioras he was the son of a chief and a warrior respected by his tribe. This early, idyllic life of young Curly would soon come to end by the time he turned 10, even before he became a teen, when the white man\'s diseasessmallpox, measles, cholera, spread through the camps of the Sioux and decimated the various Sioux sub-tribes, including the Oglala. It was also at this time when white fur traders began plying the then unknowing, unsuspecting tribes with whiskey as a part payment for their fursa part payment also quite deadly to the Native American. If this wasn\'t enough to incur Sioux hostility towards whites, it would soon manifest itself in what became known as the Grattan Affaira small but extremely deadly fight that would determine the course of what would become a history of almost total hostility and hate between white and Sioux. A fight that the preadolescent Curly, still not quite a warrior, would not take part in, but was very aware of it as it affected his own village.THE GRATTAN AFFAIRTHE SEVERING OF PEACEFUL TIESBETWEEN WHITE AND REDWhile early Sioux dealings with white explorers (such as Lewis and Clark), traders, and soldiers were mostly friendly, by 1850 Sioux bands would often raid the wagon teams of emigrants moving westward toward Oregon and California across Sioux land in the Dakotas. The young West Pointers sent out to command the forts, strung along the Oregon Trail, knew virtually nothing about the customs of the Sioux, felt it was beneath their nature to learn about them and to cultivate them for friendly relations. Worse, many of these continued on page 57Old Fort Laramie in 1840 Alfred Jacob MillerArizonaRealCountry.com December 2022 55'