Crazy Horse Research Papers

997 Words4 Pages

Crazy Horse was born in 1840 by Rapid City, South Dakota. He was born into the Sioux Indian Nation. The Sioux consisted of different branches, and Crazy Horse was a part of the most western band called the Lakota. Crazy Horse was given the name Tashunka Witco, and no one really knows how he got the name Crazy Horse. There are many different stories as of to where he achieved this name from, but nobody truly knows how he came to be known as the one and only Crazy Horse. During the time of Crazy Horses birth, the Lakota were at their most powerful time. They roamed the plains and lived freely during Crazy Horses childhood. In the 1850s though white people started to travel west for gold. When the white people traveled to the west they brought …show more content…

The Grattan Massacre happened because Lieutenant John Grattan and his men went to a Sioux camp to take a man who killed one of the white peoples cow as a prisoner. Chief Conquering Bear did not let the men take anyone from his tribe as prisoner and this resulted in violence. During the fight Chief Conquering Bear was killed, but John Grattan was also killed and his group of men by the people of the Sioux tribe. The Grattan Massacre is what caused Crazy Horse not trust the white people. The Grattan Massacre may also be the cause of the first Sioux war between the U.S. and the Lakota. After the Grattan Massacre happened, Crazy Horse went on his first vision quest. He went to a very isolated area and fasted and did not drink water for 4 days and 4 nights. Fasting was supposed to open up the body and mind so you could see the vision. Crazy Horses vision came out to be his future. In his vision he was told to avoid embellishment and seek ease. He was also warned to not take anything from his people and to go to battle as a leader when needed to. He was also told that the bullets will not kill him and he will always come out of his battles …show more content…

There is a little bit of history behind getting the Crazy Horse Memorial. Henry Standing Bear (Oglala Lakota chief) wanted sculptor Korczak Kiolkowski (sculptor of Mt. Rushmore) to build the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Henry Standing Bear’s brother even demanded that Crazy Horse’s head be next to the presidents on Mount Rushmore in a letter, but he never got a reply back. Soon after that Henry started a campaign to have Crazy Horse’s head put onto Mount Rushmore, but the campaign failed and Crazy Horse’s head was never apart of Mount Rushmore. Henry then sent another letter to Kiolkowski saying that Native Americans also have heroes. Then he wrote a letter to undersecretary, Oscar Chapman of the department of the Interior, stating that he will give all of his 900 acres to get the barren mountain so he could make the Crazy Horse Memorial. The National Forest gave Henry the land. On May 3, 1947, Kiolkowski came to the Black Hills to carve the monument of Crazy Horse. On June 3, 1948 they started doing the blasting for the monument. The Crazy Horse Memorial is a non-profit undertaking. When the memorial is finished it will be the biggest mountain carving in the world. Mount Rushmore can fit in just the head of Crazy Horse. The complete size will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. Even though the monument is not finished

Open Document