Crazy Horse: Difference between revisions

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Crazy Horse's father, who was also named Crazy Horse (born 1810) but took the name Worm after passing the name to his son, was Lakota and his mother, Rattling Blanket Woman (born 1814), was Lakota. Rattling Blanket Woman was the daughter of Black Buffalo and White Cow (also known as Iron Cane). Black Buffalo is the one who stopped Lewis and Clark on the Bad River. She was the younger sister of One Horn (born 1794) and Lone Horn (born 1804). She also had an older sister named Good Looking Woman (born 1810) and a younger sister named Looks At It (born 1815), later given the name They Are Afraid of Her. Looks At It had a much bigger build than her two older sisters. She got her second name because she had married a man named Stands Up For Him. They had a child. When the child died of a disease, he tried to take her south away from her family. A fight ensued. She beat him up and thus the name They Are Afraid Of Her was bestowed on her. Rattling Blanket Woman also had another older half-brother named Hump who was born in 1811. Hump's mother was Good Voice Woman and Black Buffalo's second wife. Hump and Waglula became best friends. When Waglula began to court Hump's half sister, he presented three horses to the family head Lone Horn (the older sibling One Horn had died earlier after being gored by a buffalo, making Lone Horn the oldest male and head man of the family. Their father, Black Buffalo, had died in about 1820 near Devil's Tower, or as the Lakota called it Grey Horn Butte, of sickness.). In return for the three horses he hoped he could take Rattling Blanket Woman as his wife as was the custom. But the family's women wanted eight horses, and apparently they had the final say. So Hump volunteered to go on a raiding party with Waglula. They brought back 16 horses, four loaded with meat they had captured from a Crow hunting party and presented it to the family. Thus Rattling Blanket Woman and Waglula became husband and wife. Crazy Horse was born with the name 'In The Wilderness' or 'Among the Trees' (in Lakota the name is phonetically pronounced as Cha-O-Ha) meaning he was one with nature. His nickname was Curly. He had the same light curly hair of his mother. In 1844 Waglula (aka Worm) went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small contingent in to rescue the village. Corn who was the head man of the village (Catlin painted his picture) had lost his wife in the raid. In gratitude he gave Waglula his two eldest daughters Iron Between Horns (age 18) and Kills Enemy (age 17) as wives. Corn's youngest daughter, Red Leggins, who was 15 at the time requested to go with her sisters and all would become Waglula's wives. When he got back to his village and his wife, Rattling Blanket Woman, found out about his new wives she became distraught. She and Waglula had been attempting to conceive another child, but had failed. The arrival of the new wives made her think she had lost favor with Waglula because she could not get preganant. At the time they were camped along the White River. Without discussing it with Waglula she went out and hung herself from a cottonwood tree. Waglula mourned her death for four years and was celibate during that time. Upon hearing what had happened to her sister, Good Looking Woman, who also found she could not concieve, left her husband and came to Waglula to offer herself as a replacement wife for her sister. Waglula turned her down as a wife, but relented in allowing her to raise her sister's son, Crazy Horse. Later, Crazy Horse's other aunt They Are Afraid of Her helped in the raising of Crazy Horse. She helped teach him to hunt and take care of himself. They Are Afraid of Her was a very independent woman.

Crazy Horse had several half brothers and sisters. Red Leggins bore him his first sibling, a daughtersister named Shell Blanket. She died in 1874. She has no living descendants. High Horse, a brother, was born in 1850 and was the son of Iron Between Horns. He was killed by a Crow hunting party as an adult. He has no living descendants. Kills Enemy had twins the same year, but they died soon after their birth. Red Leggins also had a daughter that same year, but she did not survive her first hours. In 1851 Red Leggins bore Waglula a son named Combing. He survived until 1932 on the Cheyenne River Reservation and took the first name Leo. He kept Waglula's sacred bundle until his death. There are still a few very old descendants of Combing living in 2006, but none of childbearing age. In 1856 Red Leggins bore another son to Waglula, Bear Pipe. He died of sickness in 1892. He had no heirs. In 1864 Red Leggins bore Waglula another son, Wolf. Wolf took the first name, Peter, upon moving to the reservation. He was gunned down by four masked men in 1920. It was witnessed by his wife and children. His family still survives today. In 1865 Red Leggins bore Waglula a daughter, Iron Cedar. She later married a man named Amos Heyoka. Heyoka is a Lakota name for Clown. So translatedTranslated she becamewas known as Mrs. Clown. She took the first name Julia. She inherited Waglula's sacred bundle from Combing and kept it until her death in 1936. She passed the sacred bundle to one of her sons, Edward Clown. Her descendants live today. In about 1866 Red Leggins bore Waglula his last child, a son named Comes Home Last. He was killed by an angry buffalo that wandered into their village in 1871. Many say that Little Hawk was a brother of Crazy Horse. This information is derived mostly from interviews with a 92 year old friend of Crazy Horse named He Dog. Little Hawk was actually a nephew of Crazy Horse's step maternal grandfather, Corn. Since the Lakota traveled together mainly in large extended family units in those days (not as much in bands...their family came first), Crazy Horse and Little Hawk grew up together and became very close. Because of this, Crazy Horse used to tell people Little Hawk was his 'little brother'.

As was the custom of the Lakota, his name changed over the years. When he was about 10 years old, Worm changed the boy's name to His Horse On Sight (also translated as Horse Stands In Sight, His Horse Looking or His Horse Partly Showing) after his son's role in the capture of wild horses in the [[Sand Hills (Nebraska)|Sandhills of Nebraska]]. Worm passed on the name Crazy Horse after his son bravely fought when he was about 18 years old.