Beyond Reach, by Ron J. Jackson jr., Nebraska Life, November/December 2025, pp 20-25.
Crazy Horse was murdered September 6, 1877. He had been summoned to talk with General George Crook at Camp Robinson (now Fort Robinson). However this was false pretense as the intent was to arrest him based on reports the general had received of Crazy Horse's intent to leave the reservation. When he arrived, Crazy Horse realized he was being arrested and resisted. He was stabbed in the side with a bayonet, which pierced both his kidneys. The arresting officers were Lakota. Crazy Horse had been the Lakota war chief of the Oglala band.
One year earlier he had participated in the Battle of Little Big Horn and the death of General Custer. Since that time the American Army had pursued an unrelenting war against the Sioux, burning villages, killing buffalo. They brought the Sioux to starvation. Crazy Horse and his band survived the winter, but in the spring the surrendered at the Red Cloud Agency.
Even so rations were still sparse. The rumors of Crazy Horse leaving the reservation were based on the lack of food. However mostly the were promoted by rival leaders and some by army officers skittish of Crazy Horse's influence.
After Crazy Horse was wounded, his father Crazy Horse Sr. was allowed to see him. "I am hurt bad, I am going to die." By morning he was dead.
His father was allowed to take the body and a procession took him to the Spotted Tail agency near Camp Sheridan. He traveled on a travois. In the precession was his wife, Black Shawl Woman. He was placed in his coffin in a tree on a bluff overlooking Camp Sheridan and the valley of Beaver Creek. Old Man Crazy Horse and others kept vigil there for five weeks. The Native Americans were ordered to move north they took Crazy Horse with them, again on a travois. Lt. William P. Clark, aid to General Crook reported that "Crazy Horse's father was hauling along his dead son. This is the last confirmed mention of Crazy Horse's body.
Horn Chips, cousin to, and spiritual advisor to Crazy Horse would say he had been at five interments, Beaver by the cliffs, then along Clay Creek, white Horse Creek, in a cave above the cliffs and finally at Wounded Knee. Victoria Conroy, niece to Crazy Horse Sr. wrote in 1934 that her mother had helped bury Crazy Horse secretly between Porcupine and Wounded Knee Creeks.
The exact location of the burial of Crazy Horse is not known. It was a secret kept by the family. Anyone who would have known has now passed away.
What Did Crazy Horse Look Like? Crazy Horse was lighter complected than most Native Americans. His hair was sandy brown. He was not tall, about five feet six inches. Despite being of average heights, his courage and calm made him seem larger than life.
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