I just returned from South Dakota, where at long last I was able to see the incredible Crazy Horse monument. When finished, if ever finished, it will be the largest mountain statue in the world. I reread “Crazy Horse: A Life” when I returned, and have renewed respect for this amazing man and increased curiosity about those tragic times. This book is a gem: packed with information, straightforward, it gives the best portrait of a man who had no portrait.
It’s ironic that this will be the largest monument when no one knows what Crazy Horse even looked like. He never posed for a photo, never wrote anything down. He didn’t live long and avoided meetings and most people, choosing to spend much time alone. Yet his reputation for bravery has become legend. It’s a testament to the power of living according to one’s beliefs. Crazy Horse was loved and valued by his people as much for his charity as for his courage. This short look at his life contains the essence of what we know: his courage, his devotion to his people, his quest and vision that guided his life, his confrontation with Custer.
As the author writes, he came to be a symbol of “Sioux freedom, Sioux courage, and Sioux dignity.” Crazy Horse resisted the whites longer than anyone during his lifetime, and tried to keep his people safe through his charity and leadership.
This powerful little book details the coming of the whites, the treaties, the massacres, and how they all affected Crazy Horse. His vision is what appeals to me most, and how it lead him to become a “man of charity, doing his best to feed poor and helpless members of tribe.” The book describes life on the Plains, and how it was changed by the greed of the white man.
McMurtry says that one of best books written about the west is Evan S. Connell Jr.’ s "Son of Morning Star." I’m reading that right now. But I find this small book just as good: dense with information, short and to the point, colorful in describing the character of Crazy Horse, sad in its conclusion. The Battle of Little Bighorn is one of the most famous in history, and Crazy Horse played an important role in it. He was killed by his own people, in tandem with the white army officers, just a little over a year later. The described scene reminded me of Christ, or Gandhi. The monument, ironically in Custer, South Dakota, will be a tribute to all that was lost on the Plains in the late 1800s, and to all the warriors who died to protect their people.
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