第17章 CRAZY HORSE(2)

At this period of his life,as was customary with the best young men,he spent much time in prayer and solitude.Just what happened in these days of his fasting in the wilderness and upon the crown of bald buttes,no one will ever know;for these things may only be known when one has lived through the battles of life to an honored old age.He was much sought after by his youthful associates,but was noticeably reserved and modest;yet in the moment of danger he at once rose above them all --a natural leader!Crazy Horse was a typical Sioux brave,and from the point of view of our race an ideal hero,living at the height of the epical progress of the American Indian and maintaining in his own character all that was most subtle and ennobling of their spiritual life,and that has since been lost in the contact with a material civilization.

He loved Hump,that peerless warrior,and the two became close friends,in spite of the difference in age.Men called them "the grizzly and his cub."Again and again the pair saved the day for the Sioux in a skirmish with some neighboring tribe.But one day they undertook a losing battle against the Snakes.The Sioux were in full retreat and were fast being overwhelmed by superior numbers.The old warrior fell in a last desperate charge;but Crazy Horse and his younger brother,though dismounted,killed two of the enemy and thus made good their retreat.

It was observed of him that when he pursued the enemy into their stronghold,as he was wont to do,he often refrained from killing,and simply struck them with a switch,showing that he did not fear their weapons nor care to waste his upon them.In attempting this very feat,he lost this only brother of his,who emulated him closely.A party of young warriors,led by Crazy Horse,had dashed upon a frontier post,killed one of the sentinels,stampeded the horses,and pursued the herder to the very gate of the stockade,thus drawing upon themselves the fire of the garrison.The leader escaped without a scratch,but his young brother was brought down from his horse and killed.

While he was still under twenty,there was a great winter buffalo hunt,and he came back with ten buffaloes'tongues which he sent to the council lodge for the councilors'feast.He had in one winter day killed ten buffalo cows with his bow and arrows,and the unsuccessful hunters or those who had no swift ponies were made happy by his generosity.When the hunters returned,these came chanting songs of thanks.He knew that his father was an expert hunter and had a good horse,so he took no meat home,putting in practice the spirit of his early teaching.

He attained his majority at the crisis of the difficulties between the United States and the Sioux.Even before that time,Crazy Horse had already proved his worth to his people in Indian warfare.He had risked his life again and again,and in some instances it was considered almost a miracle that he had saved others as well as himself.He was no orator nor was he the son of a chief.His success and influence was purely a matter of personality.He had never fought the whites up to this time,and indeed no "coup"was counted for killing or scalping a white man.

Young Crazy Horse was twenty-one years old when all the Teton Sioux chiefs (the western or plains dwellers)met in council to determine upon their future policy toward the invader.Their former agreements had been by individual bands,each for itself,and every one was friendly.They reasoned that the country was wide,and that the white traders should be made welcome.Up to this time they had anticipated no conflict.They had permitted the Oregon Trail,but now to their astonishment forts were built and garrisoned in their territory.

Most of the chiefs advocated a strong resistance.There were a few influential men who desired still to live in peace,and who were willing to make another treaty.Among these were White Bull,Two Kettle,Four Bears,and Swift Bear.Even Spotted Tail,afterward the great peace chief,was at this time with the majority,who decided in the year 1866to defend their rights and territory by force.Attacks were to be made upon the forts within their country and on every trespasser on the same.

Crazy Horse took no part in the discussion,but he and all the young warriors were in accord with the decision of the council.

Although so young,he was already a leader among them.Other prominent young braves were Sword (brother of the man of that name who was long captain of police at Pine Ridge),the younger Hump,Charging Bear,Spotted Elk,Crow King,No Water,Big Road,He Dog,the nephew of Red Cloud,and Touch-the-Cloud,intimate friend of Crazy Horse.

The attack on Fort Phil Kearny was the first fruits of the new policy,and here Crazy Horse was chosen to lead the attack on the woodchoppers,designed to draw the soldiers out of the fort,while an army of six hundred lay in wait for them.The success of this stratagem was further enhanced by his masterful handling of his men.From this time on a general war was inaugurated;Sitting Bull looked to him as a principal war leader,and even the Cheyenne chiefs,allies of the Sioux,practically acknowledged his leadership.Yet during the following ten years of defensive war he was never known to make a speech,though his teepee was the rendezvous of the young men.He was depended upon to put into action the decisions of the council,and was frequently consulted by the older chiefs.

Like Osceola,he rose suddenly;like Tecumseh he was always impatient for battle;like Pontiac,he fought on while his allies were suing for peace,and like Grant,the silent soldier,he was a man of deeds and not of words.He won from Custer and Fetterman and Crook.He won every battle that he undertook,with the exception of one or two occasions when he was surprised in the midst of his women and children,and even then he managed to extricate himself in safety from a difficult position.