Crazy Horse by Jon Sterngass

Author:Jon Sterngass
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Published: 2013-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

In response to an effort by the U.S. government to break the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and remove the Sioux to a smaller reservation, the Sioux conducted a marauding campaign to push white settlers out of the Black Hills altogether. George Crook’s forces were defeated by Crazy Horse on June 17, eight days before George Custer’s men were killed at Little Bighorn.

Native American Scouts

General Crook strongly supported the use of Native American scouts. He believed that American soldiers were no match for Native guerrilla warriors. Large forces of soldiers, dragging mostly useless equipment, could rarely catch hostile Natives. In 1866, Congress established the Indian Scouting Service as a permanent branch of the army. From that date, the army enlisted Native American scouts on the Army payroll. The program was a success; from 1872 to 1890, 16 Native American scouts received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Recruitment for the Native scouts was not difficult because great hatreds existed between various tribes. Although the tribes on the Plains shared a similar culture, they had separate homelands and did not always like each other. They usually lacked any central leadership and did not see their common interest. These divisions played into the U.S. Army’s hands.

The Crow, in particular, felt that the Lakota had stolen their lands. “The Lakota have trampled upon our hearts,” said one Crow chief in 1876. “We shall spit upon their scalps.” The Crow saw alliance with the United States as the last and best hope of preserving their homeland from their old enemies. The Arikara also despised the Lakota for the Lakota’s constant raiding. For Native Americans now on the reservation, scouting for the army was one of the only ways to follow the traditional life of a warrior.

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