The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

Must read for a honest perspective of a polarizing figure in American history. A true warrior and fierce leader.

Joseph Marshall III has obviously been very careful in recounting the history of Crazy Horse in this book because there are many members of Crazy Horse's family and also western scholars still around who can discount the narrative as false or as romanticism. The story is one from the Lakota point of view passed down and learned through generations of Crazy Horse's tiospaye (family), of which Marshall is a member. It is not only expected, but imperative, that Marshall get the story right--it is a story he passes down to his own children, grandchildren, extended family members and thousands of Lakota people who continue to struggle to maintain cultural ties and history for their own identities and for future generations. That being said: this book is incredible. Marshall writes very descriptively about a time that is slowly being forgotten. The story unfolds as if one is sitting with an elder, looking at old photos and listening to the memories of someone who was there. Marshall heard this story second and third-hand as a young boy from elders who raised him, so it is very much like visiting a grandfather to hear about the old days. Although that might bring up questions of historical accuracy, you would have to know the Lakota very well to understand that the fine points of any story are memorized, argued, and finally recounted on the consensus of a group of elders telling a story. Not only does Marshall capture that spirit of elders telling stories, he tries very hard to see deep into the heart of Crazy Horse, something he has been able to accomplish because he grew up speaking Lakota, raised by people living during that time in history, and is knowledgeable about what a responsibly-raised Lakota man would think, how he would act, and what he might foresee in the face of the total demolition of his way of life. The best thing about this book is the narrative style. Marshall does not assume anything about his readers' intelligence, which is refreshing after trying to slog through Sandoz' "Me heap big chief" style of writing. Anyone from 12 to 100 could read this book and become engaged in the story, learning Lakota history, culture, and some language along the way from someone who is an expert. I would recommend this and all of Marshall's books in any classroom where Lakota children are taught.

This is the first book I have read authored by Joseph M. Marshall, a Lakota Sioux. Based on this effort on Crazy Horse, I plan on reading others as well. Stereotypes are cast aside regarding the Lakota Sioux who were fighting an enemy that threatened their cultural way of life. It was the Fetterman Fight in December of 1866 in which Crazy Horse demonstrated his leadership by luring William Fetterman and his eighty men from Fort Phil Kearny into a trap that led to the demise of his entire group while young warriors, fighting impatience, waited until all of Fetterman's men were within the trap before attacking the soldiers. Much has been written about The Battle at the Little Bighorn in Montana in which Crazy Horse was instrumental in the defeat of General George Custer, but little is written about The Battle of the Rosebud near Buffalo, Wyoming, in which Crazy Horse and his men fought General George "Three Stars" Crook eight days prior to Little Bighorn. This battle is important because it eliminated Crook and his men from attacking the Indians at the Greasy Grass. Crazy Horse ultimately had to surrender at Fort Robinson in Nebraska because it meant the survival of his Lakota people. To continue fighting meant death to all against the superior numbers of the white invaders. I have read three other biographies on Crazy Horse, but this one by Joseph Marshall is the best of the bunch. Marshall puts himself in the position as an instructor of the Lakota way of life, and we, the reader, are his students. I found it to be a very informative book.

Joseph Marshall's elegant and powerful book, "The Journey of Crazy Horse," is the gold standard by which all other biographies of Crazy Horse will heretofore be measured. Rather than aggrandizing the legend, Marshall explores the inner workings and revealing actions of a seemingly contrary man, who, born in any other time, might have been lost to history as an eccentric mystic. "The Journey of Crazy Horse" deftly explains the times in which he lived and the politics of Whites and Indians alike that forced this reluctant icon to action. Marshall details a man bereft of worldly ambition, driven by circumstance and sustained by an indomitable inner spirit. The author never succumbs to the lure of stridency, never attempts to sway emotion to Crazy Horse and his cause, though had he done so, it would have been forgivable, for at it's core, this is a story of genocide and of the heroism and dignity that defied it. The truth is, Crazy Horse never needed puffery or pedestals. By resisting the temptation of such accouterments, Joseph Marshall's Crazy Horse emerges in flesh and blood, flawed and tormented. Crazy Horse, by rising above those things, is revealed as man greater than the myth. This is a graceful book that moves without manipulation and will resonate in your thoughts long after the final page has been turned. One gets a sense that somewhere, somehow, Crazy Horse approves-not because of any undue glorification of his heroics, but rather that after all this time, he is understood.

Of all of the great Native American leaders of the Old West, none is more elusive than Tasunke Witko, Crazy Horse. While we have photographs of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Gall, Rain in the Face, Chief Joseph and Geronimo, no image of Crazy Horse, the legendary field general of the Lakota, exists or has survived. Past efforts at providing a credible literary portrayal of the man have reeked of the mythology that pervaded Western History. All through those accounts the stereotype of supposed ruthless savagery lingered in the background, like a vile stench. Even those authors who tried to be fair couldn't, somehow, rise above the temptation to sensationalize Crazy Horse. Why is it that we tolerate such fiction? Why is it that we succumb to the temptation to paint all of our enemies, past and present, as demons and devils without honestly trying to understand where they were coming from? Sadly, this continues to be the major problem when whites (of whom I am one) contemplate the bloody history of conflicts between their ancestors and Native Americans. We just can't seem to let go of the prospect that we were the ones that were wrong! Now Lakota author, Joseph Marshall III, provides a sensitive account of the life of Crazy Horse drawn from the rich Native American oral tradition that still exists for all who are open-minded enough to hear it. What better way and who better to tell the story of a hero? THE JOURNEY OF CRAZY HORSE: A LAKOTA HISTORY relates the life of Crazy Horse, as Mr. Marshall promises in his foreword, as a Native American storyteller might. What emerges is the story of a good man, a man who, for his part, fought for what he believed was right. From his beginnings to his rise as a gifted warrior and leader to his triumph at The Greasy Grass Fight (The Battle of the Little Bighorn) to his death in 1877, Crazy Horse lives for the very first time with an accuracy and tenderness that seem most fitting. Marshall also relates the traditional accounts of the man off the battle field. We discover a caring father, brother, husband and friend. THE JOURNEY OF CRAZY HORSE: A LAKOTA HISTORY provides, at last, an accurate portrait of one of America's greatest leaders. Hopefully readers will see this, looking past the stereotypes and prejudices of the past that seem all too alive and well today. THE HORSEMAN

This is my third Joseph Marshall book (after "Soldiers Falling into Camp" and "The Lakota Way"). Reading Joe Marshall is like having a "story teller" right in front of you, talking, teaching, engaging, looking you in the eye and speaking to you. Mr. Marshall cares about what he writes about, and cares that his readers take something with them. This clearly comes through in his writing. In this book he speaks of the "conflict" between the oral and written traditions -- I think Mr. Marshall is a master at synthesizing the two. The Lakota history and experience he imparts are as genuine as it gets - and a treasure he has given us non-Lakota people a chance to see. The book describes, through synthesis of oral history and the experiences/culture of the Lakota people, the man of Tashunka Witko (His Crazy Horse). Marshall shows how the life of a very heroic yet very human man transcends linear time and remains part of living culture through faithful oral tradition and living into that tradition - something very different than what we're used to. Direct sources with the people who lived and continue the live in the influence and experience of a leader of the Lakota people. ADDENDUM 2007 I am respectfully submitting this addendum in response to a broader re-assessment. I agree with the review from Belgium about Mr. Marshall's overbroad & negative characterization in applying "Euro-American" as a pejorative. In Mr. Marshall's newest publication "Little Bighorn," this overarching negativity towards on Euro-American culture, which he continuously contrasts to his own (which is always without any faults), is even more evident. I regret that I hadn't seen this in my initial reading of the Crazy Horse book (Marshall's feelings were not as strongly presented in this volume). History can never be free of perspective, passion and prejudices - esp. when its sharp and painful. I'm sorry that Mr. Marshall seems to have become more embittered over time, as his work to share his culture is very important.