Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse (The Life Behind the Legend) by Mike Sajna
Hardcover: 367 pages
Publisher: Castle Books (October 8, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0785820361
    

From the Inside Flap

The northern Great Plains at the time of Crazy Horse's birth, around 1839 or 1840, were still wide-open buffalo country well known only to a few white traders and trappers. But before the Oglala Lakota war chief was two years old, the first white emigrants appeared on their way to Oregon, launching one of the greatest mass migrations in history and setting the stage for the end of the freedom plains tribes had known. Even as Crazy Horse was becoming one of the Lakota's most renowned warriors, many of his people had already given up their way of life and moved to reservations established by whites who saw them as a hindrance to progress. Those, like Crazy Horse, who chose to follow the old ways soon found themselves confronting an enemy whose might and tactics often were beyond their comprehension and whose goal was their destruction.This poignant book sheds new light on the life and death of one of the greatest Native American leaders, "one of the bravest of the brave," in the struggle against the westward movement of white settlers. Author Mike Sajna reveals Crazy Horse to have been not only an intelligent war chief with the good of his people at heart but also an ardent lover and cautious warrior who at times made mistakes and was as frightened as anyone when it came to confronting death. Sajna portrays Crazy Horse as a quiet, shy person who avoided attention off the battlefield but nevertheless inspired awe, excitement, jealousy, and fear. From his childhood when he showed courage capturing a wild horse to his first fights with the Pawnee and Shoshone, it was clear that Crazy Horse would become a fierce warrior. And yet he was also a tender man who was almost killed pursuing the woman he loved. Together with Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse led the great Sioux-Cheyenne Uprising of 1876?77, which reached its high point on June 25, 1876, with the destruction of Colonel George Armstrong Custer and more than 250 men of the Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn. The surrender less than a year later of Crazy Horse and his people was considered, even by his contemporaries, an epochal event in the history of the Plains Indian wars and the West. This meticulously researched biography goes a long way in separating the facts from the many myths that cloud Crazy Horse's life, while at the same time placing him firmly within the context of his times.

So... This book took me a long time to read.  Many reasons why, but one of them is NOT that I didn't want to read about Crazy Horse. 
However good and informative this book is... barely any of it tells me much about Crazy Horse.
In the beginning the author admits that information on Crazy Horse is very limited to only a few "facts" and much from old Indian lore.  Therefore, it winds up that the only "facts" are mostly in the last 3 chapters of the book, which surround his being in the fight that kills Custer, and the final chapter on how Crazy Horse dies. All other information is declared "unconfirmed".  sigh.
I was disappointed that very little is known about Crazy Horse, but if one has not read other books about Native Americans, back when White man took over then this book would be informative.
I was determined to read all the book just in case more information I had not read before might show up.  And some did.
One exciting book title showed up and when I searched it on Amazon I know I want all the information written by the author , A Eastman, on the Indians.  The main book being titled Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains. But of course I want what I can't afford! (nothing new there!) Click the link.. don't laugh too hard!

[ Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains[ INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS ] By Eastman, Charles Alexander