He was not the political leader — that was the role of men like Red Cloud, who navigated the complex world of treaty negotiation and agency politics.

Crazy Horse was the war leader, the man who organized and led the Lakota and allied Cheyenne fighters in the engagements that defined the period.

He led the fighting at the Fetterman Battle in 1866, where he served as a decoy to draw Captain William Fetterman’s force into an ambush.

He was central to the resistance against the Bozeman Trail.

He fought at the Battle of the Rosebud in June 1876, where his forces turned back General George Crook’s column.