He was a significant leader in the battle, but the specific details of his actions are disputed.

He is remembered by the Lakota community as a hero.

He is remembered in American popular culture in ways that are often distorted — the romantic warrior figure of the Western film tradition rather than the specific historical person in his specific historical context.

The disconnect between the popular memory of Crazy Horse and the historical person is relevant to the burial mystery: the same public fascination that makes the burial a famous mystery is the same public fascination that has repeatedly distorted his image.

Why The Mystery Persists: The Structural Explanation