Avenging Custer: Activities that Turned George Armstrong Custer into a Myth

Avenging Custer: Activities that Turned George Armstrong Custer into a Myth

Larry Holzwarth - August 23, 2018

Avenging Custer: Activities that Turned George Armstrong Custer into a Myth
Agents conduct the census at the Standing Rock Indian Agency in 1880. Library of Congress

11. The fate of Crazy Horse

During the winter of 1876-77, the remaining hostile bands found that the US Army continued to raid against their encampments, denying them food and shelter, and pressuring them to surrender. Many complied by February, though Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull continued to remain in the field. Throughout the late winter and early spring of 1877, army pressure continued, and more and more of the natives, unable to feed themselves and their families, surrendered to the reservations, their tribal leaders accepting American terms and shelter. By April 1877, the band under Crazy Horse had suffered long enough and surrendered to the Army at the Red Cloud Agency.

Crazy Horse remained at the Red Cloud Agency with his large band of followers through most of the following summer. In September US troops surrounded the agency in response to reports that Crazy Horse intended to break out yet again. Crazy Horse slipped out, was captured, and was taken to Fort Robinson, led to believe that he would be able to speak with the post commander regarding conditions on the reservation. Instead, he was taken to a cell, informed he was under arrest. As he attempted to escape he was killed by one of the soldiers. Sitting Bull fled to Canada with the majority of his followers, where he remained for several years.

Advertisement