The Search for a Photo of Crazy Horse 

Thanks for the interview with Mark Lee Gardner, Bob. Crazy Horse is a fascinating personality.

Tashunko Witko "Crazy Horse" 'aka' "worm" and "curly". Real American Hero trying to save his people. Thank you for the fair and respectful portrayal.

we know when and where he died, but we don't know where his grave is.... I love this man...

"I never obtained his picture. His invariable reply to my request was: 'My friend, why should you wish to shorten my life by taking from me my shadow.'" Dr. Valentine T. McGillycuddy

I've heard, all my life, Crazy Horse avoided the camera because he thought it would steal his spirit. Also heard he wouldn't eat with metal utensils or from metal pots or pans.

Crazy Horse as a child had curly hair that was light brown in color. The color of his hair never changed even as an adult even though as an adult his hair was long "waist length" & straight. He was of light complexion for a Lakota with a slight slim build. His height was said to be between 5"6' & 5"7. He had a scar on his face. The information I have provided was taken from older Lakota people that were alive in the same time period & the few Whites that spent time around him during his time on the agencies. As far as pictures out there with claims to be of Crazy Horse I believe what Lakota people say which is to say there are none.

I thought I had read somewhere that Crazy Horse refused to ever be photographed.

I had a friend who died 3 years ago who looked like crazy horse , was a Cree Indian !! and a good man !

I recall reading that some Lakota that knew Crazy Horse, in the 1920's after seeing an early western on the screen, said that William S Hart was the spitting image of Crazy Horse.

Thank You Bob. As usual, this was informative, interesting and unprepossessing. I enjoy the way you present all the materials and subjects you chose. As an amateur, (very amateur), history buff, it is easy to be captured by the events of the 19th century American west you present in your magazine.

Fantastic Bob, I love the factual information, and your realistic approach to history. Thank you

Crazy horse was very modest …no feathers

I have a friend who I just lost recently to cancer who is a very large Nez Perce and he had a picture of himself with Crazy Horse's great great grandson... I wonder if we were going to find anything concrete here but we appreciate all the work you put into this.

I'm Sioux and there is no photo of the great warrior. In fact, all the knowledge that we know about him was told by people who knew him or witnessed him in battle. He wasn't a man to brag about his bravery and feats, not even to his parents. His "medicine" was a huge part of how he lived his life and seeking personal glory wasn't part of his journey. The Medicine bundle of (Tȟašúŋke Witkó) CRAZY HORSE. "…They pitched their tent right beside the big cottonwood tree so they would always be able to find the place again. Inside the tent at night the family dug a hole six feet deep. But before they buried Crazy Horse’s medicine bundle, they decided to open it. It was about the size of a baby. On the outside of the bundle was a blanket. Inside the blanket were several layers of cloth. Inside the cloth was a bag made of tanned deerskin. It was this bag which would hold a man’s sicun (soul)-special stones that had power, or certain herbs and sweet-smelling grasses, or parts of animals that had visited the owner in visions and dreams. What Crazy Horse had placed in his medicine bundle is unknown. For when they started to open the deerskin bag, they suddenly heard a great roar of flapping wings against the walls of the tent; scores of owls were beating their wings outside, loud as thunder! Traditional Lakota's believe that owls warn of death. The sound frightened all of them. So they wrapped up Crazy Horse’s bundle and buried it right away. Twenty years later, the landscape has changed. The big cottonwood tree is gone. They could no longer find the spot where they had pitched their tent."

Would not those who saw crazy horse with their own eyes have ever satt down with an artist to give guidance to capture his essential likeness?

You should have asked or looked at his relatives on his mother's side. Phehin Yuhaha means Funny Hair and if you look at descendants of Body Parts and Walks as she thinks you can see wave hair runs in the family, on his mother side Grey green eyes will show up. Marting Charger who's grandparents were the same as Crazy Horse also had Grey Green eyes. That narrow face is another trait that shows up in some relatives.

Thanks for sharing. Always enjoy learning more about the old west from you Bob.

🤠 👍🏾 Can’t wait for your next show , very much appreciated.

Thank you for another fascinating story. Excellent as always.

Awesome interview. Again thank you Bob.

15:02 sums up my feelings about what Crazy Horse actually looked like. As much as I'd love to see a 100% verified photo, I'm sure that it would not match the image that I've always had in my head. l prefer his image to be a composite of all the great chiefs and warriors of the Lakota people because , to me, that's what he represented, the face of all his people that he lived and died for. To put it another way, "l am Crazy Horse... l am Crazy Horse... l am Crazy Horse".

Wow amazing job Bob!

Love your videos, please keep doing them

Great episode. Thank you

Hey Bob, big fan of the channel so today I ordered the Illustrated Life of Wyatt Earp in Hardcover, I am having it sent to me in Newfoundland, Canada so needless to say, it wasn’t cheap lol. I look forward to reading it and proudly adding it to my library. Cheers Bob and keep up the great work.

Never seeing the face of crazy horse adds to his mystique

Mark is a great researcher!

I have a vague memory of reading that Crazy Horse wore his single feather pointing down. But it's only a vague memory of something I read.

I would love to see a video on John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston, keep up the great videos

Thank you kindly

The boat you built looks solid bro and was probably his saving grace after everything got knocked out..solid bro good story with a good ending and one crazy dude who had one real sortie of note...glad he survived..

enjoyed the show.✔👍👌

Hey, would love to see a timeline of the most famous gunfighters, their locations, and see if they ever met, or how close they lived next to each other.

Woooooot cant wait

I wonder why he was not drawn.

Good Video. Enjoyed it👍Original American Indian Tintypes are actually pretty Scarce compared to Cabinet photos. I believe it was likely The Photographer Mentioned in the Video -who traveled that area -with intentions to photograph a portfolio of known Sioux’ Chiefs was not able to photograph Crazy Horse. My take is Crazy Horse like most verbal accounts was Elusive and stayed away-thus the portfolio portion was not filled. 🇺🇸

Love the true west..

I knew his childhood nickname was Curly. Got that from a YA novel I read way back in the 60s.

We sure did enjoy having Bob in Deadwood

That's cool, Frankenhorse!!!

Me. Bell I was wondering if you ever aired the symposium you did in tombstone last year go the 140 years and if so where can I find out I was unable to attend thank you

I read descriptions of Crazy Horse and the man was not very big, something like 5'10 and about 145 pounds. It's not the size but the fight in the man

Crazy Horse 'never' allowed his picture to be taken. If there is one it would have to have been taken after he was murdered.

You should do a video about real/fake photos of outlaws

He, like myself believe photography STILLS (not steals) the Spirit. Cha-O-Ha

One very important thing that you left out is that Crazy Horse was said to have had Blue eyes. Blue eyes are recessive so in order to express Blue eyes both of his parents would have had to carry this gene.

I think i found a picture of crazy horse. Search for the video "Battle of the Little Bighorn Episode3 - To Ford A" At time 10:47 there is a picture of indians and the guy in the lower right corner there is someone that looks to have a jaw scar that looks pretty narly.

The man in the first photo. It is also said that there are photos of this man from Wild West shows. I believe there are two of them. In a group photo.

There IS NO photo of Crazy Horse.

Mr Great great grandmother said Crazy Horse had dark brown hair

We are Cherokee and my half sister and I could be twins.

If I find a photo of Crazy Horse I will let you know Bob.

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Enjoyed your piece on the alleged Crazy Horse photo'- I think I may be the 'English Scholar' Mark referred to? Twenty years ago I wrote an article for 'English Westerner's' Magazine on this very subject- I'm guilty of the 'nerdy' process of counting the hair-pipes in the breastplate worn by the subject- the reason I did that was because it was the only positive item one could ascertain the dimension of, namely the individual hair-pipes at 3/8 inch at centre, multiplying by their total number giving its over-all length, then measuring it as a fraction of the man in the tin-type which proved that he was about five feet one inch, or there-about; as most eye-witnesses attest that he was of average height (5ft 8- 5ft 10, this would rule out our subject- apart from all the other contrary , & was probably another evidence, e.g. the 'Ascot' tie, absence of a prominent scar, etc.etc. lastly, I believe the comment made to McGillycuddy was an excuse on the part of Crazy Horse not to have his picture taken- it would seem unlikely that the great man, almost alone among prominent Indian men of the 19th century, would have refused to be photographed due to superstitious beliefs

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I think the book is called hart stone or pipe stone maybe but its the best I seen on crazy horse. Lol like how u said french battle scare when we all know u were thinking Nazi ss duling scars.

Geronimo was a short but you would think of him as looking more like Wes Studi. I don’t think Custer was alive by the end of the fight. They could have taken his photo after he was killed.

Some historians were claiming that well known and documented photo of 2-moons was actually crazy horse. It’s like these false photos have become an epidemic.

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Has any show been done on Chief Tecumseh?

How did they come up with the rendition of him for the rock carving 😎

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I have two 1.18liter bottles of crazy horse bottles of beer now empty telling the, story of crazy horse these are not paper stickers, these are rolled on painted rolled on circa1978 I told the owner of the packy that" these are going to be collecter items someday."He agreed and said I think you're right and I have,6 or7 cases left and he was taking them home there still on my mantle. Haven't seen them since there beautiful with caps and all. Any value?same with Billy beer, president Carter's brother had a beer named after him

And he wore a red blanket.

How accurately is the Crazy Horse depicted in the Crazy Horse monument near Mount Rushmore? The sculptor had to have had some feedback from his Sioux ancestors. Can anyone elaborate on how that came to be?

The Crazy Horse Memorial is based on a bust sculpted of Crazy Horse shortly before or shortly after he was murdered. The CH Memorial is what Crazy Horse looked like. Love your channel and True West mag too!

Bob have you ever read "CRAZY HORSE The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz" If not I will send you a copy and do with it what you will.

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104 Crazyhorse Probably another pictures of Albert.

Thought provoking video. Is there any PROOF of how old Crazy Horse was when he got the scar? OR of when the picture with the single feather and bone breastplate was taken? He looked pretty young.

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There were ZERO pics taken of Crazy Horse. If someone shows a photo saying it's him they are liars.

The visage in the magazing of Crazy Horse is not very good. If you wish to get a better idea of what he would look like; look at his uncle, Spotted Tail. A much more narrow face. His cousin, Black Elk is similiar and very different from your depiction. Additionally, if you want to know what Hump looked like, Libby Custer's personal description of this man is quite good.

That dude looks like he ate cake without his hands..

Off topic maybe What about Bushy Bill Robert’s from Hico Texas ? Is this a scam by his claim to be Billy The Kid?

There are some websites that can restore and remove all of the imperfections and restore the clarity of old photos. It might be that if the alleged photo of CH was worked on by one of these artists in restoration you might be able to see that facial wound.

MSN in 1934 compared to today . Guess they didn't have the research TOOLS.

In England?? That's disappointing!

how he get the name crazy that a bad thing

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Reminiscent of how Roman Nose =/= Henry Roman Nose.

Amazing how there is no authentic picture.

Never meet your heros

What he looked like is irrelevant to what he did, geronimo and sitting bull are nothing like you would expect if you pictured them without seeing them

Crazy Horse was known to avoid white man stuff. It is debatable that he used white weaponry too.

This is silly. There are things Bob will never know. Hard for him to admit.

There are plenty of eyewitnesses both native and Army and they all gave the same account on his appearance. Light complexion, light hair and high nose like a white man's.

never meet your heros?

Well for one thing crazy horse was never a chief he was a medicine man or shaman.

There are no pictures of Crazy Horse. The family provided a sketch & that’s all there is to go on. It looks nothing like that rendering! The tribe was starving to death, so he wouldn’t have been healthy. It amazes me how much people look at the legend and not the man. Geesh, peeps, get a grip!

i think he looks too old. His own parents buried him, so he would look younger and not so heaverly set.

Theres a damn good chance Crazy horse had European ancestry.

Ain't happening.

Indians thought of the horse as a big dog not as the white mans word horse

I wonder if no water changed his name to no wife after crazy horse took of with his wife.

Could the strange man of the Oglala have a white gene from way back? He didn’t do some Indian customs light hair light eyes? His mother and father were Indians ?

Crazy Horse was half white.

Nope, no image exists, and your mock-up for the magazine is terrible.

Your video bothered me last night. By drawing crazy horse without his disfiguring scar you are saying to me (one who has a disfiguring scar on my face) that I should not be seen in public-that a disfiguring scar is not an acceptable image. If one were to draw me without my scar I would be offended. I have accepted what life has brought me, which is more than the "True" West Magazine can say.

I theorized that he’s half or a quarter white.