Crazy Horse and Custer: the parallel lives of two American warriors

On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the United States 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where 3,000 Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer. Both were men of aggression and supreme courage. Both became leaders in their societies at very early ages; both were stripped of power, in disgrace, and worked to earn back the respect of their people. Their parallel lives would pave the way, in a manner unknown to either, for an inevitable clash between two nations fighting for possession of the open prairie.

Originally published by Doubleday, 1975.

Introduction -- The setting and the people : the Great Plains -- The setting and the people : Ohio -- "Curly" -- "Curly's vision" -- Autie -- Custer at West Point -- Custer and Crazy Horse on the eve of manhood -- War and love among the Oglalas -- Guerrilla warfare, Indian style -- War and love among the Americans -- The boy general and the glorious war -- Crazy Horse and Custer as young warriors -- Crazy Horse and the Fort Phil Kearny Battle -- Custer comes to the Plains -- A summer on the Plains : 1867 -- The Treaty of 1868 and the Battle of the Washita -- Truce on the High Plains, 1869-73 -- Crazy Horse and Custer on the Yellowstone, 1873 -- The Panic of 1873 and the Black Hills expedition of 1874 -- Politics : red and white -- Crazy Horse fights on the rosebud while Custer closes in -- The Battle of the Little Bighorn -- The death of Crazy Horse -- What happened to the others.