Sandoz' Crazy Horse - Bev Russell, Library Director

(This column appeared in the August 12, 2007, Star-Herald)

I am not sure when I became aware of Mari Sandoz. She sort of dawned upon me gradually. My high school speech teacher once mentioned a relative of hers who was a famous writer from the Sandhills. I do not remember that a name was attached to this person. Some time later, it occurred to me that her relative was Mari Sandoz. Years later, when I was an employed librarian, I was familiar with her books, but it never occurred to me to actually read one. "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country." I was guilty of this attitude in regards to Mari Sandoz. Finally, while taking a history course about the Plains Indians, I took the opportunity to read "Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas". Guess what? It is a really good book. Ms. Sandoz is a fine writer. And I am a dunce for not reading her sooner.

This year "Crazy Horse" was selected as the book to read for "One Book, One Nebraska", a statewide reading project. "One Book, One Nebraska" is in its third year. Previous books selected for this program were "My Antonia" by Willa Cather and "One False Move" by Alex Kava. The idea behind the "One Book" effort is to have readers throughout the state reading, studying and discussing the same book. It is an opportunity to promote reading and in its three years it highlighted three Nebraska authors.

Mari Sandoz was a native of western Nebraska. She grew up in the Sandhills country along the upper Niobrara River and lived close to the Sioux reservations of South Dakota. Her father Old Jules was an early settler in the area, and his personality drew many of the old-timers (Indians, cowboys, fur traders) to his ranch. In her foreword, Mari recalled, "…around our kitchen table or perhaps at the evening fires of the Sioux often camped across the road from our house, I heard these old-timers tell many and wonderful stories of hunting the buffalo, the big-horn and the grizzly, and of Indian fights and raidings… But most often they talked of the battles in what the whites called the Sioux wars…" As Old Jules daughter she established a rapport with these men. What we might call today "street-cred". When it came time to interview them for her biography of Crazy Horse, she was welcomed. Those relationships and her interviews with the people who knew Crazy Horse give her book an authenticity that others can not claim.

In his Introduction to the 2004 printing, Lakota writer Vine Deloria mentioned that the wealth of detail in Sandoz’ book stunned him—detail that rang true and was verifiable. He said that her, "account of the Plains Indians during the 1850s through the 1870s surpasses other such works in terms of its accuracy and clarity." Sandoz, he wrote, "…captured the nuances that only a few would know and understand". Deloria, who was a Standing Rock Sioux, believed Mari Sandoz’s "Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas" was a work of true genius. I would not argue with that assessment.

This coming week the Friends of the Scottsbluff Public Library are sponsoring two opportunities to discuss "Crazy Horse". The programs are on August 16, 2007, at Noon for a Brown Bag Lunch and at 6:30 p.m. Light refreshment will be served at the evening program. Please take an opportunity to read a classic biography of the heroic Lakota warrior and take part in the discussions of it. The events are free and open to the public in the library meeting room at 1809 3^rd Avenue. Please call the library at 630-6250 for more information.

:: Go to Library Home ::

Scottsbluff Public Library :: 1809 Third Avenue :: Scottsbluff, NE 69361 :: 308-630-6250