American Horse I.
American Horse I (American horse), Indian name Washichun Tashunka , (* around 1830; † September 9, 1876 ) was a chief of the Oglala - Lakota - Sioux .
American Horse, along with Red Cloud , Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, fought against submission by the whites. On August 1, 1867, he and about 500 warriors attacked a unit of the US Army that had been deployed to bring in hay from Fort CF Smith ( Montana ). Although the Whites were unprepared, American Horse suffered defeat. His warriors were surprised by the firepower of the Whites' new, modern Springfield rear-loading rifles. The attack went down in history as a battle in the hay field .
On March 19, 1868, together with Crazy Horse, he attacked the Old Horseshoe Station on the North Platte River and almost completely destroyed a patrol of the US infantry there. A little later, the whites temporarily gave up their interests in the area between the North Platte River and Yellowstone River opposite the united Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne in the Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868 .
The peace lasted only a few years. After the events of the Battle of Little Bighorn , in which American Horse had also participated, his tipi village, which had been built near Slim Buttes in the US state of South Dakota , was attacked by US General George Crook on September 9, 1876 . Severely wounded in a hail of shotgun pellets , American Horse was able to pronounce surrender to Crook and thus save the lives of some of his people before he succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards.
His efforts to get a fairer lot for his tribe were continued by his nephew American Horse II .
annotation
There seems to be some inconsistency in the history of these two chiefs. Among other things, the man killed at Slim Buttes is said not to have been American Horse I, but a "simple" warrior ... You can find out more in the web link American Tribes at American Horse II .
literature
- Norman B. Wiltsey: The Lords of the Prairie , Hans E. Günther Verlag Stuttgart, 1st edition 1965
- Dee Brown: Bury my heart at the bend of the river , Hoffmann and Campe Verlag, Hamburg 1972
- Biographical Dictionary of Indians of the Americas , Newport Beach, CA: American Indian Publishers, 1991
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | American Horse I. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Washichun Tashunka |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian chief of the Oglala-Lakota-Sioux |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1830 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 9, 1876 |