Sometime between 1838 and 1845 a young Sioux boy called Curly was born at an encampment on Rapid Creek. Located near the Black Hills in present-day South Dakota, the boy would learn he was near sacred land that the Sioux called Paha Sapa. Not only did this land provide Indians with particular needs much of the year, but they also believed that it was home to Wakantanka, the Great Mystery, the spiritual force that exists in every form of life. This boy would grow to be the warrior Crazy Horse, who best represents the Indians' resistance to western expansion by the United States that threatened their way of life.

During his boyhood, Curly would spend most of the year north of the Platte River.

During the summer, his family stayed near Fort Laramie, in present day Wyoming, where they traded with white settlers. Present at what is known as the...