In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapter 6

Chapters 7-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Authorial Context: Joseph Marshall III and Lakota Culture and History

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse relies heavily on the real-world experience of the novel’s Lakota author, Joseph Marshall III. Like the protagonist Jimmy McClean, Marshall grew up on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Marshall, like Jimmy, also had a close relationship with his grandparents, having been raised by them in a traditional Lakota household. Jimmy and Joseph’s names are also similar: They both inherited European-sounding surnames from their fathers, while their mothers have traditional Lakota names.

By modeling Jimmy closely on his own childhood, Marshall infuses Jimmy’s journey with authentic information about Lakota history, allowing the reader a glimpse into his people’s cultural identity. Jimmy’s primary method of learning about the Lakota is through his grandfather’s stories. Similarly, Marshall’s primary source material are the stories he heard from Lakota elders, reinforcing the importance of the oral tradition within the Lakota community. Marshall’s experience growing up in South Dakota also gives him special insight into the places that Jimmy and Nyles visit—such as Bear Butte and the Tongue River Valley—many of which hold special importance to the Lakota.

Despite his extensive first-hand knowledge of the Lakota, Marshall writes in the novel’s Author’s Note, “by no means am I an authority on Crazy Horse” (143). Instead, Marshall says that Crazy Horse is his “hero” (143) and that he continues to learn more about his life. This admission reflects the idea that In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse is not meant to reflect the exact details of historical events, but instead to capture the spirit and legacy of a people.

Historical Context: American Frontier Wars

Grandpa Nyles’s stories about Crazy Horse largely center around the American Frontier Wars, a series of violent conflicts that took place between Indigenous tribes like the Lakota and white settlers. These conflicts started as early as the first European landings in America in the 17th century, with colonists seeking to claim land already occupied by Indigenous peoples, and continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

For Crazy Horse and the Lakota, these conflicts largely stemmed from white settlers moving along the Oregon Trail, hoping to make their fortunes in the West. While the Oregon Trail ran through the Lakota territory, the novel describes how the Lakota and United States Government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty, which was supposed to allow settlers free passage along the Oregon Trail if they did not stop to claim land belonging to the Lakota. The US Government did not enforce their part of the deal, however, leading to continued hostilities. This encroachment did not just affect the Lakota, but other tribes like the Arapaho and Cheyenne as well.

Jimmy and Nyles visit the sites of two of the major battles during this time period: the Battle of the Hundred in the Hands—also called the Fetterman Massacre—and the Greasy Grass Fight—also called the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Battle of the Hundred in the Hands took place in 1866 between the Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne on one side and the United States Army on the other. As the novel describes, Crazy Horse and a small group of other warriors lured out the US soldiers from Fort Phil Kearny into an ambush, winning a great victory for the tribes. In The Battle of the Little Bighorn of 1876, General George Custer led an attack on a village of those same tribes, not realizing how many enemies his force would face. The battle resulted in a sweeping victory for the tribes and the death of 258 US soldiers.