When the party reached Camp Robinson at dusk, thousands of Lakotas were waiting to see Crazy Horse. Not all were friendly, but they parted to allow him to pass through. He Dog rode up, shook his hand and said: ‘Look out–watch your step. You are going into a dangerous place.’ Little Big Man, now an Indian policeman, came up to Crazy Horse as he dismounted and stayed close to him as his old friend walked across the parade ground. When a warrior shouted that he was a coward, Crazy Horse lunged at him, but Little Big Man held Crazy Horse back.

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Lee immediately went to the office of Colonel Bradley but had little luck smoothing things over. Bradley told him that his orders could not be changed; he was shipping Crazy Horse off to prison in the morning and there was no point discussing the matter. Before leaving, Lee asked if Bradley was willing to listen to Crazy Horse in the morning. Bradley hesitated, and then replied, ‘Tell him to go with the officer of the day, and not a hair on his head should be harmed.’ Informed of what Bradley had said, Crazy Horse apparently believed he would be allowed to meet with the commander in the morning. The Oglala warrior expressed his joy and shook the hand of the officer of the day, Captain James Kennington.

Kennington, with two soldiers and Little Big Man, then took Crazy Horse to the nearby guardhouse. It was Little Big Man who stepped up and led Crazy Horse inside. Perhaps this turn of events was a surprise to Crazy Horse, and he suddenly realized he was going to be locked up. Or perhaps he knew where he was going, but the sight of the cells and the men inside wearing balls and chains set something off inside him. In any case, he moved fast, wrenching his arm free of Little Big Man, pulling a knife and springing for the door. Little Big Man reacted quickly, too, grabbing Crazy Horse’s arms. ‘Let me go, let me go; you won’t allow me to hurt anyone!’ Crazy Horse said as he dragged Little Big Man outside. Crazy Horse freed a hand just enough to slash Little Big Man’s wrist. At that point, Kennington yelled ‘Stab the son of a bitch! Stab the son of a bitch!’ or something similar. Guardhouse sentry William Gentles followed orders. He lunged with his bayonet, stabbing Crazy Horse in the back, near the left kidney. ‘He has killed me now,’ Crazy Horse announced as he fell to the ground. The wounded Little Big Man and some soldiers tried to grab his arms again, but he told them: ‘Let me go, my friends. You have got me hurt enough.’

Kennington wanted to carry the mortally wounded Crazy Horse to the guardhouse, but Touch the Clouds said, ‘He was a great chief and cannot be put in a prison.’ Other Indians on the scene agreed. Camp doctor Valentine T. McGillycuddy went to Bradley and convinced him that there would be more killing if Kennington went ahead and put Crazy Horse in a cell. Instead, Touch the Clouds carried his friend into the adjutant’s office. There, Crazy Horse refused to be put on a bed, saying he wanted to lie on the floor, closer to the earth.

Touch the Clouds was still there at just before midnight when Crazy Horse died. Also on hand was Crazy Horse’s father, Worm; Captain Kennington; Lieutenant Henry R. Lemley, officer of the guard; interpreter John Provost; and McGillycuddy. What Crazy Horse’s last words were is not known. At some point he reportedly told Worm: ‘ah, my father, I am hurt bad. Tell the people it is no use to depend on me any more.’

In the morning, Crazy Horse’s parents took his body, wrapped in a red blanket, on a travois to the Spotted Tail Agency. About half a mile from Camp Sheridan, they placed the body on a small scaffold. Eventually a coffin was built and placed on the scaffold, and a crude fence was constructed to keep the cattle out. His parents mourned there for days. Worm finally buried his son somewhere in the Pine Ridge country of Dakota territory. A cousin of Crazy Horse named Chips said in 1910 that the location was near the head of the creek called Wounded Knee, but that he himself had reburied the remains several times after that, the last time in 1883. Crazy Horse’s final resting place is not known.

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