"There was never a photograph taken or a likeness made from first hand witness of Crazy Horse"; so said Mari Sandoz in the biography, Crazy Horse the Strange Man of the Oglala.

Her book was published in 1942. At the time there was little reason to doubt her words. From eyewitness descriptions we know that Crazy Horse was five feet eight inches tall, lithe and sinewy, with a lean face and thin, sharp nose. His countenance was of quiet dignity, but morose, dogged, tenacious and melancholy. It was said that he always wore a white buckskin shirt and dark blue leggings, with two feathers hanging loose in his hair and his long braids were wrapped in beaver fur almost the color of his hair.

He was known throughout his life as "the light-skinned warrior." In his youth he was called "Curly" for his light, loose hair, the "color of a young prairie chick." In The Killing of Chief Crazy Horse (1976, A.H. Clark Co. of Glendale California) is a reproduction of an alleged portrait of Crazy Horse. The book was a collaborative effort of Robert A. Clark, of Spokane, Washington and Carroll Friswold. The portrait was first published by J.W. Vaughn in With Crook at the Rosebud, (Stackpole, 1956).

There is a striking correlation between the eyewitness descriptions of Crazy Horse and the man in the portrait. The original portrait is a quarter tintype, 2.5 x 3.5 inches (one of four images on a tintype plate) taken in the summer of 1877 at Fort Robinson, in Crazy Horse's 35th (and last) year.

Its first owner was Baptiste (Little Bat) Garnier. When Little Bat was murdered in 1900 the tintype went to his wife; a cousin of Crazy Horse. On her death it went to her daughter, Ellen Howard, from whom Fred Hackett acquired it.

Hackett and Vaughn published it in 1956. Later, Friswold obtained the tintype from Hackett, with a letter from Ellen Howard attesting to the authenticity of the Tintype

Vinyl portfolio embossed on cover with pictograph/signature of Crazy Horse contains 8x12 in. colorized picture plus details of the picture’s history and evidence of its authenticity.

This Collector’s edition was prepared for June 25th 2003 dedication of the Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn Battlefield