Sources differ on the precise year of Crazy Horse's birth, but most agree he was born between 1840 and 1845. According to a close friend, he and Crazy Horse "were both born in the same year at the same season of the year," which census records and other interviews place in 1842. Encouraging Bear, an Oglala medicine man and spiritual adviser to the Oglala war leader, reported that Crazy Horse was born "in the year in which the band to which he belonged, the Oglala, stole One Hundred Horses, and in the fall of the year," a reference to the annual Lakota calendar or winter count. Among the Oglala winter counts, the stealing of 100 horses is noted by Cloud Shield, and possibly by American Horse and Red Horse owner, as equivalent to the year 1840-41.

Rattling Blanket Woman was the daughter of Black Buffalo and White Cow (also known as Iron Cane). Her older siblings were Lone Horn (born 1790, died 1877) and Good Looking Woman (born 1810). Her younger sister was named Looks At It (born 1815), later given the name They Are Afraid of Her. The historian George Hyde wrote that Rattling Blanket Woman was Miniconjou and the sister of Spotted Tail, who became a Brule head chief.  In the summer of 1844, Waglula went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Miniconjou Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small party of warriors to the village and rescued it. Corn, the head man of the village, had lost his wife in the raid. In gratitude he gave Waglula his two eldest daughters as wives: Iron Between Horns (age 18) and Kills Enemy (age 17). Corn's youngest daughter, Red Leggins, who was 15 at the time, requested to go with her sisters; all became Waglula's wives.  According to Frederick Hoxie's Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Crazy Horse was the third in his male line to bear the name of Crazy Horse, which in Lakota is ThasuNGke Witko. ThasuNGke Witko III (1840-1877) was the son of Rattling Blanket Woman and ThasuNGke Witko II. The love of his life was Black Buffalo Woman, whom he courted, but she married another man named No Water. At one point, Crazy Horse persuaded Black Buffalo Woman to run away with him. No Water borrowed a pistol and ran after his wife. When he found her with Crazy Horse, he fired at him, injuring him in the face and leaving a noticeable scar. Crazy Horse was married two times, first to Black Shawl and second to Nellie Larrabee (Laravie). Nellie Larrabee was given the task of spying on Crazy Horse for the military, so the "marriage" is suspect. Only Black Shawl bore him any children, a daughter named They Are Afraid of Her, who died at age three.

What were Crazy Horse's relatives known for?
). Nellie Larrabee was given the task of spying on Crazy Horse for the military, so the "marriage" is suspect.