13c Crazy Horse stamp

A 13-cent stamp honoring Chief Crazy Horse was issued January 15, 1982, in Crazy Horse, South Dakota. The design was unveiled September 6, 1981, at a ceremony at the Indian Museum of North America.

Crazy Horse was a leader in the Sioux war of 1875-1877, when various Sioux bands refused to settle on reservations. He is considered one of history's ablest military tacticians and is probably best known for defeating General George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn with the aid of Sitting Bull and other Sioux on June 25, 1876.

The Crazy Horse stamp was in the Great Americans Series, initiated in 1980. Crazy Horse was the second North American Indian honored in that series. The first, Sequoyah, was a Cherokee Indian scholar who invented an alphabet for his tribe. The 13-cent stamp represented the new postage rate for post cards effective November 1, 1981.

Brad Holland of New York, New York, designed the stamp. It was printed in the intaglio process and issued in panes of 100. The modeler was Ronald C. Sharpe; engravers were John S. Wallace (vignette) and Thomas J. Bakos (lettering & numerals).

Reference:
Postal Bulletin (December 21, 1985).

Scott Catalogue USA: 1855
mint

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 1985.0796.3091