On The Rosebud – Crow Dog’s Camp — May, 1974

The hills were teeming with young teenage braves with rifles. It was just months after the Wounded Knee uprising incident. My ticket to enter the ‘camp’ was Lame Deer’s personal verbal invitation. I was the only white guy to be allowed into this approximately 50-acre encampment. The area along the White River was dotted with campers, tents, and poorly constructed tipis. I estimate that there were probably 70 Lakota there. The one-day experience at Crow Dog’s camp requires a chapter for itself—from experiencing a 15-hour peyote ceremony to extreme visions. It took me two days to ‘come down’ and straighten up.