Thursday, April 7, 2016

White Man Runs Him - Crow 1912


White Man Runs Him was a Crow scout serving with George Armstrong Custer’s 1876 expedition against the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne, the ancestral enemies of the Crow, that culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

White Man Runs Him, and the other US Army Indian Scouts on Crow’s Nest, were alarmed at the number of hostile Indians they were able to see. The white men with them, including General Custer, could not see as well as the Indian Scouts and were unable to see the shear number of ponies, Indians, and the camp size. When the decision was made to continue with the advance, the Indian Scouts took off their uniforms and donned their Crow war clothes. When General Custer inquired why, he was told the Indian Scouts were convinced they were going to die in battle and that they desired to die Indian Warriors instead of US Army Troopers. About one hour prior to the Battle of The Little Big Horn commencing, White Man Runs Him and most of the other Indian Scouts were relieved from duty. White Man Runs Him and other Indian Scouts hung around the battlefield and engaged in the battle briefly, most surviving the engagement.
After the battle, White Man Runs Him lived on the Crow reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, a few miles from the site of the famous battlefield.

5 comments:

  1. Love these, and the history with them. Thanks for posting.

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    1. I love it that you love it. They are very popular.

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  2. I've always wondered if most quides were considered traitors by their own people or did they just go back with the tribe? Were they shunned and outcast?

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    1. Nope. The Crow, for instance, were ancestral enemies of the Sioux, and it was honorable to help the white man fight them. Further, it was an important rite of coming of age to go raiding, and allowing the young men to fight or be guides, or even tribal police, turned that unproductive and dangerous impulse toward a positive outcome.

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  3. Hi CW,
    Thanks again for posting these historical pieces...... I look forward to the next...and the next.
    Audentes, Fortuna, Juvat,
    III%,
    skybill-out

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