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.