White Man Runs Him

White Man Runs Him
Mahr-Itah-Thee-Dah-Ka-Roosh
Edward S. Curtis portrait of White Man Runs Him, c. 1908
Crow leader
Personal details
Born	c. 1858 Lodge Grass, Montana
Died	June 2, 1929 (aged 70/71) Crow Indian Reservation
Resting place	Little Bighorn Battlefield
Spouse(s)	Pretty Medicine Pipe, d. Apr. 2, 1943
Relations	Stepgrandfather of Joe Medicine Crow; grandfather of Pauline Small; great-grandfather of Janine Pease
Parents	Bull Chief, Offers Her Red Cloth
Known for	Scout for George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Nickname(s)	White Buffalo That Turns Around

White Man Runs Him (Mahr-Itah-Thee-Dah-Ka-Roosh; c. 1858 – June 2, 1929) was a Crow scout serving with George Armstrong Custer’s 1876 expedition against the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne that culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Also known as White Buffalo That Turns Around, he was born into the Big Lodge Clan of the Crow Nation, the son of Bull Chief and Offers Her Red Cloth. At the age of about 18, he volunteered to serve as a scout with the United States Army on April 10, 1876, in its campaign against the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne, traditional enemies of the Crow.

White Man Runs Him "enlisted on April 10, 1876 at the Crow Agency, Montana Territory, for six months in the 7th United States Infantry." On June 21, 1876, he was transferred to Custer’s Seventh U.S. Cavalry as part of a contingent of six Crow warrior/scouts, including Goes Ahead, Curly, Hairy Moccasin, White Swan, and Half Yellow Face, the leader of the scouts. He scouted for Lt. Charles Varnum’s column in the days preceding the battle. In the early morning hours of June 25, 1876, he and other Crow scouts accompanied Varnum and Custer to the Crow’s Nest, a high point on the Little Bighorn/Rosebud Creek divide, from which the Little Bighorn valley could be viewed at a distance of about seventeen air miles. The scouts could see indications of a large horse herd and the smoke of many morning fires, though the encampment itself was hidden from view on the valley floor. The Crow scouts advised Custer that the encampment was very large. Custer prepared to attack, however. Custer was concerned that during the morning of June 25, Sioux/Cheyenne warriors had detected the presence of his 650-man force, and if he did not promptly attack, the villagers would scatter, thus denying the army the confrontation it sought with the Sioux/Cheyenne forces.