Lame White Man was a Southern
Cheyenne, who came north after Sand Creek with his small
following. He then was a head soldier of the Northern Elkhorn
Scraper society but still rated as a southern council chief.
His
name was variously translated as Lame White Man, Walking
White Man, Crippled White Man, or Broken White Leg. The
Sioux called him Bearded Man or Moustache (which hints at
the unusual presence of facial hair). Therefore author Richard
Hardorff suggests that Lame White Man may have been a captive
of white descendants.
Another
Cheyenne name for him was Mad Hearted Wolf or Rabid Wolf,
for in battle he was always out in front, "fighting
as fiercely as a maddened wolf" (as Peter Powell stated).
His
wife was called Twin Woman and he had two children: Red
Hat and Crane Woman. —
Dietmar Schulte-Möhring
Chief
Lame White man was 37 years old when he died and left behind
a widow and two daughters. He is credited with encouraging
the warriors to resist the "soldier" excursion
into Calhoun Coulee in which the warriors initially fled
at their approach. Contrary to the work published by Dr.
Marquis who stated that Two Moon led the Cheyennes at the
Little Bighorn, Wooden Leg says it was Lame White Man.
A Southern Cheyenne, Lame White Man had been with the northern
branch for so long that he and his wife and children were
considered to be part of the Northern Cheyenne. He was also
referred to as Walking White. In the heat of battle he received
mortal wounds and succumbed to these wounds on Custer Ridge.
His body was subsequently mistaken as a "Ree"
scout for the soldiers and, as a result, scalped by the
infuriated Sioux warriors.
Lame
White Man was also known as "White Man Cripple"
and "Walking White Man." His martial prowess when
battling the "White Man" was so prodigious that
his contemporaries honored him with names that signified
what happened to "White" soldiers when they came
face to face with him. Their intestinal fortitude became
so meager that they could offer no more resistance than
a cripple or were inclined to walk away rather than fight.
— Realbird
The following publication contains information about Lame White Man:
Article: "Ghosts on the Little Bighorn" by Robert Paul Jordan • After a 1983 prairie fire cleared brush along Montana's Little Bighorn River, archaeologists recovered artifacts that shed new light on Custer's Last Stand. Robert Paul Jordan reports on the still controversial 1876 battle. Photographs by Scott Rutherford • The National Geographic Magazine • December 1986.