He is primarily recognized as one of the few individuals who survived on the American side of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Although he did not engage in combat during the battle, he observed it from a distance and was the first to inform others of the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. A legend later developed that he actively participated and escaped, which has led to various accounts of Curly's role in history.
Curly was born circa 1856 in Montana Territory, the son of Strong Bear (Inside the Mouth) and Strikes By the Side of the Water. His name, which appears in various forms such as Ashishishe and Shishi'esh, is believed by some to mean "crow", although this interpretation may be incorrect as the Crow word for "crow" is "áalihte". It is possible that Ashishishe is a transliteration of the term "shísshia", meaning "curly". His death record lists him as "Bull Half White (Curly)". He lived on the Crow Reservation near Pryor Creek and married a woman named Bird Woman.
He enlisted in the United States Army as an Indian scout on April 10, 1876, serving in the 7th Cavalry Regiment under George Armstrong Custer. He participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June along with five other Crow warriors/scouts: White Man Runs Him, Goes Ahead, Hairy Moccasin, his cousin White Swan, and Half Yellow Face, who led the scouts. Custer divided his army into four companies, retaining 210 men. Half Yellow Face and White Swan fought alongside Reno's troops, with White Swan being severely wounded. Curly, along with Hairy Moccasin, Goes Ahead, and White Man Runs Him, accompanied Custer's group but did not directly engage in combat; they later communicated that they were ordered to leave before the fighting escalated. Curly parted ways with White Man Runs Him, Hairy Moccasin, and Goes Ahead, observing the clash between the Sioux/Cheyenne forces and Custer's division from a distance. Witnessing the complete destruction of Custer's unit, he rode off to deliver the news.
A day or two after the battle, Curly met the Far West, an army supply ship, at the confluence of the Bighorn and Little Bighorn rivers. He was the first source to report the defeat of the 7th Cavalry, using a combination of sign language, sketches, and the assistance of an interpreter. Curly maintained that he had only observed the battle and not fought in it; due to the accuracy of his first report, prominent historians Walter Mason Camp and John S. Gray accepted Curly's original account. However, as stories of "Custer's Last Stand" spread through the media, a legend emerged claiming that Curly had participated in the battle but escaped. Curly eventually stopped denying the legend and began telling more elaborate stories, in which he fought with the 7th and escaped death by disguising himself as a Lakota warrior, leading to various accounts of his involvement. Family legend holds that he participated, but when he saw Custer fall, he is said to have hidden inside a gutted horse.
After the Crow Agency moved to its current location in 1884, Curly took up residence there, near the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn on the Crow Reservation. He also worked for the Crow Police. He divorced Bird Woman in 1886 and later married Takes a Shield. Curly had a daughter, Awakuk Korita ha Sakush (“Bird of Another Year”), whose English name was Dora. For his service in the Army, Curly received a U.S. pension beginning in 1920. He died of pneumonia in 1923 and his remains were buried in the National Cemetery at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, just a mile from where he lived.