ABC#051: ”Killed by Indians” - Four Philadelphians Who Died in Battles with Indigenous People

Interred at Laurel Hill East are four young Philadelphians who died before they reached the age of 30 while battling indigenous people on the frontier.

George Montgomery Harris died of wounds received in the Lava Beds of northern California while battling Captain Jack and the Modoc tribe in 1873. 

Benjamin Hubert Hodgson was killed during the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana against Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors – fellow Laurel Hill tour guide Tom Keels tells his story. 

Jonathan Williams Biddle, whose father Henry Biddle had been killed in the Civil War, lost his life in the Battle of Bear Paw, also in Montana, in 1877 against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. 

James Hansell French was killed in the San Mateo Mountains of New Mexico territory in 1880 as his Buffalo Soldier troops pursued the great Apache chief Victorio and his warriors. 

 

Note: I acknowledge that many indigenous peoples reject the name "Indian", but most of what I tell you in this podcast occurred at least 140 years ago when the term was used universally and even respectfully.  All four of these men have the word "Indian" carved on their gravestones.  The podcast title "Killed by Indians" is in quotation marks for this reason.