Dr. Henry R. Porter: The Surgeon Who Survived Little Bighorn

＂Custer came to me and said: ’Porter, there is a large camp of Indians ahead, and we are going to have a great killing.’＂

The words of army contract surgeon Henry R. Porter are chilling today in their matter-of-fact reference to the battle to come--a battle of which Porter would be one of the few white survivors. Drawing on his writings, this biography tells the story of Porter’s transformation from young easterner to ambitious frontier settler and medical practicioner in mid-19th century America. In its details of frontier life, of the infamous Battle of Little Bighorn, and of Porter’s later travels around the world (which ended with his death in Agra, India), the reader finds richness that brings history vividly to life. Appendices contain a list of items from the North Dakota Historical Society’s Henry R. Porter collection and a detailed Porter lineage.

Retired surgeon L.G. Walker, Jr., M.D., lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Walker is also a Professor of Clinical Surgery, Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has published widely on scientific topic and articles.