Dr. Henry Porter physical description

[drahmann]

Does anybody have or know a physical description of Dr. Porter? what was his height? Ect???
Thank you very much

Joe

[stevewilk]

Joe, from Men With Custer : blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion, ht. 5 ft 7 1/2 in. (sorry no weight listed)

BTW I just purchased the book A Saw, Pocket Instruments and A Few Ounces of Whiskey: Frontier Military Medicine in the Great Basin by Anton P. Sohn. Dr. Sohn is on the staff of the University of Nevada School of Medicine. This book is particular interest to me since I've done some digs at the site of Ft. Ruby, Nevada. Though it deals only with the Great Basin posts, it is good source of reading on army medical care of the frontier period. The scenario on the great plains could not have been much different.

Also just got Valentine T. McGillicuddy: Army Surgeon and Agent to the Sioux by Candy Moulton. Both books published by Arthur Clark, available from OU Press.

[drahmann]

thanks Steve for the information. that is what I was looking for.

those books sound like a great read.

Joe

[fred]

Feb 13, 2012 12:40:50 GMT -6 drahmann said:

thanks Steve for the information. that is what I was looking for.

Joe,

If you want more personal information about Doc Porter, try e-mailing Lynn Conway, the archivist, Special Collections, at the Georgetown University library: [e-mail]

She is extremely helpful. If you contact her, mention my name. She may remember me. If you have interest in LT Reily or CPT French, she can help you with those fellows, as well. She may even have something on Tom McDougall. His uncle was a president there.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[El Crab]

Feb 13, 2012 12:28:34 GMT -6 stevewilk said:

Joe, from Men With Custer : blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion, ht. 5 ft 7 1/2 in. (sorry no weight listed)

BTW I just purchased the book A Saw, Pocket Instruments and A Few Ounces of Whiskey: Frontier Military Medicine in the Great Basin by Anton P. Sohn. Dr. Sohn is on the staff of the University of Nevada School of Medicine. This book is particular interest to me since I've done some digs at the site of Ft. Ruby, Nevada. Though it deals only with the Great Basin posts, it is good source of reading on army medical care of the frontier period. The scenario on the great plains could not have been much different.

Also just got Valentine T. McGillicuddy: Army Surgeon and Agent to the Sioux by Candy Moulton. Both books published by Arthur Clark, available from OU Press.

Steve: My fiancee attends the University of Nevada, and my sister is the Associate Athletic Director for the Wolf Pack.

And I think I just found a book by Dr. Sohn, signed. Though it's not the book you have. Perhaps I need to get that book and go find Dr. Sohn on campus and get it signed. Though I've found, in my book scouting experience, a lot of university press books are signed by the authors.

Yup, I got a copy of "The Healers of 19th-Century Nevada" by the same Anton Sohn. Signed/inscribed opposite the title page. It's for sale...

[KarlKoz]

An interesting biography on Dr. Porter is Dr. Henry R. Porter The Surgeon Who Survived Little Bighorn by L.G. Walker, Jr., M.D. printed by McFarland & Co., the same printers as Fred's Participants in the Battle of the Little Big Horn book.

www.amazon.com/Dr-Henry-R-Porter-Survived/dp/0786431717/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329238277&sr=1-2

www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3171-7

[Diane Merkel]

Here is an excerpt from a bio of Dr. Porter:

Porter became a conspicuous target in his white duster. Seeing this, Charley Reynolds, Custer's chief scout, stood up to warn him that he was an easy target. No sooner had Reynolds uttered the words, "Look out doctor, the Indians are shooting at you," he was fatally shot.

Reno soon ordered his men up a steep hill, where they could more effectively defend themselves. Porter and DeWolf rode side-by-side along a ravine to the hill. As they neared the crest, DeWolf was shot and killed. Since Lord was already dead, that left Porter as the only remaining doctor.

He worked that night and the next day, tending to the dying and wounded. When the fighting ceased, the dead were buried and the wounded were carried about 10 miles to where the riverboat, the Far West, was waiting to take them back to Fort Abraham Lincoln.

For 11 days and nights, Porter focused on tending to the medical needs of the wounded soldiers. Decisions made by Lord and Reynolds cost them their lives, but spared Porter. He was physically and mentally able to accomplish a duty few others could perform. Accolades and expressions of gratitude were bestowed upon "the great doctor."

Article: bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/curt-eriksmoen/doctor-proved-tireless-at-little-big-horn/article_17933fa8-b145-5981-9ede-1015a47c5936.html

Diane