John Bigelow, Jr.

John Bigelow, Jr.
John Bigelow, Jr. USMA Class of 1877
Born	(1854-05-12)May 12, 1854 New York City, New York
Died	February 29, 1936(1936-02-29) (aged 81) Washington, District of Columbia
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Department of War–Army
Years of service	1877–1904 & 1917–1919
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Battles/wars	Indian Wars Spanish–American War World War I
Relations	John Bigelow (father) Poultney Bigelow (brother)
Other work	Teacher and writer

John Bigelow, Jr. (May 12, 1854 – 1936) was a United States Army lieutenant colonel. He was the subject of many articles on military frontier life in Outing Magazine published by his brother Poultney Bigelow and with sketches drawn in the field by the then young and obscure Frederic Remington. The book Frontier Cavalryman is based on his journals and service with the Buffalo Soldiers. He received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his actions in Cuba. He was assigned as a superintendent of Yosemite National Park in early 1904 and retired from the Army the following September. He became a teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later an author of several books. He was recalled to active duty in World War I and served in Washington, District of Columbia until 1919. He retired again and died in 1936 at age 81.

John Bigelow, Jr. was the eldest of the two sons of the statesman John Bigelow, Senior and Jane Tunis Poultney born in New York City, New York. He spent much of his early years in France and Germany. At the Mining Academy of Freiberg/Saxony he became a member of the fraternity Montania. He traveled throughout Europe with his parents. He became fluent in the French language as well as having a general understanding of German and Italian.

On April 28, 1883 he married Mary Dallam (July 24, 1858 Baltimore, Maryland – about 1941) and they had one son and several daughters of which only one survived him. Their son, Captain Braxton Bigelow was killed in action in 1917 while serving with the British Royal Engineers near Loos.

Bigelow was appointed from New York and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1877. He requested cavalry and was assigned to the 10th U.S. Cavalry but served with the 9th U.S. Cavalry for a time before going back to the 10th. While at the Military Academy Bigelow met Henry Ossian Flipper a classmate who had been born a slave. Bigelow faced for the first time the racism then prevailing in America. His upbringing in Europe did not prepare him for such hatred. His efforts to explain what he saw in Europe only inflamed other racists. With subtle help from his peers, Flipper was the first "negro" to graduate from West Point.