Before Congress: The Remarkable Early Life of Colorado’s Ben Nighthorse Campbell

On December 30, 2025, politician and prominent Coloradan Ben Nighthorse Campbell passed away at the age of 92. While his name has been on the tongues of Colorado residents for many years because of his service in Congress, his life prior to becoming a politician is just as notable, if not more so, than his time in politics.

Colorado’s Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s Early Life

Ben Nighthorse Campbell was born Benny Marshall Campbell on April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California.

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Campbell’s early life was not easy, as the boy grew up with an alcoholic father and a mother suffering from tuberculosis, which, due to the fact that she feared infecting her two children with the disease, led to Benny and his sister spending much of their childhood living in an orphanage.

It was at an orphanage that one of the only photos of Campbell was taken while he was still a child, in a sailor suit that was shared by other children who were living there.

Campbell was also forced to spend time in pig pens at the orphanage due to his dirty fingernails. However, it was these hardships that gave Campbell a strong sense of empathy that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Colorado’s Ben Nighthorse Campbell as a Young Man

After getting into trouble with the law for minor crimes like siphoning gas, Campbell joined the Air Force, where he volunteered to fight in the Korean War. He would later become passionate about Judo, study the martial art in Japan, and return to the United States to teach, at which point he would meet his future wife, Linda. The two would marry in 1966.

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Campbell’s marriage to Linda, who was a Colorado native, would bring the late politician to the Centennial State, where he would serve as a congressman beginning in 1982.