The Funeral of a Hells Angel: James T. "Mother" Miles - 1966

Sacramento, California native James T. "Mother" Miles of the Hells Angels Nomad Chapter died at the age of 29 on January 9, 1966, just a week before his 30th birthday. While on his motorcycle he collided with a truck in Oakland leaving him severely injured, a situation from which he would not recover. On January 13th, in a ceremony covered by author Hunter S. Thompson as part of his book on the Hells Angels, Miles was buried at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento in what the Sacramento Bee newspaper dubbed "the loudest funeral ever heard" as his hearse was escorted by several hundred motorcyclists from all over California.
"At one-thirty the outlaw caravan arrived. The slow rumble of motorcycle engines rattled glass in the mortuary windows. Police tried to keep traffic moving as TV cameras followed Barger and perhaps a hundred others toward the door of the chapel. Many outlaws waited outside during the service. They stood in quiet groups, leaning against the bikes and killing time with lazy conversation. There was hardly any talk about Miles. In one group a pint of whiskey made the rounds. Some of the outlaws talked to bystanders, trying to explain what was happening. “Yeah, the guy was one of our leaders,” said an Angel to an elderly man in a baseball cap. 'He was good people. Some punk ran a stop sign and snuffed him. We came to bury him with the colors.' " - Hunter S. Thompson, Excerpt from "Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga" 1967
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Film: KCRA-TV Specials Collection
Photo: (Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM07261)