Village of the Dead

The Ubangi village was a small settlement of Ubangi-speaking Africans in the northern part of the Congo River basin, either in French Equatorial Africa (modern-day Central African Republic) or the northern part of Belgian Congo (modern Democratic Republic of Congo).

In December 1916, Major Boucher and Captain Henri Defense (Indiana Jones) led an expedition from German East Africa across the Congo to Port-Gentil to retrieve a wayward arms shipment. After crossing the interior of the African continent on foot from Bonga, the expedition discovered the Ubangi village, but saw no signs of life.

Defense suspected Germans were behind the reason no one was to be seen, but Boucher felt that it was too far west for Germans and thought that deserters were the cause. Inside the town, they discovered an odd smell, and Lt. Arnaud discovered a body in the bushes. Checking the huts, the soldiers found many dead villagers, and Captain Lafleur declared the town wiped out by smallpox. Sergeant Barthélèmy discovered a survivor - a little boy, sitting near the body of a dead older man. Boucher declared that the boy would not be brought along, in case he carried the disease. Barthelemy disagreed with the decision, and secretly had the porters bring the boy along. The boy's presence spurred a confrontation with Boucher later along the trip.

Behind the Scenes
The historical Barthélemy Boganda was born in Bobangui, an Ubangi village in southwest Central African Republic, north of the Ubangi River. Since Boganda's backstory was altered slightly to fit the Indiana Jones story, it is not clear whether the village depicted was supposed to be Bobangui, or simply a small Ubangi town.

Appearances

 * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
 * "German East Africa, December 1916" Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life