1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by square Space. Start 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: building your website today at squarespace dot com. Enter offer 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: code History at check out to get teen percent off Squarespace. 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,159 Speaker 1: Build it Beautiful. Welcome to you stuff you missed in 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: history class from hot works dot com. Hello, and welcome 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,799 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: Uh So, the US, as well as many other parts 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: of the world, but we're talking about US today, has 9 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: a well established farming tradition and livestock is a huge 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: part of that. So when you think about American farming, 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: you may envision herds of cattle, or pig farms or 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: even free range chickens when you think about what the 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: livestock landscape looks like. But there was a time when 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: a very different animal was being considered as a potential 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: source of meat. Uh. This is one of those episodes 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: that turned into two because there is so much wild 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: and really enjoyable stuff here, and even so, uh two 18 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: of the main characters could easily fill episodes on their 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: own outside of what we include in this episode. And 20 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,279 Speaker 1: there's even more to this story than we can include 21 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: in two episodes. But today we're going to talk about 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: those two men in their early lives and what led 23 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: them to a really wild partnership where they were working 24 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: to try to convince the U. S. Congress, the press, 25 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: and wealthy investors that hippo bacon was the food that 26 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: should be on American plates. I really did just say, 27 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: hippo bacon. That's a bad idea. This is such a 28 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: wild story because that in and of itself is kind 29 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: of like a when I have told people that this 30 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: is what I was researching to talk about, that sends 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: them into peals of laughter and like they're very excited 32 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: to talk about it. But then there's so much more 33 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: because this is a story with spies in it, swampland 34 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: congress wars, as well as of course hippo's. So in 35 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: nine ten, the United States was really facing a big 36 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: meat shortage. Immigration had caused a huge surge in population 37 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: and the meat industry really couldn't keep up. Its attempts 38 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: to keep up had led to some pretty dicey and 39 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: disgusting practices, and additionally, overgrazing of food animals had caused 40 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: really serious damage to the lands where cattle were normally raised. 41 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: Things are becoming dire enough that people were considering using 42 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,679 Speaker 1: dogs as food, which is a normal part of cuisine 43 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: and other parts of the world, but it's definitely taboo 44 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: in the United States. Yeah, basically, there were a lot 45 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: of people brainstorming a lot of different ways that we 46 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: could supplement the meat um supply here in the US 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: as things were getting really, really quite dire for a 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: lot of people. But the grazing lands that still did 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: work that we're still viable. We're already occupied by cattle 50 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: and a lot of them. As we said, we're in 51 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: terrible shape even for that. However, one thing that is 52 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: very prevalent, particularly in the southeast, are swamps and bayous, 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: and they were not being used for farming. They were 54 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,639 Speaker 1: largely regarded at this point as waste land. And moreover, uh, 55 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: the floating water hyacinth that was found in these swamplands 56 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: was growing out of control. Water hyacinth had originated in 57 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: the Amazon basin, and it's considered an invasive nuisance plant 58 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: because it can choke up natural waterways and it's extremely heavy. 59 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: An acre, which is a little less than half a 60 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: hector of these plants can weigh as much as two 61 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: hundred tons. Which is more than a hundred and eighty 62 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: one thousand kilograms. And the water hyacinth was introduced to 63 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: the US in eighteen eighty four at the New Orleans Exposition, 64 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: and it was a gift from the Japanese delegation. But 65 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: once it was accepted as a gift and moved into 66 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: the area, it's spread at a downright alarming rate. Water 67 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: hyacinth actually grows more quickly than any other tested plants. UH. 68 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: Within seventy years of reaching Florida, this plant had covered 69 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: an estimated hundred and twenty six thousand acres that's fifty 70 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: hectares of waterways, and it made them very difficult to 71 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: traverse by boat. It was really clogging up the existing 72 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: system I imagine, crowding out other uh other plan and 73 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: animal life correct. To fight the overgrowing plant species and 74 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: to try to provide a new answer to what the 75 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: media was calling the meat question, Robert Brussard, who was 76 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: a congressman from Louisiana, hatched a plan. They would import hippos. 77 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: The hippos would theoretically eat all the hyacinth, and then 78 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: they would be used for their meat. But Brussard couldn't 79 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: convince the rest of Congress that his idea would work 80 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: without help from some experts. Uh. In addition to a 81 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: researcher named William Newton Irwin who actually specialized in fruit 82 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: trees but was very interested in the viability of this 83 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: hippo idea, Brussard brought two men together for his team 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: of experts, named Frederick Russell Burnham and Fritz Duchane. Frederick 85 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: Russell Burnham was an explorer and a really intense man. 86 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: He's rumored to be one of the potential inspirations for 87 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: Indiana Jones. He thought that quote civilizing Africa was an 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: important effort. Yeah, that's kind of just a quick We're 89 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:21,679 Speaker 1: going to talk a lot more about him in a minute, 90 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: but that sort of gives you an idea of kind 91 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: of who he was in terms of being an explorer 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: and a conqueror of sorts. On the other hand, Fritz 93 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: Duchane was a chameleon. Uh. He was. And this is 94 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: one of those words that we're going to get a 95 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: million pronunciation corrections on because there are many different ways 96 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: to say it. Um. The Dutch or Afrikaan's version my 97 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: understanding is boer, but boer is very common in the 98 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: when you you're a native English speaker, or even like 99 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: just or even bore. Yeah, there are a lot of 100 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: ways people say this word. So his family were descendants 101 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: of Dutch settlers who had moved to Africa, and Duquesne 102 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: really has a fascinating life story. He used numerous aliases 103 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: throughout his life and in many ways was considered a 104 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: grade A con man. Both Burnham and Duquesne had fought 105 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: in the Second Boar War on opposite sides. The Second 106 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: Boarer War, also called the South African War or the 107 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: Anglo Boor War, went on from October eleventh, eighteen nine 108 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: to May thirty first, nineteen o two. Great Britain went 109 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: to war against two Boar republics, the South African Republic 110 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,239 Speaker 1: and the Orange Free State. This was an expensive war 111 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: for Britain, though their troops really far outnumbered the Boar 112 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: troops at five hundred thousand British troops to the Boers 113 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: eighty eight thousand. Yeah, you would think they were Uh. 114 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: They they had the enemy so outgunned that it would 115 00:06:57,760 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: be a quick in and out. But it really cost 116 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: them a lot, both to send the people there in 117 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: the first place and to maintain it. Uh So In 118 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: this war, Burnham worked as a spy for the British 119 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: and Duquesne as a spy for the Boers. The two 120 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: men were actually given missions to kill one another during 121 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: the conflict, although they probably never knew each other personally. 122 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: So that brings up the question of how did they 123 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: both end up working to bring hippos to Louisiana. So 124 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna tell that story starting with talking about Burnham. 125 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: And first though, we're gonna have a brief word from 126 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: a sponsor. So Frederick Russell Burnham, as you said, we're 127 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: going to talk about him in a bit more detail, 128 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: was born in southern Minnesota in eighteen sixty one, so 129 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: during the Dakota War of eighteen sixty two and even 130 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: after that, the Burnham's often found themselves in danger being 131 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: white settlers in this area, and at times Frederick's father, 132 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: who was actually a Presbyterian minister, would arm himself to 133 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: protect his wife and child against attacks that were sometimes 134 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: made on white settlers, and there were so times they 135 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: found themselves in danger of being attacked. When Frederick was 136 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: two and his father, Edwin was away, his mother Rebecca, 137 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: saw a group of Lacoda men emerging from the forest 138 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: near their home. She knew that she could not run 139 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: from them while also carrying a toddler, so she hid 140 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: Frederick in a pile of corn and told him to 141 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: stay still and be quiet. She then ran six miles, 142 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: which is a little less than ten kilometers. Meanwhile, the 143 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: Lakoda men she had seen burned the house down, but 144 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: little Frederick stayed quiet and still as he had been 145 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: instructed to do, and he was still waiting there silently 146 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: in the corn pile the next morning when his mother 147 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: got back. Yeah, that's one of those incidents where, when 148 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: he recounted it later, he would say that was like 149 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: the beginning of his training as a scouch in a spy. Uh. 150 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: He stayed tough as nails throughout his childhood. At the 151 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: age of nine, he actually punctured a lung when a 152 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: log fell on him, but he recovered and he continued 153 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: to be very adventurous. He his spirit did not seem 154 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: dampened by this injury at all. The family moved briefly 155 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: to California a couple of years later, although Edwin did 156 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: not live much longer than that, and after his death, 157 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: Rebecca returned east and Frederick, who was only thirteen at 158 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: the time, decided he was going to stay behind and 159 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: get a job, in part to pay off the money 160 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,959 Speaker 1: that Rebecca had had to borrow to finance her travel 161 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: back home. He sort of famed for often riding horse 162 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,319 Speaker 1: after horse to exhaustion. So he would basically just ride 163 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: a horse till it couldn't go anymore. He wouldn't take 164 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: a break, he would just switch to a new mount 165 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: when that previous one was exhausted, and then he would 166 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: continue to run messages. And he worked from a base 167 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: of operations in Los Angeles, and from there he ran 168 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: roots out to Anaheim, Santa Monica, and Pasadena. So he 169 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 1: just was kind of this tireless, hard working, super adventurous kid. 170 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: And again he was only thirteen when he was doing 171 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: all of this. When he was fourteen, he briefly lived 172 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: with relatives in Clinton, Iowa, but he became bored and 173 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: restless pretty quickly, so he ran away. A year later, 174 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: he made his way down the Mississippi and a stolen canoe, 175 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: eventually ending up in Texas. There he met an old 176 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: scout named Holmes, who taught him all about how to 177 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: make his way through burying types of terrain, Holmes and 178 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: other old timers in the area gave burn him a 179 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: whole education in the skills he would need in survival 180 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: uh and you know, gave him the knowledge that he 181 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: would need to prosper on his own. Burnham also became 182 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: a really expert shooter during this time. He actually practiced 183 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: to shoot ambidextrously so that he would have equal skill 184 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: in both hands, and he really got to a point 185 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: where he had great precision. He also trained himself to 186 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: handle almost any hardship he might encounter on missions as 187 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: a scout, So he trained himself to go without food, sleep, 188 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: and water to endure great pain. And allegedly he trained 189 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: himself to slow his own heartbeat. And he developed this 190 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,839 Speaker 1: unique food source that he would use throughout his life. 191 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: UH that enabled him to travel fairly light and stealthily, 192 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: and also so he would not have to cook as 193 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: he traveled, because if you are trying to travel on 194 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: the download, you don't want to be starting a campfire. 195 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: So to do this, he would pulverize dried venison into 196 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: a powder, and then he would mix that powder with 197 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: flour and bake this into little loaves that he could 198 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: put in his his little bag, and he could eat 199 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: a little bit of it each day and keep himself going. 200 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: This sort of made me think of it being the 201 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: wild West Scout version of Limbus. I always think that 202 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: uh lembus is a vegetarian food. But you know that's 203 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: just me well, just in that it's like this thing 204 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: that's very sustaining and that you can carry for long 205 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: periods of time. It wasn't so much the content that 206 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 1: made me think of Limbus. So he tried his hand 207 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: at searching for gold in the American Southwest, but he 208 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: only met with success one time. He used the money 209 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: that he got from this one success to go back 210 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: to Iowa, where he returned to a young lady named 211 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: Blanche Blick. The two of them got married and moved 212 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: to Pasadena to start a citrus grove. They weren't very 213 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: successful at doing this, though, and his restlessness eventually led 214 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: him to speak adventure again. This time he headed for 215 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: Africa with his wife and their infant son, Roderick. The 216 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: three of them departed on New Year's Day and eventually 217 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: landed in South Africa. So while he was not a 218 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: particularly big man, his reputation was enormous, and he first 219 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: made a name for himself as a freelance scout, so 220 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,079 Speaker 1: for a price, he would, for example, creep into enemy 221 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: territory in search of information. He would patrol for interlopers, 222 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: he would perform discreet acts of sabotage, and he eventually 223 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: got the nickname King of Scouts for his skill and 224 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: his stealth, and he was described by the militaryman he 225 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: sometimes served as being half jack rabbit and half wolf. 226 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: He was also pretty disarming in social situations. He loved 227 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: to tell stories of his adventures in Africa and in 228 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: the American Indian territories. One tale of his skill at 229 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: entertaining a gathering goes that he was, you know, spending 230 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: a tale at one of his skirmishes that he had 231 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: been in Africa, and at one point in the middle 232 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: of the story, he said, we'll kill that snake when 233 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: I finished this story, And then he gestured casually to 234 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: a rattlesnake that had been heading towards the group and 235 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: their outdoor gathering, but no one else had noticed it 236 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,319 Speaker 1: before that point. Yeah, just cool as a cucumber. I'm 237 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: gonna get to that snake. Let me finish what I 238 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: was saying, which then becomes a wonderful, hilarious story in 239 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: and of itself. It's probably no surprise then that a 240 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: man like Burnham, who was full of swagger and this 241 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 1: sort of old school ma cheesemo, was friends with Theodore Roosevelt. 242 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: I swear I did not mean to make a Roosevelt series, 243 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: because I knew we just talked about Alice. But in fact, 244 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: Burnham made friends with a lot of the lenn High places, 245 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: particularly if they were men that were like him, that 246 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: were drawn to adventure. They he just kind of always 247 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: connected with those kinds of people. While he was traveling 248 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: in Rhodesia, he became friends with Englishman Robert baden Powell, 249 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: and eventually Baden Powell would found the Boy Scouts, inspired 250 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: in part by Burnham's adventurous spirit and fortitude. And we're 251 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: gonna continue to talk about Burnham's life in the time 252 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: he spent in Africa, as well as his activities once 253 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: he returned to the US. After we have a brief 254 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 1: word from one of our sponsors. So people listening to 255 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: this podcast are probably not surprised that we are lifelong learners, 256 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: just like a lot of you also are. And that's 257 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why we really genuinely love the 258 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: great courses. We've really enjoyed watching their lecture series Master 259 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: of War History's Greatest Strategic Thinkers by Professor Andrew Wilson. 260 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: This really chronicles the earliest examples of military strategy and 261 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: how these same principles applied to conflicts today. There's actually 262 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: an entire section about, uh that the evolution of air 263 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: power in the theory and practice of war because mankind 264 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: had been fighting wars on land and water at that 265 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: point for hundreds of years, and now all of a sudden, 266 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: airplanes and dirigibles and Zeppelins and that kind of thing 267 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: all really changed the whole landscape of how conflict played out. Yeah, 268 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: and that's just been in the last hundred years or 269 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: so that we've been kind of figuring out that whole 270 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: new angle to strategic thinking as it relates to warfare. 271 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: So we talked about how Burnham was eating these like 272 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: ride venison cake things, and he continued throughout his life 273 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: to eat other odd stuff in the interest of not 274 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: letting his stomach get in the way of what he 275 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: needed to do. He would live off of milk and 276 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: ox blood or stolen uncooked corn during his adventures in Africa, 277 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: even if these were misery to eat. Yeah, if you've 278 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: ever eaten uncooked corn like fresh not even entirely ripe corn, 279 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: that is not easy to eat. There are also stories 280 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: that he would sometimes eat rotten produce that had been discarded, 281 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: that he would kind of snatch so that he would 282 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: stay on the d l keep himself fed, but not 283 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: not necessarily in the most delightful or yummy of ways. Uh. 284 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: And while the Burnham's were actually in Africa, they had 285 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: a second child, the daughter named Nota A, and the 286 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: family was actually caught in the conflict of the Second 287 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: Mada Bili War when they were living just outside the 288 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: city of Bulawayo. And this conflict, combined with a horrible 289 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: livestock virus, actually resulted in a huge tragedy for Frederick. So, 290 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: while this colony that they were in was constantly under siege, 291 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: his two year old daughter not A developed an intense 292 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: fever and she eventually died. And Uh. When Burnham identified 293 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: the leader of the uprising that had been behind this 294 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: attack on the colony, he is said to have tracked 295 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: him to a cave where he shot him, and Burnham 296 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: would later write that he the whole time this conflict 297 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: happening with this man, where he was killing this man, 298 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: he had these visions of his wife clutching their dying daughter, 299 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: and that sort of drove him to this murder. He 300 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: left Africa the following year chasing rumors of gold once again, 301 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 1: but then he abandoned that enterprise when he was called 302 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: back to Africa to serve in the Second Boer War. 303 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: After that war was over, he spoke with a great 304 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: deal of respect about the Boars, and especially he was 305 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: impressed with their lead scout and another man reporting to 306 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: the lead scout. He went by the name Black Panther 307 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: of the Veld. He would later say that the Black Panther, 308 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: who he had actually spent the war trying to kill, 309 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: was the craftiest man he had ever met, and in truth, 310 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: that Black Panther was Fritz Duquine. As we said at 311 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: the top of the episode, they had actually been assigned 312 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: to kill each other so that they could eliminate these 313 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 1: very stealthy scouts the other side each had. Burnham had 314 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: actually been captured during this conflict, but he managed to 315 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: avoid being identified by showing how very smart and philosophical 316 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: he was, since he knew that the description the Boers 317 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: had of him described him as an Offish American, and 318 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: so he kind of led this brief double life. But 319 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: he eventually made an escape in the dark of night, 320 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: and he spent the next week's cutting the Bowers supply 321 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: lines and blowing up their railways after dodging a great 322 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: deal of fire while he was hunkered down in the brush, 323 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: Burnhon was eventually retrieved by British forces and he was 324 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: sent to England to be treated for his injuries. He 325 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 1: actually met Winston Churchill on the ship to London. Soon 326 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: Blanche and the couple's third child, Bruce, joined him. Another 327 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: tragedy struck, though, because young Bruce later drowned in the Thames. 328 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 1: Their oldest son, Roderick, at this point was nineteen and 329 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: was in school in California. He had actually had a 330 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: premonition about Bruce's death, which he relayed to his grandmother 331 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: before they got the news of the child's passing. The 332 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: Vernons returned to Pasadena once uh Frederick was recovered and 333 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: they were still grieving Uh. So they were morning and 334 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: regrouping there, and it was in this time that the 335 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: scout began working on an article that he would eventually 336 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: publish in early nineteen ten, and that article was called 337 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: Transplanting African Animals. And this article, once it came out, 338 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: immediately got people talking, and because of the meat shortage, 339 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: all kinds of people wanted to speak with Frederick Burnham. 340 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: And that's where we're going to cliffhainm this one. In 341 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: our next episode, we're going to talk more about how 342 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: Burnham and another wild character worked with Robert Broussard to 343 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: try to bring hippos to the United States as livestock, 344 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: which still is a terrible idea, but also terribly funny 345 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,360 Speaker 1: to think about. It's funny except that hippos are actually 346 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: really aggressive and territorial and they will look that murder. Oddly, 347 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 1: that gets left out of a lot of the discussion. Uh. 348 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 1: But in the meantime, I have a couple of pieces 349 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 1: of listener mail and I selected these because both of 350 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: these are people that wrote us about some interesting creative 351 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: endeavors that they have done related to pod casts that 352 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: we have also talked related to podcasts that we've done 353 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,479 Speaker 1: in the past. The first one is from our listener 354 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: Bradford Johnson, and he says, thank you for your recent 355 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: presentation on essay Andrea and his ill fated balloon expedition. 356 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: I was delighted to hear your report on this event 357 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: as I mounted an art show around Strindberg's photographs called 358 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: Tangible Dreams of a Dying Explorer in eleven. This was 359 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: a large scale installation that wol my paintings with the 360 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: photographic work of my colleague ce Courtney around Strindberg's images. 361 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: We found the story compelling and illuminating in so many ways. 362 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: Your exposition of this topic comes full circle for me 363 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: as I'm a longtime listener to the podcast, as I 364 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: was undoubtedly tuned in when I was creating those paintings. UH, 365 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: this is so cool. And I went to Bradford's UH 366 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: site which is Bradford Johnson dot net and you can 367 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: see some of this work that he did and it 368 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: is absolutely beautiful and I encourage people to do it. 369 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: It is so gorgeous and it's just another neat way 370 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: to see how um this piece of history has been 371 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: interpreted by the modern eye and and through art, and 372 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: it's just another really cool way to engage with it. 373 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: Our other listener mail is from our listener Sandy, and 374 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: she writes, hi, Tracy and Holly. I'm fairly new to 375 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: your podcast and thoroughly enjoyed listening. When I am walking 376 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: around my home, my hometown in Pullman, Washington, she says, well, 377 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by all your podcasts. I especially related to 378 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: the episode titled The Woman Who Turned to Soap. My 379 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: husband is a playwright and in the late nineteen nineties 380 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 1: he created a play entitled oddly Enough, The Woman Who 381 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: Turned to Soap, which is based on the untimely death 382 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: of Hattie Illingsworth, whose body floated to the top of 383 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: Late Crescent in n Our small theater group had originally 384 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: found the story in Jessica Amanda Salmonson's book entitled Phantom Waters. 385 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: While the ghost tale in this book is fanciful, the 386 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: true details of the story intrigued us. We worked on 387 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: the play for a year and a half and ultimately 388 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: toured it around the Northwest and performed in the Seattle 389 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,679 Speaker 1: Fringe Festival in During our research on this story, we 390 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: uncovered some newspaper archives in Port Angele's, Washington, and we 391 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,159 Speaker 1: spoke to the medical student Harlon McNutt, who was mentioned 392 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: in your piece. He was in his nineties when we 393 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: met him, and it was obvious that he loved talking 394 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: about Hattie's discovery. He was a true gentleman of his era. 395 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: He told us how excited everyone was when Hattie's body 396 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 1: floated to the top of Lake Crescent. He described the 397 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 1: body as friable with the consistency of ivory soap. One 398 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 1: of the men pried open her mouth with a piece 399 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:26,919 Speaker 1: of firewood so they could get a look at her 400 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: teeth for dental records, which is how she was eventually 401 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: identified as I recall, he said that a piece of 402 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: her jaw broke off. He also said that Hattie was 403 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: wrapped in a blanket and was wearing quote excuse my language, ladies, 404 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: panties and end quote, but she says, is charming. Their 405 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,199 Speaker 1: play was mixed media, had live theater, slides, music and 406 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: video with a mythic sort of Lady of the Lake 407 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: take on the real events of the day, and it 408 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: began with a handwashing ritual that was meant that they 409 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: invited the audience into the sort of the world of 410 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: the story. She says, if we didn't use I resob 411 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: we certainly should have. Like Crescent itself is considered eerie, 412 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: and we were told that the native Collalum's refused to 413 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: fish there. However, I don't know if that's really true. 414 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: The lake is rather spooky though, or maybe we were 415 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: just spooked by our own research. Uh. I love it, Sandra, 416 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. That's a really, really cool way 417 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: again to engage with history. So if you're doing plays 418 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: or anything based on any of the topics we've covered, 419 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: I highly encourage you to write us about him, because 420 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: I love hearing about those kinds of projects. If you 421 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you can do so 422 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at how stop works dot com. You 423 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: can also write it's at Facebook dot com slash misst 424 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 1: in history, on Twitter at misst in history, at miss 425 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,200 Speaker 1: in history dot tumbler dot com, and we're on pinterest 426 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: dot com slash missed in history so I can't wait 427 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: to pin hippo photos. You can also visit missed in 428 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: History dot spreadshirt dot com if you would like to 429 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 1: purchase some stuff you missed in history class goodies for 430 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,959 Speaker 1: yourself or your friends. If you would like to learn 431 00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: a little bit more about what we talked about today 432 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: sort of, you can go to our parents side house 433 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: to works type in the word hippo and one of 434 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: the articles that comes up is how does a hippo 435 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: make its own sunscreen? UH? If you would like to 436 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: read that, I highly encourage you to do so. You 437 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: can also visit us at our home on the web, 438 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 1: missed in history dot com, where we have show notes 439 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: the full archive of all of our episodes going way 440 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: back to even before Tracy and I were ever involved 441 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: in the show, UH in a whole lot more so, 442 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: we encourage you to do a little extra research at 443 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com and missed in History dot 444 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 445 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: Does it has to work stat