1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: The majority of Americans will be pulled over by the 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: police for speeding at least once in their lifetime. For 8 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: some drivers, it happens every few weeks. These drivers do 9 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: their best to stay calm in those situations, trying to 10 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: figure out how they can get the officer to let 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: them off with just a warning. Maybe they break down 12 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: crying to Gardner's sympathy. Maybe they pretend they had no 13 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: idea they were speeding. Maybe they concoct an elaborate story 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: as to why they need to get to where they're 15 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: going in such a hurry. But one driver in Los 16 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: Angeles in the early nineteen sixties has all of them beat. 17 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: Before Los Angeles roads were as congested as they are now, 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: officers could still catch a speeder or two, and such 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: was the case early one morning, when an officer pulled 20 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,320 Speaker 1: a driver over for speeding and asked him to roll 21 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: down his window. The driver complied, but he did not 22 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: look happy. He seemed to be in a hurry. When 23 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: the officer asked him where he was going, the man 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: yelled back to my spaceship. Honestly, it seemed like the 25 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: man was out of his mind. But beyond that, the 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: officer had no idea what to make of him. The 27 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: driver was unusually handsome, with quaffed hair that allowed for 28 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: a single strand to fall stylishly across his forehead, and 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: his outfit was very strange. The driver wore a bright 30 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: green cart again of sorts, with gold rings on the 31 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: cuffs and nothing underneath. On his lapel there was some 32 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: kind of a pin shaped like a triangle. Not knowing 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: what to make of it all, the officer asked for 34 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: the man's and that's when it all came together. Somewhat flustered, 35 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: he handed the id back, went to his vehicle for 36 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: a moment to use his radio, and when the officer 37 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: returned to the driver's window, he apologized, and then he 38 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: held up his hand and spread his fingers down the 39 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: middle in a strange salute. Live long and prosper He 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: told the driver before sending him on his way. The driver, 41 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: of course, was the actor William Shatner, already in costume 42 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: as Captain James T. Kirk, headed to shoot the final 43 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: season of the television classic Star Trek, and this curious 44 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: story from Shatner's time on Star Trek reveals just how 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: ubiquitous the show had already become. Almost anyone could recognize him, 46 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: and if they somehow didn't, then being told his name 47 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: made the pieces fall into place. But why did Star 48 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: Trek have such an impact? Well? TV was still in 49 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: its infancy, so every new show left a mark to 50 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: some degree. With only three channels and set hours of programming, 51 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: Americans bonded over every little detail of every story. However, 52 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: Star Trek was unique among its peers, and not just 53 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: because it took place on a spaceship. The show, created 54 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: by producer Gene Roddenberry, portrayed a utopian vision of the 55 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: future where humanity had put aside their differences, abandoned capitalism, 56 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: and headed to the stars to seek out other civilizations. Honestly, 57 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 1: it's little wonder that fans united so passionately around a 58 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: show with that sort of message. Most people, both then 59 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: and now believe that our world could become something better. 60 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: To see it portrayed that way on the screen was 61 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: both empowering and encouraging, and that's what has made Star 62 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: Trek such a powerful vision, because nothing is more infectious 63 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: than hope. And if that meant giving William Shatner a 64 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: pass on a speeding ticket, well, I think that's the 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: least we can do to an outsider. Australia is a 66 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: hostile place, unforgiving desert heat, with wildlife that can seem 67 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: like something out of a nightmare, especially if you're afraid 68 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: of spiders. It's no surprise that the British chose this 69 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: place for a penal colony while expanding their empire. Anyone 70 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: sentenced to transportation would be sent to the colonies there, 71 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: never to see their home again. But even for the 72 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: Englishmen who saw Australia as a new vision of Hell, 73 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: there was some hope. People had lived in Australia for 74 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: a very long time, long enough that the arrival of 75 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: a global superpower couldn't entirely extinguish them. To the Aboriginal 76 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: people of this continent, the dry and inhospitable land was 77 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: in hell. It was home. It was the British who 78 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: brought hell with them. Transportation to penal colonies would fall 79 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: out of fashion in the early nineteenth century colony by colony, 80 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: although it still had some strange ripple effects even years later. 81 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,679 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty two, for example, explorer and Drew Petrie 82 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: was traveling through Wide Bay by boat. Petrie already had 83 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: amassed quite the reputation as an architect, and for a 84 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: long time now he'd been supervising prisoners until his fascination 85 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: with the landscape of Australia pushed him to become an 86 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: accomplished explorer. These two parts of his life would come together. 87 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: As his boat traveled the Mary River, he encountered a 88 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,280 Speaker 1: tribe of Aboriginals, likely the Kabi Kabi people, and saw 89 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: someone among them who looked familiar. This was a white 90 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: man of about thirty years of age. He was named 91 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: Durham Boy and seemed perfectly at home with the Aboriginal people. 92 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: He was clearly not a member of this tribe, but 93 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: someone who traveled between tribes, speaking many different dialects. One 94 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: dialect he did not know, however, was English. Petrie and 95 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: his company had encountered a number of escaped convicts on 96 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: their travels and saw it as their duty to bring 97 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: back Durham Boy back to the English society. The man 98 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: was understandably quite reluctant to return. He had come to 99 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: Australia in the most adverse of circums stances and did 100 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: not want to hand himself over to imprisonment. Durham Boy's 101 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: English name was James Davis. He was born in Scotland 102 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: and at the age of twelve had been sentenced to 103 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: transportation for stealing from a church box. He served two 104 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: years in New South Wales, only to be convicted for 105 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: theft again and relocated to Moreton Bay, which is today 106 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: known as Brisbane, and it was there still a teenager, 107 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: in February of eighteen twenty nine that Davis made his escape, 108 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: vanishing without a trace. Durham Boy lived for thirteen years 109 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: among various Aboriginal tribes. Ripped from his home in the 110 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: British Isles, He'd found a welcoming community of his own 111 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: out in the wilds. Petri and company were persistent, though, 112 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: and eventually they were able to convince Durhamboy to return 113 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: to Brisbane. Since its days as a penal colony had 114 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: come to an end, reintegration was difficult, though Durham Boy 115 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: was unable to read or write English, so he had 116 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: to relearn his native language, essentially from scratch. The colonial 117 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: Australian press was eager to write about this escaped convict 118 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: who had gone through such an adventure, making Davis a 119 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,559 Speaker 1: minor celebrity. Although we have no way of knowing for sure, 120 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: it seems like he did not relish the spotlight. He 121 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: was tight lipped about his experiences from the ages of 122 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: seventeen to thirty, becoming just another local in Brisbane, and 123 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: then his life began to change. He worked first as 124 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: a blacksmith, and then with the opening of a crockery shop, 125 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: he became a small business owner. His most profitable and 126 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: perhaps controversial occupation was as a guide to settlers, showing 127 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: colonists to desirable land out in Wide Bay. Now we 128 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: have no way of knowing how his former companions among 129 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: the Aboriginals felt about this, or if they had any 130 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: opinion at all. His life seems in hindsight to be 131 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: purely pragmatic, going from place to place in order to survive, 132 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: and there are hints that he didn't completely forsake his 133 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: Aboriginal life. While working in Brisbane, he would occasionally serve 134 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: as a court interpreter for legal care involving aboriginal issues. Perhaps, 135 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: in some small way he felt that he could protect 136 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: the people who had given him a home all those 137 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: years before. Or perhaps it was just another way to 138 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: make money. We can never know for sure. Davis ultimately 139 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: died a wealthy man, although much of his life remains 140 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: a mystery to us today. Whether as an Australian Robinson 141 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: Caruso or a tenacious opportunist, he serves as an example 142 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,239 Speaker 1: of the boundaries that still exist between indigenous and colonial powers. 143 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: He lived a curious life in a difficult world, and 144 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: for a brief moment, showed us that everyone wants the 145 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: same thing, a place to belong. I hope you've enjoyed 146 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 147 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 148 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 149 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with How Stuff Works. 150 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 151 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 152 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at theworldoflore dot com, and 153 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: until next time, stay curious.