1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: An untested hypothesis remains just that a hypothesis. In order 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: to be proven right or wrong, it must be subjected 8 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: to experimentation. Scientists test their hypotheses all the time. It's 9 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: how we make advancements in things like medicine, physics, and 10 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: other scientific disciplines. But sometimes the people looking to advance 11 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: civilization aren't scientists at all. They're just regular people seeking 12 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: a better life, and all they want is to see 13 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: if their theories are true, that such a life is 14 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: out there somewhere, even if they have to build it 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: for themselves. It all started with one man, at Tienne Kabe, 16 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: a French legal scholar born in seventeen eighty eight. But 17 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: despite his education in law, Kabe had little regard for 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: its strict black and white rhetoric. He took a keen 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: interest in politics and eventually moved to Paris, seeking out 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: secret revolutionary organizations looking to upset the status quo. His 21 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: day finally came with the Revolution of eighteen thirty, which 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: saw the removal of conservative King Charles the Tenth and 23 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: the appointment of the more liberal Louis Philippe to the throne. 24 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: Cabey's efforts during this time also earn him a swanky 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: government job as Attorney General for the island of Corsica, 26 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: but this didn't stop him from voicing his displeasure toward 27 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: other conservative branch as a French government. After enough complaining, 28 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: he was not only removed from his position, but also 29 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: exiled to England. Still, he didn't let this setback stop him. 30 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: While he resided in Britain, Kabe focused much of his 31 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: work on political and economic study, which he channeled into 32 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: a new novel. It was titled Voyage on Icare and 33 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: told the story of a fictional communal town called Ikorea. 34 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: In this place, everyone was equal. There was no monarchy, 35 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: no feudal system, and no one persecuted anyone else for 36 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: standing up for what they believed in Korea was a utopia. 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: After his five years in exile, Kabe returned to France 38 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: and had his story published. Much to his surprise, it 39 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: became a huge success, and not just as a bestseller. 40 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: Readers of Voyage on icare really connected with its message. 41 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: It was a message that promised everyone's needs would be 42 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: met and provided for despite their current status. People wanted 43 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: a real Ikorea where they could speak their minds without 44 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: consequence and live truly free lives. Kabe hadn't just written 45 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: an allegorical novel criticizing the current French government. He had 46 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: crafted a blue print for a utopian society, and readers 47 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: wanted to live there. By eighteen forty three, the author 48 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: claimed that there were at least fifty thousand French citizens 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: who believed in the promise of Ikorea. Four years later, 50 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: he published an article titled let Us Go to Ikorea 51 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: with instructions on how to colonize a portion of America. 52 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: For that exact purpose, Kabey soon found the perfect spot 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: to build his utopian vision. It resided across the Pond 54 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: in America, a place full of promise and possibility, the 55 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: state of Texas. He secured a million acres of land there, 56 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: and on February third of eighteen forty three, almost seventy 57 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: French citizens left home to start new lives in what 58 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: would eventually become the Ikorea of their dreams. They finally 59 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: arrived in Texas in late March. Kabey had promised them 60 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: a huge swath of land that was close to the 61 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: Red River and fertile ground for growing crops, but once 62 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: they got there, the early Koreans found that they had 63 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: been duped. The land was actually twenty five miles away 64 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: from the Red River and measured nowhere near one million acres. 65 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: They had only three thousand acres on which to build 66 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: their homesteads, all of it broken up into smaller tracks 67 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: with plots owned by the state of Texas in between. Honestly, 68 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: a map of the place looked kind of like a chessboard, 69 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: where the black squares were the Ikorean owned land and 70 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: the white squares were not. More people continued to come over, though, 71 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: but they soon realized that they just weren't cut out 72 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: for utopian living. Kebey lost a number of followers who 73 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: eventually returned to France, but some stuck it out, looking 74 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: to make a go of it despite the odds against them, 75 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: and their leader even managed to push the odds in 76 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: their favor. He was in New Orleans when he came 77 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: across a group of individuals who had fled their original 78 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: home in Navu, Illinois, due to threats of violence from 79 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: the surrounding communities. This fledgling organization happened to be the 80 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, also known 81 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: as Mormons, and they were only too happy to sell 82 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: their old land to Kobey for a paltry price. So 83 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: he and his followers eventually left Texas and moved north 84 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: to Illinois, where there were already homes built and waiting 85 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: for them thanks to the former Mormon owners. Unfortunately, Koreans 86 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: still had a huge problem. Despite being a communist utopia, 87 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: Ikorea required money to survive in an otherwise capitalist society. 88 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: Tools and materials from outside had to be paid for. 89 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: The struggle to survive as a communal enclave surrounded by 90 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: a diametrically opposed economic ideology caused tension among the people. 91 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: They began voicing their complaints out loud, to the point 92 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: where Kabai became the very thing that he hated. A dictator. 93 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: He forbade speaking ill of his efforts or of the 94 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: community as a whole, He also outlawed things like tobacco 95 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: and alcohol. Between the growing discord among his people and 96 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: the fraud charges he was facing back home from former Ikoreans, 97 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before his utopian experiment collapsed. He was 98 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: ousted from his role as head of the colony in 99 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty and decided to set out on his own 100 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: with a small group of loyal Ikoreans in tow. He 101 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: died of a stroke a month later, but other members 102 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: splintered off and settled down in Corning, Iowa, where they 103 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,239 Speaker 1: tried to build their ideal city of the future from 104 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: the ground up. And they got close, but an increasingly 105 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: younger demographic challenged the older established community members who didn't 106 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: want to see certain changes, such as women getting the 107 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: right to vote. By eighteen eighty six, all traces of 108 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: Korea and its various factions had all but disappeared. To 109 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: quote Nathaniel Hawthorne, eager souls, mystics, and revolutionaries may propose 110 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: to refashion the world in accordance with their dreams, but 111 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: evil remains, and so long as it lurks in the 112 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: secret places of the heart, utopia is only the shadow 113 00:06:49,880 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: of a dream we all have that one friend or relative, 114 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: the one who lingers a bit too long at holidays 115 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: and gatherings, who consistently makes themselves the center of the drama. 116 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: They're always around, and they're a bit more high maintenance 117 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: than everyone else. Harriet was a lot like that. She 118 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: was born around eighteen thirty on the island of Santa Cruz, 119 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: but quickly made her way to the nearby island of 120 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: Santa Maria, off the coast of South America. She lived 121 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: there for some time until a visitor from England arrived 122 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty five aboard a research vessel named HMS Beagle. 123 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: His name was Charles Darwin. You've probably heard of him. 124 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: He had left England in eighteen thirty one on board 125 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: the Beagle to study various flora and fauna throughout his travels, 126 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: and he did all of that. Darwin was a naturalist 127 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: after all. He cataloged and studied a number of different 128 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: species of plants and animals during that voyage. But then 129 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: there was Harriet. Darwin met her on his first trip 130 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: to the Galapagos Islands. She, along with two others, joined 131 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: him on board the Beagle. Unfortunately, caring for Harriet and 132 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: her two siblings became a bit too much, and they 133 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: were eventually adopted by John Clemens Wickham. Wickham had been 134 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: the first lieutenant on the Beagle, serving under Fitzroy while 135 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: Darwin was a board. Wickham then became captain for a 136 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: short time before retiring to Australia with Harriet and her 137 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: two brothers, Tom and Dick. She resided with him in 138 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: Brisbane at a place called Newstead House for the next 139 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: nineteen years. Then in eighteen sixty Wickham departed Australia to 140 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: spend his final years in France. Tom, Dick and Harriet, 141 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: on the other hand, left Newstead House for the Botanic Gardens. 142 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: Now it's important to understand that paperwork concerning the movement 143 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: of all the involved parties is pretty scarce. It's believed 144 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: by some that Wickham could not have adopted Tom, Dick 145 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: and Harriet because he wasn't in England in eighteen forty 146 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: one to collect them. Others argue that he actually was 147 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: there to get them and then he took them to Australia. 148 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 1: And Darwin's involvement has also been disputed, since he never 149 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: actually set foot on the island where Harriet was born. 150 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: But even though she was not native to any of 151 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: the islands he visited. It's widely believed that he was 152 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: in the right place at the right time. Harriet had 153 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: found her way there and she was chosen to accompany 154 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: him on his journey. Either way. She lived at the 155 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: Botanical Gardens until nineteen fifty two, seventy years after the 156 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: death of Charles Darwin, and during that time she was 157 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: mistaken for a boy and called Harry, named for Harry Oakman, 158 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: the groundskeeper there at the Botanical Gardens. It wasn't until 159 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: she moved to the Gold Coast when it was discovered 160 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: that Harry was actually a female. From then on she 161 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: was called Harriet. By now she was over one hundred 162 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: and twenty years old and as I'm sure you can guess, 163 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: she was not a person. Harriet, along with Tom and Dick, 164 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: were tortoises, and the Gold Coast of Australia was home 165 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 1: to Flay's Fauna Sanctuary, which would become her residence for 166 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: the next thirty five years. She made one last move 167 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty seven to the Dtrolia Zoo's Queenland Reptile Park. 168 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: This zoo was quite special, as its founders, Bob and 169 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: Lynn Erwin had a son who loved all kinds of animals. 170 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: He grew up to be a voice for wildlife conservancy 171 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: and education. Along with his wife Terry. Steve Irwin became 172 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: known by his nickname the Crocodile Hunter, and among the 173 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: many creatures under his care at the zoo was Harriet. 174 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: Harriet had a good life there, according to the Australia 175 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 1: Zoo's website. She ate a regular diet of fresh vegetables 176 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: and hibiscus flowers, and the Irwins considered her an honorary grandmother. 177 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: She was beloved by both staff and visitors alike. Sadly, 178 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: Harriet passed away on June twenty third of two thousand 179 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: and six of heart failure, but she lived to the 180 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: ripe old age of one hundred and seventy six, and 181 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,559 Speaker 1: her legacy was just as wild as her. She was 182 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: the only creature on Earth that had been roommates with 183 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: both Charles Darwin and Steve Irwin. And to that, I say, 184 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: kriike I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the 185 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or 186 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: learn more about the show by visiting curiosities podcast dot com. 187 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 188 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 189 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television 190 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at 191 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.