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 --> 00:00:22,159 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 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: Legends abound in South Carolina's Low Country, yet one eclipses 7 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: them all. A larger than life figure whose mastery of 8 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: the region's tangled swamps and marshes terrified the British during 9 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary War. A man who could reportedly summon battalions 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: of soldiers within the forest and then disappear into the darkness. 11 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: It was rumored that he blew up the Georgetown Artillery 12 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: single match, and if you take a ghost tour of 13 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: the city today, you'll hear stories of his spirit guiding 14 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: lost travelers through the swamp. There is some measure of 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: truth to the stories of this terrible figure. His name 16 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: was Francis Marion, and his actions during the War for 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: America's Independence earned him the nickname the swamp Fox. Marion 18 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: was born in January of seventeen thirty two near what 19 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: is now Berkeley County, thirty miles inland from the city 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: of Charleston. He grew up outdoors, becoming an avid fisherman 21 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: and hunter, and because of this he gained an intimate 22 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: knowledge of the swamps and forests along the Cooper and 23 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: Edistone rivers and was an expert in navigating them. He 24 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: further expanded his skills when he served as a militia 25 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: lieutenant in the French and Indian War, where his familiarity 26 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: with the frontier proved valuable as a scout and as 27 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: a commander of irregular detachments that relied on ambush, raid 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: movement and intimate use of terrain. In seventeen eighty, Charleston 29 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: became a major focus of British strategy, which aimed to 30 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: seize the city and use it as a stronghold in 31 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: the fight against revolutionary forces. It was at the time 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: the largest port in the Southern Colonies, and it helped 33 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: to supply forces throughout the Southeast. By capturing Charleston, the 34 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: British could effectively cut off support to much of the 35 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: continental army. On January twenty ninth, approximately two thousand British 36 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: troops landed in and around Charleston Harbor. By February two, 37 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: they had captured Fort Moultrie and turning its artillery against 38 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: the city. Within the week, they'd begun a steady barrage 39 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: against Charleston's defenses, while British troops began slowly circling the 40 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: city on land, digging trenches to lay siege to the town. 41 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: On March twenty ninth, they succeeded in breaking the opposing 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: army at the Battle of Monk's Corner, forcing the Continental 43 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: Army's retreat. Then on May twelfth, the siege ended when 44 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: Continental General Benjamin Lincoln signed articles of capitulation as the 45 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: British took control of the port city. Approximately six hundred 46 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: were dead at another thirty five hundred had been taken prisoner. 47 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: It was a decisive victory, and the Redcoats now had 48 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: a base of operations to spread out across the South, 49 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: but Charleston would not prove easy to hold. After Charleston fell, 50 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: Marion began a gorilla campaign to assist the army in 51 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: reclaiming the city. He worked closely with the militia of 52 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: Colonel Thomas Sumter to establish camps in nearby forests and 53 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: swamps surrounding the Santee River that would be hidden from 54 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: British forces, and from there he used the dense foliage 55 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: and the shallow waters to conceal himself and his troops 56 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: when spying on enemy supply routes, ambushing ammunition convoys and 57 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: destroying what they could not carry. The largest of these 58 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: ambushes took place at Briar Creek when his men captured 59 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: a British supply depot and destroyed a powder magazine, forcing 60 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: the British military to divert troops away from the city, 61 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: and so he nipped away at those laying siege, occasionally 62 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: raiding food stores and destroying artillery, and then disappearing back 63 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: into the swamp. And Marian used psychological tactics as well. 64 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: Over the years, he cultivated a network of support in 65 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: the communities north of the city, using them to help 66 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: spread word of a phantom army hiding within the swamps, 67 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: setting fires on hilltops and screaming in the middle of 68 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: the night, convincing the British Army that they were being 69 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: stalked by ghosts. When the British Army finally managed to 70 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: strike back, the results of Marion's efforts were loud and clear. 71 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: The British supply lines had been so thoroughly depleted that 72 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: their soldiers arrived under fed and under supplied, which helped 73 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: Continental forces land a decisive victory in January of seventeen 74 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: eighty one. The defeats left the British forces diminished, and 75 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: further decisive winds, aided by Marian's continuing raids, slowly made 76 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: holding the city of Charleston impossible. The British were on 77 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: the defensive in the South now as well as in 78 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: the north, and their forces finally evacuated the city on 79 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: December eleventh of seventeen eighty two. Francis Marian's relentless hidden 80 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,239 Speaker 1: run tactics turned the landscape of the Low Country into 81 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: a weapon of its own, forcing the British to fight 82 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: a war they could not win against foes they couldn't track. 83 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: By starving their supply trains, scattering their troops, and adding 84 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: a bit of folklore, Marian helped turn a hopeless siege 85 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: into a series of setbacks, ultimately leading to the liberation 86 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: of Charleston. His legacy endures not only in the folklore 87 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: that still haunts ghost tour guides and riverbanks, but in 88 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: the very notion that a small mobile force, armed with 89 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: intimate knowledge of its terrain can often tip the balance 90 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: of a great war. Robert was a shrewd business man. 91 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: He saw opportunities where a few others did. He made 92 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: his fortune selling chainsaws of all things printed with his 93 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: name on them in big, bold letters. He invested in oil, 94 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: created steam powered vehicles. He built airplanes, and created, at 95 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: the time the world's tallest fountain. And with such impressive accomplishments, 96 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: it's easy to see why no one questioned Robert McCulloch's 97 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: business intuition when he set his sites on a barren 98 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: twenty six miles of Arizona Desert in nineteen fifty eight. 99 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: The land had previously been used as an Army Air 100 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: Corps resting camp during World War Two, but nothing permanent 101 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: had ever been built there. But when Robert McCulloch looked 102 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: out at the vast desert stretching toward the Colorado River, 103 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: he didn't see a desolate landscape. He saw an opportunity. 104 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: He planned to build a city there, attracting families and 105 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: retirees who'd loved the southwest location. The hazy Orange sunsets 106 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: and the calm flowing waters of the Colorado River, and 107 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: he tested it for himself too. The first thing he 108 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: built in his new town was a fishing cabin situated 109 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: on the Lake Havasu basin. McCullough told people at the 110 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: time the fish were eager to buy, which seemed like 111 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: a good omen to him. Unfortunately, the buyers weren't willing 112 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: to bite. McCulloch's land, which he thought would sell fast, 113 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: didn't appeal to many people at all. Firstly, there was 114 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: the fact that it was so remote, situated in the 115 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: middle of the desert, with the nearest city almost a 116 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: four hour drive away. Even the closest small town was 117 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: miles and miles away from it. The climate was hot 118 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: and dry, which meant the land couldn't be used for 119 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: farming or livestock, and since Lake Havasu City hadn't even 120 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: been built yet, there was nothing to attract visitors. McCulloch 121 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: refused to give up. There must be a way to 122 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: encourage people to buy property and move to the area. 123 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: He consulted with his real estate agent, a man named 124 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: Robert Plumer, and to his surprise, Plumer said that he 125 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: was sure he had a solution, although it was a 126 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: pretty unusual one. Now from here, I'm going to take 127 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: a sharp left turn, so please try not to get whiplash. 128 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: Have you heard the nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down? 129 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: Of course you have. But what you may not know 130 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: is that in nineteen six twenty seven it actually was 131 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: falling down, which honestly shouldn't be a surprise. The bridge 132 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: was a relic of the past, after all, having been 133 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: built in eighteen thirty one, and as London expanded around 134 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: it and traffic demands increased, the bridge was becoming dangerously 135 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: weak and desperately in need of being replaced. That's when 136 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: one of the city councilors came up with a novel idea. 137 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: In order to recoup some of the money the city 138 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: would lose building a new one, he suggested London auction 139 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: off their famous bridge to the highest bidder, and the 140 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: real estate agent Plumer Well he thought that McCulloch should 141 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 1: buy it. It would attract more land buyers, give people 142 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: a reason to visit Lake Havasu City, and add to 143 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: McCulloch's impressive legacy, and unsurprisingly he went for it. In 144 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: April of nineteen sixty eight, Robert McCulloch became the proud 145 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: new owner of London Bridge for just shy of two 146 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: point five million dollars. And then came the next challenge, 147 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: moving the bridge from London to Arizona. To begin, McCulloch 148 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,040 Speaker 1: needed somewhere to put it. A bridge as historic and 149 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: monumental as this one deserved a special crossing, something more 150 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: fitting than an endless stretch of desert sand. He hired 151 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: a massive crew to carve a large peninsula of Lake 152 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: Havasou into an island. London Bridge would stretch across this 153 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: teal colored water and be the only crossing on or 154 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: off the island. As for the bridge itself, workers meticulously 155 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: labeled hundreds of granite bricks. They cataloged the bricks which 156 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: came from each arch span, each row, each position, and 157 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: then came disassembly. Ten thousand tons of granite stones were 158 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: packed into crates and sailed across the Atlantic, through the 159 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: Panama Canal and up to Long Beach, California. And from 160 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: there the crates were loaded onto enormous trucks and driven 161 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: through the California desert to Lake Havasou. Would the bridge 162 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: still be too weak to handle traffic, you might ask, 163 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: Bakala thought the same thing. He had construction crews build 164 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: a new frame made of reinforced concrete to ensure it 165 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: would be safe to drive on, and only then could 166 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: the bridge be reconstructed and all those granite bricks placed 167 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: exactly where they belonged. In total, the disassembly, transportation, and 168 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: reconstruction took three whole years and cost McCulloch another seven 169 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: million dollars, and in the end it worked. Buyers flocked 170 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: to Lake Havasu for the grand opening of Arizona's London Bridge. 171 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: London's own Lord Mayor came to town for the event, 172 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: and today Lakeavasou City is a bustling town with a 173 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: major tourism industry and fifty thousand happy residents. Looking back, 174 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: McCulloch's story encourages all of us to take that leap 175 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: of faith, however big it might be, because you never 176 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: know you may land on just the right bridge. I 177 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. 178 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 1: This show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership 179 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and 180 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: Mild team and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about 181 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: the show and the people who make it over at 182 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link 183 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in 184 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And 185 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining 186 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the 187 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: interruption for a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign 188 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: up over at patreon dot com slash Grimandmild, and until 189 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.