Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.
Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history
Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
Speaker 2: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
Speaker 2: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The history of exploration is
Speaker 2: marked by mountaintops reached and ocean's crossed, by impossible being
Speaker 2: proven possible through sheer human will. But the one particular
Speaker 2: expedition stands apart by almost every metric. Ernest Shackleton's journey
Speaker 2: to cross Antarctica was an utter failure. The frozen continent
Speaker 2: was not crossed, and Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, was hopelessly
Speaker 2: mired in ice which nearly crushed it. So why is
Speaker 2: it considered one of the most renowned journeys in history. Well, that,
Speaker 2: it turns out, is a curious tale. By nineteen fourteen,
Speaker 2: Sir Ernest Shackleton had already been hailed as a great
Speaker 2: explorer of the age. He had already led the Nimrod
Speaker 2: expedition into Antarctica, coming within ninety seven miles of the
Speaker 2: South Pole. It was the closest that anyone had ever
Speaker 2: come to the pole. Although the party had to turn
Speaker 2: back due to near starvation, it established him as a thoughtful,
Speaker 2: fearless leader, and beyond that, proved to him that it
Speaker 2: could be done.
Speaker 1: And so in August of nineteen fourteen, he and a
Speaker 1: fresh team boarded the Endurance and set sail for the
Speaker 1: southernmost part of the globe. From the start there were troubles, though.
Speaker 1: By January of nineteen fifteen, Shackleton and company had reached
Speaker 1: the wide l Sea, where the ship became hopelessly trapped
Speaker 1: in the ocean ice. Months passed in this way, a
Speaker 1: ship adrift in an icy sea, but it would only
Speaker 1: get worse. In October, the ship finally gave in to
Speaker 1: the mounting pressure of the ice and the hull was cracked.
Speaker 1: Shackleton's diary from that time showed the dire situation that
Speaker 1: the crew found themselves in as they abandoned the Endurance
Speaker 1: for the ice floes that surrounded it. They watched hopelessly
Speaker 1: as the Endurance sank. It was at this point in
Speaker 1: the expedition that the mission shifted. It was no longer
Speaker 1: about exploration. It was simply a matter of survival. For months,
Speaker 1: the crew lived on the ice with dwindling supplies, praying
Speaker 1: for a rescue that became less likely by the day.
Speaker 1: To keep their morale up, Shackleton insisted on a strict
Speaker 1: routine each day to keep a sense of normalcy, and
Speaker 1: he even went so far as to organize cricket matches
Speaker 1: on the ice to take his men's mind off of
Speaker 1: their dire situation. But when the ice began to break
Speaker 1: up in April of nineteen sixteen, he saw an opportunity.
Speaker 1: He may not be able to cross the continent, but
Speaker 1: he would give his men a safe home. As the
Speaker 1: ice dissipated, the men loaded onto three lifeboats. It was
Speaker 1: then that Shackleton made the decision to make the journey
Speaker 1: to Elephant Island, which was nearly eight hundred miles away
Speaker 1: from where they floated, and from there they would have
Speaker 1: to travel another eight hundred miles to reach a sign
Speaker 1: of civilization, and so Shackleton set off with a small
Speaker 1: crew aboard a lifeboat named the James Caird. The journey
Speaker 1: was perilous, with hurricane force winds that battered the small
Speaker 1: craft and sent freezing ocean spray into the faces of
Speaker 1: the men on board. When finally they reached Elephant Island,
Speaker 1: Shackleton chose a small group to continue on with him
Speaker 1: for the next leg of the journey, which would somehow
Speaker 1: be even more harrowing, And so they set off once
Speaker 1: more into the freezing winds and the tumultuous sea. For
Speaker 1: days they battled the choppy seas, finally landing on South
Speaker 1: Georgia Island. But their journey was not over yet. Yes,
Speaker 1: they had made landfall on the island, but they were
Speaker 1: on the uninhabited side. To get to the nearest whaling station,
Speaker 1: they would have to traverse the island on foot. The
Speaker 1: trek was arduous. For thirty six hours, they crawled across
Speaker 1: glaciers that none had ever set eyes on before, had
Speaker 1: finally reached the whaling station, where they were able to
Speaker 1: resupply before going back for the rest of their crew.
Speaker 1: And to be honest, they've feared for the worst. Many
Speaker 1: expeditions that had faced such odds had ended in tragedy.
Speaker 1: But miraculously they returned to discover that every one of
Speaker 1: the twenty two members of the party had survived while
Speaker 1: they were gone, and as you'd imagine, the endurance crew
Speaker 1: returned to a hero's welcome. It could have gone very
Speaker 1: much differently had it not been for Shackleton and his
Speaker 1: crew's ability to adapt to the situation as it worsened.
Speaker 1: In the month's long crisis, they had somehow managed to
Speaker 1: hold onto perhaps the single most important factor for survival, hope.
Speaker 1: And Yes, the Endurance Expedition did fail to achieve its
Speaker 1: original goal, but it also somehow managed to demonstrate the
Speaker 1: power of thoughtful leadership and human resilience, turning what could
Speaker 1: have been a terrible tragedy into the stuff of legend.
Speaker 1: Gonzalo was born to fight. His family name literally meant warrior.
Speaker 1: He grew up sometime in the late fifteenth century and
Speaker 1: was likely trained to fight in the Reconquista, the Catholic
Speaker 1: conquest of Spain from the Muslim Moors. Gonzalo would have
Speaker 1: spent his youth climbing walls while avoiding spears and arrows,
Speaker 1: stabbing and smashing his way across South Spain. Once the
Speaker 1: Reconquista was finished, though, it's possible that he traveled to
Speaker 1: Italy and fought there, But by fourteen ninety two, Christopher
Speaker 1: Columbus was sailing to the New World and opening a
Speaker 1: whole new frontier for the Spanish. Some even say that
Speaker 1: Gonzalo was on that very voyage, whatever the truth might be.
Speaker 1: By fifteen eleven, Gonzalo was involved in a shipwreck, winding
Speaker 1: up on the shores of Mexico with eight other companions.
Speaker 1: Despite the violence that he had seen in his life
Speaker 1: up to that point, nothing could have prepared him for
Speaker 1: what he was about to experience. Mayan warriors came out
Speaker 1: of the jungle, their ears and noses pierced, their bodies
Speaker 1: covered in tattoos. They looked frightening, and they could back
Speaker 1: up that appearance with their actions, and they did. They
Speaker 1: seized the Spanish soldiers, decapitating a few of them and
Speaker 1: sacrificing them to the gods. They even ate parts of
Speaker 1: the bodies to complete the ritual. Gonzalo knew that he
Speaker 1: wouldn't last long as their prisoner. He and another one
Speaker 1: of the captives, the priest Hieranimo de Aguilar, worked together
Speaker 1: to escape, traveling through the jungle, knowing that anywhere was
Speaker 1: better than being at the mercy of the cannibals. But
Speaker 1: this jungle belonged to the Maya, and before long the
Speaker 1: Spanish duo was captured by Yets, another tribe. However, this
Speaker 1: one wasn't interested in sacrificing them. Gonzalo and the priest
Speaker 1: seemed pathetic, not much of an offering to their gods.
Speaker 1: They were pressed in a service as slaves instead. However,
Speaker 1: Gonzalo was a warrior through and through, and he couldn't
Speaker 1: help but reveal his skill. He gave some of the
Speaker 1: warrior's tips on how to better use their spears and
Speaker 1: how they could get around the armor of the Spanish.
Speaker 1: By fifteen seventeen, he was helping to fight off Spanish
Speaker 1: invasion forces. He used Mayan spears, clubs, bows and arrows
Speaker 1: against the metal plate armor and rifles of his former brethren.
Speaker 1: It was the most brutal, bloody combat imaginable. Gonzalo fully
Speaker 1: converted to the ways of the Maya, piercing his ears
Speaker 1: and nose and tattooing his body. Impressed with his prowess,
Speaker 1: the Mayan chief offered his daughter to Gonzalo in marriage.
Speaker 1: Her name was Sasil, and together they had three sons.
Speaker 1: The boys were some of the first mestizos in recorded history,
Speaker 1: a term used to describe people of mixed Spanish and
Speaker 1: indigenous ancestry, and they make up the majority of people
Speaker 1: in Mexico today. Gonzalo had truly found his home, but
Speaker 1: of course his original home wouldn't let go of him
Speaker 1: so easily. Legendary Spanish conquistudor ernand Cortes arrived in Mexico
Speaker 1: in fifteen nineteen, preparing to conquer the Aztec Empire. He
Speaker 1: invited Gunzao and his priest companion Hieranimo to join him,
Speaker 1: and the priest jumped at the chance, begging his year's
Speaker 1: long companion to return to the Spanish fold with him.
Speaker 1: And yes, they were friends. But Gonzalo could not abandon
Speaker 1: his new family, and he also knew that it would
Speaker 1: be hard for the Spanish to accept him back given
Speaker 1: his strange new appearance, and he loved his sons, he
Speaker 1: felt honor bound to stay and fight for them. Keranimo
Speaker 1: reluctantly left to join Cortes, who was successful in conquering
Speaker 1: the Aztecs in fifteen twenty one. More than ever, the
Speaker 1: small remaining Mayan tribes needed Gonzalo's help to fight against
Speaker 1: the Spanish, so he put his body on the line
Speaker 1: time and time again, leading massive defensive battles where he
Speaker 1: showed the Mayans how to organize barricades against Spanish armies.
Speaker 1: His spear and club shattered the helmets and breastplates of
Speaker 1: one Spanish warrior after another. Many were not so different
Speaker 1: from the young man that he had been fighting in
Speaker 1: the Reconquista years before. Apparently the love of his family
Speaker 1: was all he needed to turn his back on that legacy,
Speaker 1: or maybe he just didn't like conquerors. Around fifteen thirty six,
Speaker 1: he led a group of Mayan warriors in canoes from
Speaker 1: their home in Yucatan to what is now modern day Honduras.
Speaker 1: Their goal was to reinforce the indigenous warriors there in
Speaker 1: their fights against the Spanish. But Gonzalo was in his
Speaker 1: sixties by this point. It's incredible to think that he
Speaker 1: was still engaging in the most physically demanding combat possible
Speaker 1: at such an advanced age at the time. The battle, though,
Speaker 1: would be his last. A stray shot from a Spanish
Speaker 1: rifle struck him, dropping him to the ground with his comrades.
Speaker 1: He was a violent man who lived a curious life.
Speaker 1: Although he didn't win his final battle, his descendants went
Speaker 1: on to gain independence from the Spanish in a curious way.
Speaker 1: The entire country of Mexico. Today is his legacy. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: This show was created by me Aaron May in partnership
Speaker 1: with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and
Speaker 1: Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
Speaker 1: the show and the people who make it over at
Speaker 1: Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link
Speaker 1: to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in
Speaker 1: bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And
Speaker 1: if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining
Speaker 1: our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the
Speaker 1: interruption for.
Speaker 2: A small monthly fee.
Speaker 1: Learn more and sign up over at patreon dot com
Speaker 1: slash Grimandmild, and until next time, stay curious.