Frank James, older brother of Jesse James, as an old man, whose career as a bushwacker, outlaw and murderer was now a past memory.
When Charles Fletcher Lummis, author of the book “A Tramp Across the Continent,” met the outlaw Jesse James’ brother, Frank James, in 1882, it was as if future America was walking by past America.
Outlaw brothers: Jesse James and Frank James.
Frank James had been a role model for his younger brother, Jesse. Starting as Bushwackers, guerilla fighters for the Confederate South during the American Civil War, the two brothers were paid by robbing and plundering the countryside. When the American Civil War ended, the James Brothers decided to continue being Bushwackers – only now they had a new peacetime name – outlaws.
The James Brothers were wanted Dead or Alive
There were lots of banks, stagecoaches and trains available to be robbed and money to be stolen, as well as many dead bodies left along the way.
The James brothers gained a national reputation as outlaws. A Reward was offered for their capture Dead or Alive. One of the members of their gang, Bob Ford, killed Jesse for the reward money being offered. It was the old Wild West of the movies.
Frank James about the time he met Charles Fletcher Lummus
But when Charles Fletcher Lummis and Frank James met in 1882, Frank James was almost 40, living on his mother’s farm near Kearney,
Missouri. His outlaw life was over, but his fame as an outlaw continued. He gave tours of the farm, making money telling tall tales of the James Gang and their outlaw adventures to passing tourists.
Charles Fletcher Lummis, author of “A Tramp Across the continent,” who met Frank James on his farm.
Charles Fletcher Lummis was just such a tourist, passing by on foot, walking across the American continent from Cincinnati, Ohio, to
Los Angeles California. He was 23 years old and filled with the energy Frank James was loosing with age. Instead of taking the train, Lummis had decided to walk, so he could witness and write about an America, which was transitioning from the old ways to a new future, where fences were being raised and water was beginning to be controlled by Wall Street.
Los Angeles street in 1882
Lummis was headed to a small town on the west coast of America, with a population of about 11,200 people. They had a newspaper there and he had been hired to be the Editor. The small town was called Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times building, constructed in 1884, just after Lummis joined the staff.
In the future, Lummis edited the Los Angeles Times, became the City’s first librarian, wrote and edited stories about Southern California and founded the Southwest Museum (now owned by the Autry Museum of the West).
Frank James remained in Missouri telling his stories of his past.
Los Angeles? It is probable that Frank James never heard of the place.
Charles Fletcher Lummis’ description of his fascinating journey across the American continent is a historical treat. I recorded it as a Listen2Read audiobook. You can easily download it HERE.
Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, as told in her audiobook “20hrs- 40mins.”
Listen2Read audiobook listeners know that for every audiobook I publish, I create a pictorial preview or blog on the subject. Just as in printed books, pictures help audiobook listeners better understand the dimensions of the story.
Amelia Earhart prepares for her flight.
Since all of our audiobooks are about Americans in history, I do a lot of research to find just the right historical picture to document the history. Teachers have told me they use my audiobook previews as teaching aids, so I take creating these previews very seriously.
“The Friendship” on the water in Newfoundland. Her original wheels have been replaced with pontoons for take offs and landings on the water.
Collecting photographs of Amelia Earhart to accompany her audiobook “ 20 hrs 40 mins,” Earhart’s autobiography of her first flight across the Atlantic Ocean- the flight which made her famous, was not difficult since she was one of the most photographed women of her time. Her book contains a log book, so you seem to be actually with her during her historic and dangerous flight over the Atlantic.
Newspaper story about waiting for the weather to clear and permit the Atlantic flight.
As I reviewed dozens of historic still pictures, I kept wishing I had some motion picture film of her flight in the Friendship, the name given to her airplane. Then I remembered a passage from her log book when Earhart and her crew landed in Trepassey, Newfoundland to prepare for the actual flight across the Atlantic.
Wilber Stultz and Louis Edward Gordon pose with Amelia Earhart after their successful flight across the Atlantic
Wilmer Stultz, the pilot, and Louis Edward Gordon, the flight mechanic, had arranged for a mooring for the “Friendship” during the time they waited with Amelia for weather to clear enough to permit takeoff . Many people learned of their plan and the water was filled with boats of spectators, trying to get a view of the adventurers. So many boats crowded the bay that it was difficult to get to the mooring they had arranged for.
Earhart wrote in her log -book:
“Finally we contrived to get the thought across that the most we wanted was to be guided to our own mooring, which we could reach under our own power. Andy Fulgoni, a Paramount cameraman finally caught the idea and circling around in his own launch, contrived to clear the way for us. In due course, Bill sailed to the mooring and made fast.”
The Paramount cameraman was filming for Paramount News – mostly black and white movie films shown in movie theatres before the advent of television news. Most major studios presented 10 minute newsreels as a short subject accompanying the movies. Paramount called their newsreels “The Eyes and Ears of the World.” Most Americans saw the American Depression and World War 2 through black and white newsreels in theaters. Most studios stopped producing newsreels in 1957, when the motion picture industry was damaged by competition from television and government antitrust decisions.
I wondered if the Paramount cameraman who helped them had shot news footage of the “take off?’ If he did, did the film still exist over 90 years later? If the film had been preserved, where was it? How could I find it?
I began a search through every stock film and news film library I knew of and discovered some new ones. Andy Fulgoni, a Paramount cameraman, would probably have used a DeVry 35mm motion picture camera, known in the trade as the ”lunchbox” because of its rectangular shape. It had a spring wound motor or was hand cranked.
The film came in 100 foot rolls of (very flammable) nitrate film, with a running time of 2 ½ minutes per 100 foot roll. So, a news cameraman would have to have been able to open the camera and change rolls fast or he probably would have had two or more cameras loaded so as not to miss anything.
The “Friendship” taking off rom the waters of Trepassey, Newfoundland for England, with a fight time of 20 Hours 40 Minutes – hence, the title of her book.
After much research, I found it!
I discovered that Andy Fulgoni had filmed the take off from his boat on the water. He shot several angles, including close-ups of Amelia and her crew and the actual take-off . Best of all, the old nitrate film had been transferred to video and it was available to be licensed.
Licensing the footage stretched my budget, but it was worth it to see the actual take-off and to see Amelia Earhart herself, so self assured and positive entering into the best days of her life. You can see the take-off as part of the Listen2Read audiobook free preview HERE .
William Beebe in 1918 ready to enter the jungle of British Guiana
The captain and crew slowly lowered scientist and author William Beebe by ropes down along the bow of the fast moving passenger liner to just above the water line. Below him, the Caribbean waters glistened and began to change into a grassy carpet filled with crawling animal life.
It was the Sargasso Sea – and Beebe, ever the scientist, began collecting specimens on his way to a new adventure- exploring British Guiana. It was a world he wrote about in his fascinating book “Jungle Peace”.
A former World War 1 biplane fighter pilot, the peace Beebe was searching for in the jungle was the absence of bombs dropping, machine guns firing and cannon shells exploding.
And yet the Jungle was not really all peaceful. There was the silent fang, the sudden claw, the bite of killer ants. In the “peace,” danger was all around you.
Red snake in the Guyana forrest. Beebe describes the very careful capture of a snake in the jungle
William Beebe explored Guiana in 1918 when it was known as British Guiana on the South American Atlantic coast, just south of Venezuela.
Sugar was the main industry of British Guiana, with plantations originally operated by slave labor.
When slavery was outlawed by Britain in 1834, contract laborers from India were brought in, creating a substantial Indian culture.
Beebe writes about how these poor contract laborers from India were now ruled by British law, bringing English tradition, law, Magistrates and courts from civilized London into the dark jungle.
Hoatzin,(opisthocomus,Hoazin) never leaves home
Because he was a world famous ornithologist, Beebe observed a bird found no where else in the world, because it never wants to leave home.
If you enjoy learning about strange lands from the past, you will enjoy listening to “Jungle Peace” by William Beebe. It is so well written that former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt wrote an extensive foreword of praise. “Jungle Peace” will transport you to another world you will not forget.
I have recorded “Jungle Peace” as an audiobook for Listen 2 Read audiobooks, available wherever audiobooks are downloaded and also here.
Frederick Albert Cook on the way to the North Pole in 1909.Photograph with American flag taken at The North Pole.
He had risked his life in an unknown part of the world to accomplish the impossible. He had beaten the odds. And what was his reward for his dangerous adventure? Spending New Year’s Day 1909, freezing, struggling for life with two Innuit companions and a lot of angry bears who considered them food.
On April 21,1908, Frederick Albert Cook was the first white man to reach the North Pole. He described the entire incredible adventure in his book, MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE, which I narrated as an audiobook for the Listen2Read American Adventure Library. Cook was accompanied by two experienced Inuit natives, who helped make the accomplishment possible. And yet, no one in the civilized world, hundreds of miles south, knew about it.
THE ISOLATION OF THE FARTHEST NORTH
Ahwelah and Etukishook, Cook’s two Inuit companions.
In 1909 at the North Pole, there was no radio or satellite communication. The only way anyone would know about Cook’s accomplishment was if he told the story to someone. But there was no one around for hundreds of miles. The only way he could reach civilization was the way he left civilization- walking through the snow and ice with temperatures 40 degrees below zero.
Cook believed he had paved the way home by leaving food and supplies on the trail to the North Pole for the return journey. Only after he reached the Pole did he realize that the North Pole was floating above a moving sea and the sea was carrying him in the wrong direction. How could he know? No one had ever been there before.
WINTER DARKNESS
Ahwelah and Etukishook hunting musk ox on Devin Island at Cape Sparbo as the days grow shorter.
Worse than that, a long, cold Winter Darkness was descending, during which Cook could not travel at all. He needed a new, safe permanent home for the long winter ahead. Cape Sparbo, a long journey from the North Pole and closer to Greenland, was to become his home for 100 arctic nights. It was going to be a long way home and long time before anyone knew of his achievement, if he could make it back to civilization at all.
COOK WROTE IN HIS BOOK: “Bears headed us off at every turn. We were not permitted to proceed beyond an enclosed hundred feet from the hole of our den. Not an inch of ground or a morsel of food was permitted us without a contest. With no adequate means of defense we were driven to imprisonment within the walls of our own den.”
After 100 difficult days of darkness on Cape Sparbo, the light of day finally appeared. The Cook party left their ice home on February 7,1909 and pushed toward civilization to report their great accomplishment.
BACK TO CIVILIZATION But once back in civilization, instead of Polar Bears, Cook found he now had to deal with the most dangerous animal of all- human beings. And instead fighting the elements of nature, he now had to battle with politics.
MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE
by Frederick Albert Cook is an amazing story and a wonderful book and audiobook. You can download it wherever audiobooks are downloaded, including HERE.
HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at Listen2Read audiobooks. To all our subscribers and listeners, we send wishes that your New Year will be a lot warmer and happier than that of Frederick Cook.
With all the news of Presidential assassination attempts, I was reminded of two assassination bullets that completely changed Theodore Roosevelt’s life. I’ve been studying Roosevelt since I produced and narrated the audiobook of his adventure “Through the Brazilian Wilderness.”
President William McKinley in 1901
The first bullets that changed Roosevelt’s life were fired on September 6, 1901. They were not fired at Roosevelt, but at William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States. Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist American citizen, had tracked McKinley to assassinate him.
Newspaper illustration of Leon Czolgosz, gun disguised in wrapping, shoots President William McKinley.
When McKinley made a public appearance at the Pan American exhibition in Buffalo New York, Czolgosz came forward pretending to shake his hand and fired a gun directly at him.
At this moment, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was 475 miles away in Vermont, speaking at the annual meeting of the Vermont Fish and Game league.
Although Roosevelt was known to be a hunter, this minor appearance kept Roosevelt away from the political action. Roosevelt felt that the position of Vice President was a very insignificant position, where some politicians (including him) were hung out to dry, never to be heard from again. But fate had a different idea.
President William McKinley and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt
When assassination news reached Roosevelt, he immediately traveled to Buffalo by every means possible, yacht, train and even by rowboat. McKinley was still alive when Roosevelt reached him, attended by doctors who were hopeful but did not fully understand medical sanitation. Roosevelt was encouraged to leave by the doctors and urged to continue a family vacation – lest the public become restless about McKinley’s health.
Roosevelt left McKinley and traveled to the Adirondacks to climb Mount Marcy. But on September 14, McKinley began to fail .
Roosevelt was told to wait for the safety of daylight before traveling for a train station 35 miles away, but he became restless and started out in the dark by wagon and arrived at the station at 4:45 AM, where he was informed that McKinley had died during the night.
Roosevelt continued by train to Buffalo, where 13 hours later, he was sworn in as the 26th President of the United States. There are no photographs of this ceremony because Roosevelt barred them. He was still dressed for the mountains and felt he was not dressed properly to be sworn in as President of the United States.
The second assassination bullet that Roosevelt experienced was aimed directly at him and was intended to kill him. After his Presidency ended, Roosevelt was disappointed with the man he had supported to replace him, William Howard Taft. In 1912, Roosevelt left the Republican party and began his own political party, which became known as the “Bull Moose” party. It received its name from a frightening event. While giving one of his campaign speeches, on October 12, 1912, speaking from the rear end of a train car, Roosevelt was shot directly in the chest during the middle of his speech by a saloon keeper named John Schrant.
The bullet passed through Roosevelt’s coat, hit Roosevelt’s eyeglass case and penetrated his thick 50 page speech in his coat pocket before lodging in his chest.
An experienced hunter, Roosevelt knew he had been shot, but concluded that since he was not coughing up blood, the bullet had not entered his lungs or a vital organ. He then spoke to the crowd:
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot—but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”
Roosevelt also quieted the crowd and stopped them from lynching John Schrant on the spot. Later, the doctors who examined Roosevelt found the bullet edged tightly inside him and decided that to remove it would be dangerous and threaten his life. Roosevelt carried the bullet inside him for the rest of his life. Roosevelt lost the support of the Republican party and began his own third party called “The Bull Moose Party” recalling his speech. But, after all that adventure he and the Republican Party lost the election to a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.
After that loss, Theodore Roosevelt ended his political career and began adventuring. He wrote about his adventures, and I recorded his last adventure, which almost cost him his life.
Roosevelt agreed to adventure down an unexplored river in Brazil known as the “River of Doubt,” which was believed to empty into the Amazon River. It was a badly planned adventure and a trip that nearly killed him and certainly shortened his life. Roosevelt described it all in his book, “Through The Brazilian Wilderness”. It is a grand adventure and my Listen 2 Read audiobook recording of his original version contains sounds of the the jungle and the river that will make you feel that you are traveling with Roosevelt down the River of Doubt.
You can download THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS from almost any audiobook service including HERE:
You can view the entire Listen2Read American Adventure Library HERE
Reaching the North Pole Robert Peary posses with his assistant Matthew Henson and 2 Inuits April 6,1909
An African-American was the first person to step on the North Pole. Here is how this part of Black History happened:
On April 6, 1909, Admiral Robert Peary moved toward what he thought was the exact geographic point of the North Pole, where no one had ever been before.
Robert Peary 1909
Peary had left his exploratory party behind, taking the last difficult struggle by himself with his long time trusted African American assistant, Matthew Henson, and four Inuit helpers.
Everyone was on foot except Peary, who rode on a sled. Peary was 53 years old and not in good shape. He knew that after 7 previous attempts, if he didn’t reach the North Pole now, he never would. It was beyond cold and visibility was limited.
Matthew Henson, the African-American son of Southern Sharecroppers, learned sailing and became an assistant to Peary and became the first man to reach the North Ole
Peary ordered Henson, who was on foot, to scout the area for visible landmarks or anything else of interest. Peary came to the point he felt was the North Pole. He had been calculating the angle of the sun and now his compass pointed south instead of north.
A MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINT APPEARS
To Celebrate the historic moment of his discovery, Peary took an American flag on a pole, lifted it and was ready to push it into the ground to mark the spot where no one had ever been before. Then, shocked, he saw it! On this almost sacred spot, never touched before by human beings, there was in the snow, a human snowshoe footprint!
Matthew Henson at the North Pole
Peary was confused. How could this be? Whose footprint was it? It turned out that the first footprint on the North Pole was actually Matthew Henson’s footprint! While Henson had been scouting the area, he had stepped on the North Pole without realizing it. By accident, Matthew Henson, an African-American, was the first person to reach the North Pole.
PEARY IGNORES HENSON’S FOOTRINT
Peary, an egotistical man, full of self importance, ignored Henson’s footprint and returned to his camp, claiming that he had finally, after 7 attempts, reached the North Pole.
A Photograph of Dr. Frederick Cook and his Inuit companions being first to arrive at the North Pole.
But Peary’s triumph was short lived. The moment he returned to civilization, he was informed that while he had been out of touch in the Northern wilderness, another man claimed to be first to arrive at the pole before he did — Dr. Frederick Cook.
ANOTHER CLAIM TO BE FIRST AT THE NORTH POLE
Publicity picture of Peary
The claim by Cook must have infuriated Peary. He knew Cook, who had been a surgeon on one of Peary’s failed attempts to reach the Pole. Peary was a well-funded explorer. He was paid a full salary for his Navy Rank while he explored. Government facilities were placed at his disposal and he had a commercial sponsor, The National Geographic Society.
Now, Cook was challenging his accomplishment and reputation! There was a lot of money at stake. The person who discovered the North Pole would profit from paid speaking tours, publications, and advertising opportunities -ways to make a lot of money.
WHO WAS FREDERICK COOK?
Dr. Frederick Cook 1906
Frederick Cook witnessed the expensive equipment and supplies that accompanied Peary on his quest for the North Pole. Cook felt this equipment was cumbersome and that the only way to reach the Pole was with a very small, nimble party of Inuit partners.
Peary was infuriated that his claim to reach the North Pole was compromised. Using his political power and connections, he did everything possible to destroy Cook’s reputation. Just as he used his power to ignore Matthew Henson.
Robert Peary in later life
Peary and his associates reached out to destroy Cook. They destroyed his career, his life and even sent him to prison. Cook’s life ended with him as a broken man, cared for by his daughter.
For years, Peary was given credit as the first person to reach the North Pole with Henson and Cook totally ignored.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MATTHEW HENSON?
Matthew Henson in civilian clothing
After the Peary party returned to civilization, Matthew Henson was no longer needed by Peary – it was rumored that their relationship had become strained. Suddenly Henson was out of work, while Peary toured the world as the hero who discovered the North Pole.
President Theodore Roosevelt came to Henson’s rescue by recommending him for a job at the US Customs House in New York, where Henson spent that last 30 years of his life.
Eventually, Henson’s contributions were recognized by the Explorers Club. The US Navy awarded him the same medal that was awarded to Peary. Henson died March 9, 1955 and eventually the caskets of him and his wife were moved to a place of honor at Arlington National Cemetery.
Matthew Alexander Henson, companion and co-discoverer of the North Pole with Robert E. Peary. He is buried in Section 8, Grave S-15-1 in Arlington National Cemetery. (U.S. Army photo by Rachel Larue/released)
Although Frederick Cook was not valued during his lifetime, his dramatic recounting of his dangerous and fascinating voyage of discovery live on in his book “My Attainment of the North Pole”. His amazing journey is a Listen 2 Read audiobook, a part of our American Adventure Library of American History available wherever audiobooks are sold or downloaded, including here: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/379293/?refId=38838
Thank you for being part of the Listen 2 Read American Adventure Library audiobook community
