Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh, Aid Archaeologists

THE IMPROVEMENT ERA Vol. 33-41 3^ FEBRUARY, 1930 No. 4 Colonel and Mrs. Lindberg, Aid Archaeologists Part II — The Aerial Survey of the Maya Region (All photographs were taken by Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh, except where otherwise noted) By DR. A. V. KIDDER Head, Staff of Early American History, Carnegie Institution of Washington COLONEL Lindberg's recent air-survey of the Maya re- gion of Central America affords a fine example of the va- lue of team play. When a great aviator, a great transportation company, and a great scientific agency put their shoulders to the same wheel, that wheel is bound to turn. The project grew out of a combination of agencies and of interests. Agencies Participating THIRST, there was Colonel Lind- bergh who is always seeking opportunity to demonstrate the utility of the aeroplane. Besides, on a former flight, his curiosity had been aroused by glimpses of ancient, jungle-buried cities. Then there was the Pan- American Airways, Inc. This company, engaged in spreading a network of flying-trails over La- tin America, is anxious to for- ward any project which promises to contribute to popular interest in the regions it serves. And, lastly, there was Carnegie Institution of Washington whose staff of archaeologists, earth- bound in the forests of Yucatan for years, had longed for the sweeping view which the aero- plane alone can give. Map of the Maya region showing the course of the day-by-day flights of Colonel Lind- bergh's party and the location of the ruins observed and photographed. General Objectives CUCH was the group that has <-* just successfully concluded the only aerial survey ever made of the Maya region of Central America. Belize, once a stronghold of buccaneers, now capital of British Honduras, was the rendezvous. We met there on October 5th. Col- onel and Mrs. Lindbergh were finishing their swing around the Caribbean. Oliver Ricketson, Carnegie Institution archaeologist came down from his headquarters in Guatemala City. W. I. Van Dusen of Pan-American Airways and I flew from Miami. That evening we laid plans and gather- ed equipment. /^\UR general objectives were: to ^ test the aeroplane as an agency for archaeological explora- tion in tropical countries; and to find out once for all whether the ruins of Maya cities could be lo- cated from the air. Above any- thing else, we wished to get an idea of what the Maya country really looks like. Although archaeologists have been pushing their way into the region for many years, they have been so buried in the welter of for- est, their outlook has been so stifled by mere weight of vege- tation, that it has been impossible to gain a comprehensive under- standing of the real nature of this territory, once occupied by Ameri- ca's most brilliant native civiliza- tion. Such understanding is ab- solutely necessary, because all people, ancient and modern, are largely products of their environ- ment. Hill and plain, water- course and cultivable land shape the destinies of nations more powerfully than do kings and battles.

248 The Improvement Era for February, 1930 Flores is a Guatemalan outpost town situated on a tiny island in Lake Peten. When Colonel Lindbergh and his party landed here the Governor in a launch and the entire population in dug-out canoes came out to the plane to greet the arrivals. Beyond the town are the ruins of Tayasal, the last refuge of the Maya after the Spanish conquest. T^HE labors of many explorers • and scientists have made clear the fact that long before the time of Christ there arose in the New World an independent civilization which culminated in the great cities of the Maya Old Empire. These cities were built and occu- pied while Europe was in the Dark Ages, but they, like Rome, fell, and their high tower-temples and many-chambered palace-monas- teries were engulfed by the jungle. The Maya people then moved northward into what is now Yu- catan, took on a new lease of life and again constructed cities, many of which persisted until the com- ing of Europeans put an end to all native American development. Archaeologists have pieced to- gether a fairly consistent outline of this history but of the Maya country as a whole, of the "lay," so to speak, of the land, we have had, until Colonel Lindbergh's flights, only the scantiest knowl- edge. "Hopping" the Length of Yucatan /^NUR problem was clear. We ^ must cover as much of the area as possible, and learn all we could about if. Our equipment was ideal, a Sikorsky amphibian from the Pan-American Airways fleet, capable of sustained flight with either of its twin motors. It carried a radio outfit, a collapsible rubber boat and emergency ra- tions. Colonel Lindbergh, with his usual thoroughness, added a shotgun, in case a forced land- ing made it necessary to live on the country, and hammocks, cook- ing kit, canteens, medicines and machetes. The general plan was to strike first into the heart of the Old Em- pire region in northern Guatemala and then turn north to fly the en- tire length of Yucatan in a single hop. This would necessitate refuelling at Merida at the extreme northern end of the peninsula. As the dis- tance was so great, and as landing- places were probably non-existent, weight had to be cut to a mini- mum in order that should one en- gine fail, the plane could be counted upon to "hold up" for several hundred miles. Van Dusen and I, therefore, stayed be- hind, and Ricketson, an old hand at Peten travel, acted as observer. ^TAKING off from the harbor ■■ of Belize the morning of Oc- tober 6th, the course was laid di- rectly up the Belize River, cutting straight across its thousand loops and bends, high above the rapids and shallows that make boat travel so slow. A hundred miles inland the plane turned northward into the Peten region. In a few minutes the roof-combs of the great temples of Tikal, queen of Old Empire cities, became visible. After circling low for photographs, a straight shot was made for Uaxac- tun, the oldest known Maya city. This site, which Ricketson has been excavating for the past four Chichen Itza, Yucatan, from the air. At the rear, from left to right are shown: the Ball Court, El Castillo, and the Temple of the Warriors. The cir- cular, tower-like structure in the foreground is the Caracol, thought to have been erected by the Maya for astronomical purposes. Chichen Itza is believed to have been founded not later than 530 A. D. by colonists from the Old Empire region of the Maya to the south and southwest. By 1000 A. D. a Federation of City-States was formed with Chichen Itza as one of the principal units. Under the peaceful conditions which thereupon ensued great buildings of cut stone, elaborately decorated with sculptures and murals were erected on every side. Dissensions within and attacks from without resulted in the conquest of the city, and its abandonment about the middle of the 15th Century. In 1924, under an agreement with the Mexican Government, Carnegie Institution _ of Washington undertook an extensive program of excavation and repair at Chichen Itza, upon which it is still engaged.

The Improvement Era for February, 1930 249 years, was discovered in 1916 by Dr. S. G. Morley of the staff of Carnegie Institution. pROM Tikal to Uaxactun is a very long day's journey by mule-train, a journey which is made possible only after the trail has been cleared. The Sikorsky did it in exactly six minutes! Ricketson's clearing and camp, and the strange, squat, grotesquely sculptured pyramid which he has laid bare were clearly visible, and were photographed as Lindbergh wheeled close above the tree-tops. Later, in speaking of this part of the trip, Ricketson said: "Colo- nel Lindbergh simply could not believe that it is an all-day ride on a mule from Tikal to Uaxactun." He added: "It is not good for an archaeologist to fly over this re- gion, especially if he is going back. The thought of all day on a mule in contrast to six minutes in an arm chair is unsettling. Besides, the ticks don't fly." Speeding Towards Merida "REYOND Uaxactun lay un- ■Ll known, uninhabited country. and Merida was still four hun- dred miles away; hence no devia- tion could be made from a direct northward course. The sea of jungle proved to be unbroken. Hour after hour the green floor of the tree-tops flowed back under the speeding plane. Ninety miles Ground view of the Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, as it now stands after excavation and repair by Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Temple proper rests upon a pyramidal foundation 37 feet high and 136 feet square at the base. The hearting of the pyramid is of masonry and is faced with dressed stone carrying richly sculptured friezes of animals, birds, and warriors. A steep stairway 34 feet wide containing 36 stone steps, gives access to the temple platform. Two stone balustrades four feet wide, carved to represent feathered rattlesnakes, rattles at the bottom, fanged heads at the top, flank the stairway Two massive feathered serpent columns, with heads on ground and tufted tail rising fifteen feet above, divide the temple entrance into a triple doorway. During the third season of work (1926) Earl Morris, in immediate charge of excavations, discovered that the Temple foundation covered a smaller and much older temple. Excavation of this earlier structure has yielded information of great archaeological importance. beyond Uaxactun there appeared a flat-topped pyramid surmount- ed by two temples, the culminat- ing structure of a forgotten and forest-swallowed city. This may be new or may perhaps be a site called Rio Becque, discovered in 1912 by R. E. Mervin, of Pea- body Museum. Northward again the plane sped, over vast stretches of green, until the palm thatched huts of The first air view taken of the ruins of Tuluum, an ancient Maya city. These ruins are the largest and best preserved of the known groups along the east coast of Yucatan. The principal buildings are surrounded on three sides by a wall which encloses an area of about 22 acres now covered with tropical bush. Carnegie Institution has sent several expeditions under Morley to study these ruins. The results are described in publication No. 335, Carnegie Institution of Washington. the first small frontier settlements of Yucatan were reached. Every- one breathed easier in the feeling that they were again over the homes of living men. Thence onward the towns became larger. The forest was dotted with the clearings of Indian cornfields. Fi- nally Merida came into sight and soon the plane settled down upon the landing field. IT HE party were overnight guests -*■ of Governor Torre Diaz, who has done so much to forward the Institution's work in Yucatan. The first objective of the next day was Chichen Itza, largest of New Empire cities, whose temples and pyramids, cleared by the Mexican government and by Carnegie In- stitution, under Dr. Morley's di- rection, showed snow-white a- gainst the green "bush." After leaving Chichen Itza the party turned southward and laid a course for Belize somewhat to the east of the route which was followed the day before. On this return trip the plane passed over country hitherto untraveled; country so densely overgrown that no trace of ruins could be discern- ed. The flights of these first two days covered approximately a thousand miles, much of it over regions never traversed by white men, and none of it ever before

250 The Improvement Era for February, 1930 seen from the spreading viewpoint of the air. At our conference on the evening of the return to Belize we decided that we must definite- ly train ourselves to recognize tree-shrouded mounds and pyra- mids, to pick out from above, the vague, masked outlines of plazas and temples. Over a Terrifying Region C^N the eigth we struck out ^ again for Peten searching for ruins whose general location wc already knew. In this way there were picked up the cities of Yaxha and Nakum and by repeated low circling we taught ourselves this new technique of sky-spying. Soon we were off to Tikal and Uaxactun, thence easward to a small region (probably new) that could be made out on the skyline from above Uaxactun, and so to the Laguna de Peten, where the Guatemalan outpost town of Flores crowds a tiny island in the lake. "^7E paid our respects to the YV governor, who came out in a comb Mountains, dodged be- tween two rain-squalls, and saw to the eastward the silver shine of the sea. The next few minutes brought one of those incredible transitions possible only to the air traveler. We swung to the north, dipped across the coastline and took the smooth water at a little key miles out in the Gulf of Honduras. After anchoring the plane, we pumped up the rubber boat, and rowed ashore. Half an hour after being over that ghastly, broken, interior wilderness, we were com- fortably cooking lunch under the palms by the coral beach. Up the Coast From Belize r\N the fourth day we took off ^ a little after ten, passed north- (?). Indian village (6 palm- leaf huts in clearing) just (2 mi.) W. (12.20) Off N., bush dry and gray, low, and can see ground now and then between trees. High bush seems to have ended at last site. (12.29) Cir- cled low over Indian huts, people running into houses and into bush. (12.35) Six house village. (12.37) Bush dry and deader looking than ever, think some of these trees must shed leaves at this season. Small rain-squalls all about, air bumpy. (12.39) Large, low mound directly below in In- " '\ Indian village south of the Cocks- comb Mountains in very wild and in- accessible country. When the plane first appeared high over head many people were visible about the houses but when it dove down for Mrs. Lindbergh to take this photograph the Indians disappeared, some into the houses and some into the bush. launch to greet us, surrounded by the entire population in dug-out canoes; and then rose to fly south- ward over a vast, flat stretch of alternating savanna and woodland toward the northern tributaries of the Pasion River. These streams traverse a terri- ble and (to fly over) a most terri- fying country, a confused welter of gorges and limestone pinnacles smothered in a jungle so dense, so intertwined, so utterly hopeless to penetrate, save through the foot- by-foot hacking of trails, that I think no one of us failed to give a sigh of relief when we soared over an outlying spur of the Cocks- ward over the coastal swamps, turned inland, and in an hour were beating across the jungle west of Lake Bacalar, where, thanks to our practice of the day before, we were able to pick up three sets of mounds, one of which was evidently the centre of a very extensive city. Here we saw three or four high pyramids, upon two of which could be glimpsed the white walls of temples. Colonel Lindbergh then climb- ed to two thousand feet and head- ed north across the great, flat plain of Yucatan. There were no hills or valleys to break the even spread of the tree-tops. Soon we began to see the sharp eminences of groups of ruins. I quote from my air notes: "Steep pyramid on N. hori- zon (12.05) ; small lakes to N. (12.07) ; another small lake about 6 mi. E. (12.16). Now coming over pyramid (it was visible 20 miles away) . Drop to about 100 feet — group contains one large pyra- mid with three smaller ones 100 yards E. of it on a plaza Lower photograph by Dr. S. G. Morley Upper — Air view of the ancient Maya pyramid at Uaxactun, Guatemala. Lower — Ground view. This remarkable pyramid was built about 2,000 years ago. Hidden by tropical foliage, it was not discovered until 1916 when Dr. S. G. Morley, of the staff of Carnegie Institution, came upon it. For the past four years Oliver G. Ricketson, of the Carnegie staff, has been directing its excavation and study. This pyramid was built of uncut stone and faced with dazzling white stucco. Four stairways lead to the top. Flanking these stairways are colossal masks of fine, lime stucco. The upper pairs are fashioned in the likeness of grotesue human heads, the lower pairs resemble serpent's heads. Near the beginning of the Christian era, the inhabitants, erected a second pyramid above it thus com- pletely covering it and preserving it in perfect condition to our day. Removal of the later structure revealed what is perhaps the most beautiful example of ancient American archi- tecture that has come down to us. dian clearing. (12.43) Turn due W. toward high pyramid sighted by Mrs. Lindbergh and now heading for it across unin- habited country. (12.49) An- other pyramid to N. of first one. Enormous Mounds at Coba '"THESE groups, most of which are probably new, were plot- ted by compass-course and flying time. In some cases, they were still more definitely located by means of bearings taken on distant landmarks. For an hour or more we tacked back and forth, noting sites in all directions, flying close over the

The Improvement Era for February, 1930 251 largest ones and gradually work- ing north until we saw poking up on the horizon the enor- mous mounds of Coba, an ancient Maya site which has been visited by fewer than a dozen white men. By one-thirty we were over it, anxious to land on one of the two little lakes about which the great forest-buried buildings are grouped. ",H[7E dipped and skimmed the water, but Colonel Lind- bergh shook bis head at the high trees on the farther shore and we rose again to circle the tall "cas- tillo" and cross in a split second a swampy lowland that three years before had cost Eric Thomp- son and me a full hour of bitter sweating struggle. Until now everyone had been too busy to think of lunch, but when we swung high again and headed for the coast Mrs. Lind- bergh produced chocolate and crackers. By the time we lit in the ocean to go ashore at the sea- side ruin of Tuluum we had been well fed. That night we stayed at Cozumel island, where Pan- American Airways has a base, re- visited Coba the next morning to recheck our observations, and by ten o'clock were headed for Cuba, Miami and home. Objectives of Survey Accom- plished POURING the flights everyone ~ was constantly busy: Colo- nel Lindbergh with map on knees kept track of courses, wind-drift, and estimated distances to and be- tween objects sighted. Mrs. Lind- bergh, whose eyes are very keen, watched the bush like a hawk, and took the photographs. Van Du- sen, through Ehmer, our crack radio operator, sent bulletins of progress to the Pan-American ba- ses at Miami and Belize. Ricket- son and I filled notebooks as fast as we could write, jotting down observations on topography, na- ture of forest, occurrence of lakes, streams, swamps, and descriptions of the appearance of the ruins pass- ed over. Washington and Lincoln By BRYANT S. HINCKLEY President of Liberty Stake HTO all Americans the month of ■^ February is eventful because it records the birthdays of the first and the sixteenth president of the United States. A span of seventy-seven years stretches between these birthdays, and a short distance in miles be- tween their birthplaces. In appear- ance and personality there was a sharp contrast between these men; in their contribution to their coun- try and the world, there is a strik- ing parallel. Each gave the full measure of his genius and his great- ness to the same cause. Each won. The first is affectionately called the "Father of his Country," and the second the "Savior of his Coun- try," and in neither case is it a mere figure of speech. Washington was born Febru- ary 22, 1732, died Dec. 19, 1799, aged 67 years, leaving a large estate, no children and bequeathing to Americans a character and service beyond price. The records show that he was in the military service of Virginia sev- en years, of the United States a little more than eight years, and was the President of the United States for eight years, serving most of the time without compensation. In all, forty-five years of his life was devoted to public service. There was a sympathy and tender- ness, in the following event, which was not often manifest in the life of the general : Cornwallis surrendered on the nineteenth of October, 1781, and the Treaty of Peace was concluded in Paris in 1783. The British forces left American soil and Washington resigned. The part- ing of the men with the com- mander was deeply touching. Ad- dressing them, Washington said, "With heart full of love, and gra- titude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your lat- ter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable. I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but I shall be obliged if each one of you will come and take me by the hand." Not a word was spoken. In turn each officer came forward, shook hands and embraced the commander. All then silently followed him to the ferry, where he embarked for Washing- ton.Thus closed his military career Theodore Parker said of him, "No ruler of the Anglo-Saxon stock has obtained so great a repu- tation for the higher qualities' of human virtue. For more than one thousand years no statesman or soldier has left a name so much to be coveted. None ever became so dear to the thoughtful of man- kind. In the long line of generals, kings, and. emperors, from the first monarch to the last president or pope, none ranks so high for the prime excellence of heroic virtue." ABRAHAM LINCOLN A BRAHAM LINCOLN is one ^ of the most universally be- loved men in all history, and he deserves to be. The story of his overcoming the difficulties of his early life and his rise to such a great eminence from beginnings so hard and lowly, has put hope into the hearts of thousands of struggling boys. His resolute stand for the right has helped countless souls to be true to their obligations and ideals. His kindliness of heart and unfailing charity toward friend and foe makejnalice and intoler- ance seem little and ignoble. His firm reliance upon the over-ruling power of God, and the ultimate triumph of righteousness sustained the nation during the awful con- flict, and finally won the war. One of the picturesque and im- pressive things in our national history is the calling of the sad- faced, great-hearted, man of the plains to the White House when the tempest of a mighty civil war was about to devastate the land. During the dark hours of that ter- rible storm, his gaunt figure shone through the smoke and din of bat- tle like the rainbow of promise, and in those days of peril his sublime faith in God is scarcely surpassed by the faith of the He- brew prophets. Before the awful war had begun he said, "I know there is a God and that he hates in- justice and slavery. * * * If he has a place and a work for me, and I think he has, I am ready." Clear in his thinking, strong for the right, he stands as the tenderest memory of the age.