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July 24, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Machu Picchu Commemorations

A story told to some of the early Spanish chroniclers noted a mythical place from which the Incas had come when they started out and to make the beginnings of that great empire which was to embrace a large part of South America.

Thousands of years ago there lived in the highlands of Peru a megalithic folk who developed a remarkable civilization, and who left, as architectural records, such cyclopean structures as the fortresses of Sacsahuaman and Ollantaytambo. These people were attacked by barbarian hordes coming from the south – possibly from the Argentine pampas.

They were defeated, and fled into one of the most inaccessible Andine cañons. Here, in a region strongly defended by nature, they established themselves; here their descendants lived for several centuries. The chief place was called Tampu Tocco.

Eventually regaining their military strength and becoming crowded in this mountainous valley, they left Tampu Tocco, and, under the leadership of three brothers, went out of three windows (or caves) and started for Cuzco.

The migration was slow and deliberate. They eventually reached Cuzco, and there established the Inca kingdom, which through several centuries spread by conquest over the entire plateau, and even as far south as Chile and as far north as Ecuador.

This Inca empire had reached its height when the Spaniards came. The Spaniards were told that Tampu Tocco was at a place called Pacaritampu, a small village a day’s journey southwest of Cuzco and in the Apurimac Valley.

The chroniclers duly noted this location, and it has been taken for granted ever since that Tampu Tocco was at Pacaritampu. (National Geographic, 1913)

Tampu means “tavern,” or “a place of temporary abode.” Tocco means “window.” The legend is distinctly connected with a place of windows, preferably of three windows, from which the three brothers, the heads of three tribes or clans, started out on the campaign that founded the Inca empire.

“So far as I could discover, few travelers have ever taken the trouble to visit Pacaritampu, and no one knew whether there were any buildings with windows, or caves, there.” (Bingham)

Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu, on November 19, 1875, the son of missionaries to Micronesia and grandson of Hiram and Sybil Bingham, leader of the Pioneer Company of Missionaries to Hawaii. He completed his studies at Yale, earning a doctorate in Latin American history.

In 1905, Bingham made his first trip to South America, following the route of Simón Bolivar, from Caracas, Venezuela to Bogotá, Colombia. He returned in 1908 and retraced the Spanish trade route from Buenos Aires to Lima.

While in Peru, in February, 1909, he visited Choqquequirau, a recently discovered Inca site that had once been thought to be the last refuge of the Inca rulers after they were defeated by the Spanish explorer, Francisco Pizarro. This visit inspired him with the desire to find the legendary “lost city of the Incas.”

In 1911, Bingham went back to Peru with two goals: to climb Mount Coropuna to see whether it was higher than Mount Aconcagua and to seek out the last capital of the Incas, the almost mystical city of Vilcabamba.

Arriving in Arequipa, in June 1911, he decided that it would not be wise to try to make the climb in winter and instead decided to look for ruins in the valley of the Rio Urubamba. (Encyclopedia)

“In 1911, a young Peruvian boy led an American explorer and Yale historian named Hiram Bingham into the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. Hidden amidst the breathtaking heights of the Andes, this settlement of temples, tombs and palaces was the Incas’ greatest achievement.”

“Tall, handsome, and sure of his destiny, Bingham believed that Machu Picchu was the Incas’ final refuge, where they fled the Spanish Conquistadors.”

“Bingham made Machu Picchu famous, and his dispatches from the jungle cast him as the swashbuckling hero romanticized today as a true Indiana Jones-like character.” (History)

“Some experts believe that parts of the city, which Bingham named Machu Picchu (Old Peak), are 60 centuries old, which would make it 1,000 years older than ancient Babylon. More recently, if its ruins are interpreted correctly, it was at once an impregnable fortress and a majestic royal capital of an exiled civilization.”

“Built on a saddle between two peaks, Machu Picchu is surrounded by a granite wall, can be entered only by one main gate. Inside is a maze of a thousand ruined houses, temples, palaces, and staircases, all hewn from white granite and dominated by a great granite sundial.”

“In Quechua, language of the sun-worshipping Incas and their present-day descendants, the dial was known as Intihuatana—hitching post of the sun.” (Time)

Four different plaques commemorate the ‘find.’ Two plaques attached to a rock face near the entrance to Machu Picchu pay tribute to Hiram Bingham and his “discovery” of Machu Picchu.

The first plaque was erected in October, 1948, by the Rotary Club of Cusco. It reads (in Spanish): “Cusco is grateful to Hiram Bingham, scientific discoverer of Machu Picchu in 1911.” The second was put in place in 1961. It reads (also in Spanish): “Tribute to Hiram Bingham on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu.”

The second was put in place in 1961. It reads (also in Spanish): “Tribute to Hiram Bingham on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu.”

A third bronze plaque marks the 75th anniversary of the “scientific discovery” of Machu Picchu. It doesn’t mention Hiram Bingham, nor does it mention anyone else, apart from a reference to the “sons of Inti” who built Machu Picchu (Inti being the Inca sun god).

In 1993, Peru’s National Institute of Culture decided it was time to pay tribute to the locals who helped Hiram Bingham find his way to Machu Picchu. The sign reads: “The National Institute of Culture Cusco pays homage to Melchor Arteaga, Richarte and Álvarez who lived in Machu Picchu before Hiran [sic] Bingham.” (Atlas Obscura)

Melchor Arteaga was instrumental in Bingham’s expedition to Machu Picchu. A local farmer living at Mandor Pampa near Aguas Calientes, Arteaga knew the location of Machu Picchu and showed Bingham the way.

The other two names, Richarte and Álvarez, refer to two men and their families who lived up near Machu Picchu and still farmed on its lower terraces when Bingham arrived.

Bingham and Arteaga met Toribio Richarte and Anacleto Álvarez on their tough trek up the steep, jungle covered mountain. It was Anacleto’s son, Pablo, who on July 24, 1911 guided Bingham along the last leg of the trek, into the heart of Machu Picchu. (Atlas Obscura)

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1948 Plaque-Machu Picchu
1948 Plaque-Machu Picchu
1961 Plaque-Machu Picchu
1961 Plaque-Machu Picchu
1993 Tablet-Machu Picchu
1993 Tablet-Machu Picchu
hiram-bingham
hiram-bingham
Trapezoidal entry doors at Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.
Trapezoidal entry doors at Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.
The staircase leading up the Machhu Picchu.
The staircase leading up the Machhu Picchu.
Machu Picchu NatlGeo
Machu Picchu NatlGeo
Machu Picchu NatlGeo
Machu Picchu NatlGeo
Temple of Three Windows
Temple of Three Windows
Temple of Three Windows
Temple of Three Windows
Inca Story, Peru
Inca Story, Peru
The ruins of Machu Picchu.
The ruins of Machu Picchu.

Filed Under: General, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Hiram Bingham, Hiram Bingham III, Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham II

July 24, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Adventures of a University Lecturer

Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu, on November 19, 1875, to Hiram Bingham II, an early Protestant missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

He was the grandson of Hiram Bingham I, who in 1820 was the leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi.

He attended Punahou School and ultimately earned degrees from Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University.

In 1900 at the age of 25, Hiram III married Alfreda Mitchell, heiress of the Tiffany and Co fortune through her maternal grandfather Charles L Tiffany. With this financial stability he was able to focus on his future explorations.

He taught history and politics at Harvard and then was a lecturer and subsequently professor in South American history at Yale University.

In 1908, he served as delegate to the First Pan American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile. On his way home via Peru, a local prefect convinced him to visit the pre-Columbian city of Choquequirao.

Hiram III was not a trained archaeologist, but was thrilled by the prospect of unexplored cities. He returned to the Andes with the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911.

“The first day out from Cuzco saw us in Urubamba, the capital of a province, a modern town charmingly located a few miles below Yucay, which was famous for being the most highly prized winter resort of the Cuzco Incas.”

“Its ancient fortress, perched on a rocky eminence that commands a magnificent view up and down the valley, is still one of the most attractive ancient monuments in America.”

Continuing on down the valley over a newly constructed government trail, we found ourselves in a wonderful cañon. So lofty are the peaks on either side that although the trail was frequently shadowed by dense tropical jungle, many of the mountains were capped with snow, and some of them had glaciers. There is no valley in South America that has such varied beauties and so many charms.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

“We camped a few rods away from the owner’s grass-thatched hut, and it was not long before he came to visit us and to inquire our business. He turned out to be an Indian rather better than the average, but overfond of ‘fire-water.’”

“His occupation consisted in selling grass and pasturage to passing travelers and in occasionally providing them with ardent spirits. He said that on top of the magnificent precipices nearby there were some ruins at a place called Machu Picchu”.

“He offered to show me the ruins, which he had once visited, if I would pay him well for his services. His idea of proper payment was 50 cents for his day’s labor. This did not seem unreasonable, although it was two and one-half times his usual day’s wage.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

On July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the ‘Lost City’ of Machu Picchu (which had been largely forgotten by everybody except the small number of people living in the immediate valley.)

“(W)e found ourselves in the midst of a tropical forest, beneath the shade of whose trees we could make out a maze of ancient walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of granite, some of which were beautifully fitted together in the most refined style of Inca architecture.”

“A few rods farther along we came to a little open space, on which were two splendid temples or palaces. The superior character of the stone work, the presence of these splendid edifices, and of what appeared to be an unusually large number of finely constructed stone dwellings, led me to believe that Machu Picchu might prove to be the largest and most important ruin discovered in South America since the days of the Spanish conquest.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

His book “Lost City of the Incas” became a bestseller upon its publication in 1948; he also wrote “Across South America” (an account of his journey from Buenos Aires to Lima, with notes on Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.)

After his return to the United States, he attained the rank of Captain in the Connecticut National Guard.

He eventually became an aviator and organized the United States Schools of Military Aeronautics to provide ground school training for aviation cadets, as well as commanded an aviator school in France.

Hiram III was elected governor of Connecticut in 1924; he was also a US Senator.

‘Lost City of the Incas’ and Hiram III have been noted as a source of inspiration for the story and ‘Indiana Jones’ character.

Hiram Bingham I (reportedly a basis for James Michener’s Abner Hale character in ‘Hawaii’) is my great-great-great grandfather and Hiram III is my great-great uncle.

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Hiram_III_at_Espiritu_Pampa_ruins_1911
Hiram_III_at_Espiritu_Pampa_ruins_1911
Hiram (III) at his desk
Hiram (III) at his desk
Hiram Bingham III and Alfreda Mitchell Bingham
Hiram Bingham III and Alfreda Mitchell Bingham
hiram-bingham-NG
hiram-bingham-NG
Machu-Picchu-expedition
Machu-Picchu-expedition
Machu-Picchu-typical houses
Machu-Picchu-typical houses
Machu-Picchu-rockwork
Machu-Picchu-rockwork
Machu-Picchu-Hiram-Bingham
Machu-Picchu-Hiram-Bingham
machu-picchu-1913-NG
machu-picchu-1913-NG
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu stonework-NG
Machu Picchu stonework-NG
Machu Picchu 1911
Machu Picchu 1911
Hiram_III-at-Machu-Picchu
Hiram_III-at-Machu-Picchu
Hiram_III_at_Espiritu_Pampa_ruins_1911
Hiram_III_at_Espiritu_Pampa_ruins_1911
Hiram_Bingham_III-Machu_Picchu-Book_Cover_Combo
Hiram_Bingham_III-Machu_Picchu-Book_Cover_Combo
Machu-Picchu-Now
Machu-Picchu-Now
Machu Picchu stonework
Machu Picchu stonework
Machu Picchu terracing
Machu Picchu terracing
Machu Picchu sunrise
Machu Picchu sunrise
Hiram Bingham II and Minerva Clara Brewster-1866
Hiram Bingham II and Minerva Clara Brewster-1866
Hiram_(I)_and_Sybil_Moseley_Bingham,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse
Hiram_(I)_and_Sybil_Moseley_Bingham,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse
Machu Picchu map
Machu Picchu map
Machu Picchu welcome sign
Machu Picchu welcome sign

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Hiram Bingham, Hiram Bingham III, Machu Picchu

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