labrys, études féministes/ estudos feministas
janvier/ juin / 2014  -janeiro/junho 2014

Adventuring Beyond Civilization:  Harriet Chalmers Adams, Early 20th Century Explorer

 Durlynn Anema

Abstract

         Harriet Chalmers Adams, renown explorer, writer and lecturer in the early and mid 1900’s, explored both to satisfy her own curiosity and to interpret and express the similarities of people around the world.  Her remarkable gift for dramatization made her a favorite on the lecture circuit as well as writer and photographer extraordinaire.   Her two and a half year forty thousand mile journey in South America was the signature exploration she used in her lectures and articles for National Geographic Society, and as a comparison in later travels to that continent.  Fascinated by Spanish culture since childhood, she visited every Spanish possession or former possession and followed the trail of the conquistadors around the world.  She also visited every Native American tribe in the United States to examine their linguistic roots.  During World War I, she was the first female correspondent to visit the front-line trenches, then used that experience to raise money for war relief.  As the first president of the Society of Woman Geographers, she established a society so strong it is still active today -- over ninety years later.  Her goal through the written and spoken word was to gain respect for all people on earth and for the land and resources therein.

Key Words: Spanish culture, Linguistic roots, Conquiistadors, World War I .Society of Woman Geographers , Native American, National Geographic Society, South America

     “There is no reason why a woman cannot go wherever a man goes -- and further.  If a woman be fond of travel, if she has love of the strange, the mysterious and the lost, there is nothing that will keep her at home -- all that is needed for it, as in all things, is the driving passion and the love.”  (The Daily Main, Charleston, West Virginia, December 15, 1920)

         Adventure and the excitement of travel dominated Harriet Chalmers Adams’ life from the time her father tossed her into the saddle in front of him when she was two years old.  When she learned to ride a horse, their travels increased.  While her mother and younger sister Anna enjoyed the luxury of resorts, Harriet and her father explored new areas of California and the West.  This set the first goal of her future life -- to travel and explore.

         “Our summers were spent in the saddle,” Harriet later wrote. “Dad and I preferred to mount a horse and gallop away to some wild mountain range which we had never before visited . . . My father had no boys, so I took a boy’s place.  I always rode with him and learned to love the out-of-doors.”  (Boston Daily Globe, May 24, 1914)  They rode from the Sierra Nevada foothills to high mountain peaks, from the central valley to the seacoast -- and occasionally to the Rocky Mountains of Alexander’s native Canada.          At eight-years-old Harriet and her father made a horseback trip “all in the saddle”, through the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and along the California coast.  “That journey made me over, from a domestic little girl fond of knitting and skipping rope to one who wished to go to the ends of the earth and to see and study the people of all lands,” Harriet said later.  (Kansas City Post, Kansas City, Missouri, February 25, 1915)

         A swim in the cold Pacific Ocean set the second goal for her life.

On this August day, 1886, eleven-year-old Harriet felt her small, thin body chill as she immersed herself up to her neck in the icy waters at Santa Cruz, California.  She plunged forward, propelled by the strength of her arms and legs, a tiny figure dwarfed by Monterey Bay’s surging currents.  She swam to a stationary wooden platform 250 yards from shore, touched its side briefly, then turned and headed back to the beach.

The Stockton Record on August 14, 1886 proclaimed her swimming feat:  “Yesterday in Santa Cruz . . . Hattie Chalmers of Stockton, a girl of about 11 years of age, swam from the wharf to the Neptune raft and then to the shore without resting.  The young swimmer has had but little experience and as the distance is at least 500 yards it was considered a wonderful performance.”

The newspaper article was Harriet’s first official publicity, setting her second goal -- to attain publicity and fame.

Harriet was born in Stockton, California on October 22, 1875.  This bustling inland sea port was in California’s San Joaquin Valley east of San Francisco.  Her parents were Alexander Chalmers who had moved from Eastern Canada to the Coloma gold country in California.   There he met her mother Frances Wilkins who was from a pioneer family in the area.   They married, then moved to Stockton when Alexander and his brother opened a dry goods store.  The Chalmers family was an integral part. of this bustling era for Stockton.   Often Harriet walked from their house five blocks away to visit the store, enjoying listening to her father entertain the store’s customers with his adventurous tales.  When by herself, she sometimes boarded the horse car that was Stockton’s main transportation to explore south, east and north (west was the San Joaquin River).

Reading was a favorite activity Harriet shared with her mother and Anna.  The books she devoured plus the tales related by her mother and father whetted her appetite for adventure.  Enamored by tales of faraway lands, Harriet exclaimed, 

“Someday I’m going to visit that land.  And then I will write my own adventures.” (Fresno Morning Republican, 1907O :ctober 4)

When Harriet was 14-years-old, Alexander decided on a long, dangerous journey -- to ride and explore California from the Oregon border to Mexico.  Much of their exploration would be along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

School was not a factor in this journey.  Since her eleventh birthday, she and sister Anna were schooled at home by private tutors.  This enabled Alexander to take Harriet on explorations whenever he managed to leave work.  She developed abilities in data collection and insisted on being thoroughly systematic in all research -- a trait which aided her as an explorer, geographer and historian.  Her father taught her observation techniques and the ability to retain impressions of all places visited.  In addition, she possessed an affinity for languages -- becoming fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and French and easily learning the basics of native languages wherever she traveled.

In addition to their regular schooling, the girls spent hours with their father as he shared both his business knowledge and his love of philosophy and history.  Combined with an avid interest in natural history and Spanish history, Harriet had a broad educational background.

Harriet and Alexander started their year long exploration in early spring 1889, riding to the Oregon border through the Sacramento Valley.  Their goal was to progress through the trail’s higher sections during summer, then reach the easier, lower elevations by late fall.  Often, the trails were so narrow they had to ride single-file.  She later wrote:

“One is always alone on the trail; others may be ahead and others behind one but the trail is so narrow that there is never any being alongside.  Up there in the Sierras [. . .] .gave the opportunity to be alone on the trail and to gather those things that are learned by a few in the silence that lies under the stars and in the deep wood and on the bosom of still waters.”  (Stockton Evening Mail, 1907:October 28)

When they reached the Mexican border, Harriet became the first white child to cross many trails in the Sierra Nevada chain.  “I was an explorer when I was too young to realize it,”  she said later.

“This wonderful journey stirred powerfully my imagination and set a thousand gypsy spirits to dancing in my blood.” (Stockton Evening Mail, 1907: October 28)   The trip also helped Harried decide her life work. 

Petite at five feet two inches tall with luxuriant brunette hair and brown eyes, Harriet led an active social life.  She attended parties and dances regularly with several partners.  Yet one man stood out from the rest -- Franklin Pierce Adams.

Close to six feet tall, Frank was born in Napa, California on October 9, 1868.  He descended from a pioneering family, also.   He graduated from Stockton High School, then studied engineering.  When he began serious courtship of Harriet he was employed as an electrician for the Stockton Gas and Electric Company.  Harriet enjoyed Frank because he wasn’t like the other men she knew, and had a wonderful knowledge of geography, history and philosophy. 

Harriet and Frank were married on October 5, 1899 in Stockton.  No extended honeymoon followed the marriage because they agreed to travel abroad as soon as finances and opportunity prevailed.  Their first home was in a rooming house in Stockton.  They did not want to settle into a home at this time, thinking first of travel.

When Frank received a job in Mexico surveying that country’s mines, Harriet went with him.  She was ‘thrilled by Mexico and its culture -- not the big cities, but the rural areas, ancient culture, historical landmarks and ancient Indian and Mayan archeological sites.  Her history books had related a different story than she experienced.  This disturbed her, unable to understand why she hadn’t been taught more about this ancient culture.

Frank found Harriet to be an adaptive, eager traveling companion.  She quickly adjusted to any terrain, any mode of travel and was not adverse to lodging in a native hut or camping in the wild.  At the end of their sojourn in Mexico, Harriet begged Frank to find more survey work -- anything that could keep them traveling.

Their love continued unabated for thirty-seven years, with a partnership that was unusual for this time period.  When Harried died in 1937, three years before Frank, he felt lost.  Each became productive in his and her own right, respecting the need for fulfillment and encouraging accomplishments.  Their only heartache was the realization early in their marriage that Harriet  could not have children.  This fact drew them closer together.

After returning from Mexico, they settled into the Imperial Hotel in Stockton and began thinking of their next journey.

The opportunity to travel in Latin America came in 1904 when Frank accepted a job inspecting Central and South American mines owned by U. S. companies.  Although the job did not compensate for all expenses, it paid their passage to Latin America.

Eagerly, Harriet began research about Latin America, reading fifteen books about the region.  As she read she slowly realized the immensity of the undertaking.  South America contained a country -- Brazil -- larger than the United States (at that time).  It would take years to see everything.

Harriet and Frank worked out an itinerary for their trip.  First they would honor mining contracts.  Then they would follow the trail of the conquistadors however it led, studying the early civilizations, both of the Spaniards and the Incas and other primitive people who were there when the Spaniards came.   She planned to write and lecture about the journey, so minute notes of each area visited must be compiled.  Her journals would require special care.  Frank had learned photography during his studies and taught the skill to Harriet, so they could visually document their experiences.  They decided on colored slides, black and white photographs, and motion pictures as the best mediums to compliment Harriet’s writing.  The necessary film, bulky cameras and motion picture equipment meant extra luggage.  But they knew the trip might expand to three years and they wanted to be prepared.

As Harriet packed, she considered the dinner parties she might attend and what clothes would be appealing. However, after her many trips with her father in California and with Frank in Mexico, she knew she must be practical.  Into the trunk went riding and hiking boots, split skirts for riding, long sleeved shirts to repel mosquitoes and other insects, and a warm coat for the chill nights of the Andes. 

  On January 9, 1904  Harriet and Frank boarded their ship in San Francisco to start the journey.   Her only problem during the ship’s sailing, a problem which bothered her on all subsequent sea trips, was seasickness.  By January 11 she recovered to enjoy the sights along the coasts of California, Baja California and Mexico.  They stopped in several ports in Mexico, always with letters of introduction for port officials to recognize them as more than tourists.

They stayed in El Salvador a few weeks, visiting a coffee plantation.  Their arrival in Panama City coincided with the revolt in November 1903 making Panama an independent republic,   The United States quickly recognized the new nation, speeding through a treaty to allow the Panama Canal to be built.

Harriet was excited to finally be near South America, her ultimate destination.  They stayed briefly in Guayquil, Ecuador and small ports along the coast in February, then arrived in Callao, Peru on March 2, 1904.  From there they planned to journey to Lima to spend the month.   During the two months she had been gone, Harriet wrote every day in her journal, plus writing several long letters home.  These “home letters” became the basis for future articles, describing every detail of their travels, from colors of native clothing to what they ate for dinner.

On March 26 they left Lima and boarded another ship in Calloa to sail to Mollendo, Peru.  Here they disembarked and traveled to Arequipa to begin acclimatizing themselves to the altitude, and preparing for their eventual journey into the Andes.  To begin their high altitude trip, they first journeyed, to La Paz, Bolivia, the ten thousand foot capital.  From La Paz they would return by lake and take the railroad to Tirapta, where they would begin their saddle trip of one thousand miles across the Andes.

Traveling to La Paz necessitated a trip on the second highest railroad in the world, connecting Mollendo with Lake Titicaca   This was the highest lake on earth to be steam navigated, one hundred and twenty miles long and sixty miles wide at an elevation of 12,500 feet.  Harriet called it a “Lake of the Clouds.”

La Paz had only recently become accessible to the outside world through the building of the railroad.  Consequently, few people traveled there, which thrilled Harriet.  The local color had not yet been marred by modern civilization, which she described as a “despoiler.”   Their small hotel balcony overhung the street.   Each morning they would stand and watch the passing of colorfully clad natives.  She felt it was

“[…]a play staged and costumed by a master hand ...The curtain was rung up in the early morning, distant trumpeters announcing the prologue.”   (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “Kaleidoscopic La Paz:  The City of the Clouds,” National Geographic, February, 1909)

         After a few weeks the delights of La Paz had to be surrendered to other plans.  The return voyage across the lake was rough and disagreeable.  A number of passengers suffered from seasickness or from soroche, altitude sickness.  The Adams escaped this misery because of their gradual ascent of the Andes.  Armed with excellent Spanish and complete maps of the valleys and the Andes region, they were ready to start their inland journey. 

Frank’s contract with the Inca Mining and Rubber Company required inspection of mines in remote areas on the Andes eastern slope.  To accomplish their journey they needed horses, pack animals and whenever possible a guide.  While in Tirapata they met Danny, an English naturalist who decided to travel with them, and Pedro, who would be their guide.  The couple planned to live as natives, so started only with what they could carry in  saddlebags.   Sleeping conditions were either on dirt floors of  huts or in  the open.   They ate what the natives ate, wanting in all things to accommodate themselves to the culture.

“When I started the first year, I sailed for the continent of South America much as a prima Donna starts en tour.  […]I soon got used to roughing it […] but I never lost my love for cold cream, my one comfort, which kept my face from cracking in the Andean cold.  I managed on all my trips to get along well; and I’ve wondered why men have so absolutely monopolized the field of exploration. […] I’ve never found my sex a hinderment; never faced a difficulty which a woman, as well as a man, could not surmount; never felt a fear of danger; never lacked courage to protect myself.”  (from Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)

When they reached the 17,000 foot Pass of Aricoma the view was overwhelming.  Their plans called for a swift descent down the eastern Andes and into the tributaries of the Amazon River.   Harriet and Frank now were ready to travel from the summit of the Andes, called the “Roof of the Western World,” to an area known as “the inside” -- impenetrable jungle stretching three thousand miles from the Andes to the Atlantic. They crossed the Peruvian Cordillera, a desolate highland at an elevation of 17,000 feet, enduring a “terrible” road and freezing snow storm during the fourteen hour journey.

Slowly, they descended into a cavern of mist.  They had four saddle horses and one pack mule laden with canned food and ammunition.  Rifles hung from the pommels of the saddles; blankets and cameras were strapped behind, and every saddle bag bulged with necessities for the wild.  Harriet was enthralled by the scene, thinking Peru was like

“[…]a tall, gray-stone house with a steep flight of steps leading up to the roof. . . . Behind this chilly, drab house lay nature’s loveliest garden (the jungle), without a decent stairway down to it.  The traveler . . .slides off the roof.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)

Slide they did -- down one of the steepest, slipperiest trails Harriet had ever seen.  The trail took them into the Aganlani Canyon -- beautiful, mist enshrouded, with rain falling in torrents.  They had started at dawn to cross the Andes, hoping to avoid the daily noon snowstorm.  Their starting point was Crucero, a tiny Indian hamlet in Southern Peru, three miles above sea level and extremely cold.   They continued to slip down the trail through water torrents spilling over rocks.  By dusk they had dropped five thousand feet.  Ahead was a mud-walled, thatch-roofed settlement straggling along both sides of the stream.   Quichua Indians manned this frontier outpost.   Not one Indian was visible in the village, so they gathered they would not be welcome.  However, Pedro stayed behind.

At this point, the trail left the river and climbed the cliff.  It wound along a stony ledge with a sheer drop of a thousand feet to the canyon below.  Not until midnight did the three adventurers find a hut on the edge of the forest.  They had spent nineteen hours in the saddle.  The hut was owned by an American mining company.  An American man stayed there to oversee incoming provisions and mail and outgoing gold and mail.  Danny left them at this point to collect butterflies. 

Reluctantly, Frank and Harriet decided to proceed by themselves the next day. The paths were narrow, sometimes so narrow the horses had to go on their own and Harriet and Frank had to crawl on their hands and knees.  The daily storm drenched them, huge rocks fell ahead and behind.  When they came to the river and found the bridge washed away and the river roaring, they realized the horses could not brave the torrential water and had to remain behind.  Then they began what she later called “their circus act on the long, slippery log, high above the roaring river.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)  She became so dizzy that in mid-stream she lost her footing and Frank had to pull her out of the river by her hair.

                                    picture from the book of Durlynn Anema "Harriet Chalmers Adams, adventurer and explorer,1997:North Carolina, Greensboro

When their finally reached the Ianambari River, their journey was almost over.  It had taken them five days to reach the mines, from April 19, 1904 to April 23, 1904.  Weakly they staggered into Santo Domingo and the mine and were heartily greeted.  The twenty Americans living there were certain the Adams had been lost in the floods or over a precipice.

he mining company had gone to great expense to entice Americans to work there, offering several “luxuries” including hot water and electric lights, amazing conveniences in an isolated outpost.   Harriet and Frank were able to relax and regroup.  After a six-day rest they were ready to venture into the “inside country”, a region which had thrilled Harriet when she read about it in The Big Geography.  Few of the rivers had names as yet, and all of the country beyond the mine was marked “unexplored” on the Peruvian maps.  It was rumored to be peopled by savage natives who had seen few white men and no white women.

The Adams were joined by the mine’s doctor and an engineer.  A new guide was added along with fresh horses and a sturdy cargo mule.  They were armed, having to depend largely on game for food.  As the group started the trip, they looked back on the many ranges they had crossed..  Then they turned toward their trail  in a long, winding canyon through which they were to descend to the plain.

They left their horses at a rubber camp and made the next part of their journey by foot.  It was especially difficult traveling for Harriet as they hacked and forced their way through jungle brush, feet sinking in the trail’s soft mud.   Finally, they reached the Peruvian frontier post of Puerto Candamo -- a few shacks perched at the meeting of two navigable rivers.  Harriet and Frank had descended from seventeen thousand feet in the Andes to twelve hundred feet above sea level. 

Now they would venture into the land of the Chunchos, a powerful tribe who had remained unconquered by the Incas.  Fortunately, the previous white explorers had been kind, so the Chunchos were inclined to be friendly.  Also, when a solitary white man arrived with a ”chinani” as they called a woman, the wilderness people regarded it as a friendly call.

A canoe ride took them to La Union, their final destination in the “inside.”  They stayed for two nights, resting and swimming in the river.  Harriet had become the first white woman to travel from La Union to West River.

The return to Santo Domingo took two days.  While Frank began his inspection of the mines, Harriet enjoyed some leisure time.  She mailed several “home” letters.   After eleven days at Santo Domingo, the Adams began their return to the Andean highlands.  Harriet almost hated to leave these luxuries.    Her journey “:inside” had been one of the triumphs of her life.  In later years she would recall this epic journey:

“You may wonder how I managed in the wilds with scanty equipment.  I relied on Dame nature.  She had vine-screened bathtubs in the river, soft leaves for towels and bark for soap in the forest.  It is amazing how well groomed one can be, with care, even without the luxuries of civilization. . . . Since the expedition into the “inside” country of Peru, we have reached many other unmapped regions where I have been the first white woman, yet no other land has been so dear to me . . . the greatest lure lies in that enchanting forest country on the other side of the Andes.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “Sliding off the World’s Roof,” 1915,Ladies Home Journal, November)

The return up the Andes was both treacherous and exhausting.  From near sea-level they climbed higher and higher, mile after painful mile.  In later years, Harriet was certain the strenuous climb had strained the valves in her heart.  At fifteen thousand feet they were caught in a driving blizzard, and lost their way.  Leaving the pass of Aricoma, they mistakenly turned toward the Poto mine.  Each night seemed colder than the one before.  Stumbling into Poto, they found a house and a friendly host.  However, at the seventeen thousand foot altitude, neither Harriet or Frank felt like  eating. 

  picture from the book of Durlynn Anema "Harriet Chalmers Adams, adventurer and explorer,1997:North Carolina, Greensboro

 After a two day rest at Poto, they were eager to leave the cold weather.  The end of May was the Andean winter time, and each day felt colder than the last.  Four days over the pampa would take them to Tirapata and a real bed in a hotel.

In Tirapata, they decided to hire a private vehicle to travel to the ancient city of Cuzco.   Then they could stop wherever they wanted to view scenery, natives and ancient ruins.   Their highway was the Old Inca Highway, which had been used since before the Spanish conquest and was worn by the feet of many pilgrims, llama trains, and varied travelers.  Each mile moved them closer to the past.  Finally, they reached Cuzco.  Seeing the city was the culmination of a childhood dream for Harriet. 

“When at last I found myself in the Andean country, on that portion of the old Inca Highway stretching from Lake Titicaca to the ‘City of the Sun’ I knew that dreams sometimes come true.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “Along the Old Inca Highway,” National Geographic, April 1908)

Vehicles were not allowed in the city.  Instead, burros and llamas were everywhere.  Several moved along the streets, hidden by the bundles they carried.  The city was as interesting and picturesque as Harriet had imagined. 

The Quichuas interested Harriet more than any other native.  She felt theirs was a heart rendering history.  They were gentle, fond of one another, patient and uncomplaining.  Fascinated by their beautiful and expressive language, she soon learned it, which gave her entrance to free conversation with them.  She took photo after photo of the Quichua, showing their life in the town and rural areas. 

From Cuzco, Harriet and Frank traveled north to the Valley of Yucay on June 24. 

Their descent into Yucay by a steep, narrow, winding trail, put Harriet into an exalted mood, thrilled to finally see these ancient areas.  They stayed in Urubamba, then rode down the valley over a trail following a winding river.  Passing through peaceful villages, they came upon surviving terraces and moss-hung ruins.  The fortress of Ollantyatambo guarded the lower entrance of Yucay.   No posadas existed in any villages they visited. While they enjoyed the historic sites and scenic vistas, they slept in less than ideal places -- a room where maize was spread to dry, a filthy room of a hospitable hacienda owner, and the offices of the village Prefect.

Travel through the highlands was long and difficult with little food and less water.  The rivers and brooks were polluted by sewage.  They met few travelers except the highland Indians.  Harriet felt they had left civilization far behind. 

“Even the Spanish colonial days have faded,” she said to Frank.  “We are in the old Peru before the conquerors arrived.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)

By July, they were traveling toward the coast.  When they again reached Arequipa, they decided to climb Mt. Misti, a 19,200 foot peak.  Mt. Misti was a cold and arduous trail ride.  The travelers rode for an hour after dark.  Even after finding a hut, they were cold in their sleeping bags.  Sunrise was worth all the pain.  As they rode to the summit on the lava trail, Harriet could feel her heart beating from both the altitude and the sheer glory of the shimmering mountain.  When they reached the top “the most wonderful and comprehensive view” was another experience she would treasure.  (Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)

Much of the remaining South American trip in 1904 was on a boat of some type -- cattle boat, sailing vessel, canoe, even a whaling vessel.  From the highlands, they returned to the Peruvian coast and sailed south to Chile.   Their first Chilean town was bustling Antofagasta with many cars and stores.   They reached Valpariso on August 17 and stayed there a month before journeying inland to Santiago, the capital.  Several train and boat rides later they arrived at Harriet’s favorite Chilean city, Valdivia, a German settlement.  She considered it one of the loveliest cities on the continent.  Their base city during time in Southern Chile was Corral. 

They took a cattle boat, then a whaling vessel to make the trip through the Strait of Magellan.  Later, they would call it “some of the finest scenery in the world.” (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “Along the Old Inca Highway,” Ladies Home Journal, November 1915)   At the same time, Harriet fended off her old traveler’s demon -- seasickness.  The boat rocked until Harriet felt like she couldn’t stand it.   Then the magnificently high glaciers came into view, coming right down to the sea.

Another goal was met -- they had reached the southern-most tip of South America.  Here they found a ship bo Harriet fended off her old traveler’s demon -- seasickness und for Buenos Aires.  During the voyage, the ship docked in small harbors and they were able to explore many native towns.

The Andean journey had been difficult, but Harriet and Frank had no regrets about the severe traveling conditions.

“To know a country and a people, one must leave the highway and live near to Nature.  We traveled much in the saddle on this great elevated plateau -- over a thousand miles on a single journey -- and gradually my viewpoint changed.  I started as an outsider[...] In time I grew, through study and observation, but more through sharing the life .  , and find [...] my greatest heart interest lies in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia.”  (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “Along the Old Inca Highway,”  Ladies Home Journal,  April 1908)

Harriet and Frank enjoyed a month of rest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, then returned by ship to southern Argentina in early 1905 to hire horses and guides to travel the length of the country from Patagonia to Buenos Aires.  During another stay in Buenos Aires the Adams mapped out a route to the Matto Grosso country of Western Brazil.  This rich Brazilian province meant Frank could inspect the diamond and gold mines as part of another contract.

To accomplish the trip, they sailed on a steamer up the La Plata river until it branched into the Parana River which eventually flowed into the Paraguay river in Bolivia.  Upon reaching Eastern Bolivia they switched back to horses, then rode to Matto Grosso and the mines, then throughout Paraguay.  While in Paraguay, Harriet bought a huron, which she called the dearest pet animal” of her years in South America. 

After the mine inspections, the Adams sailed the Upper Parana River to Igauzu Falls on the Brazilian/Argentine border.  Harriet took photos from every angle from sunrise to sunset.  They also visited Uruguay and its capital Montevideo, then sailed north along the Brazilian coast.

Rio de Janeiro was a welcome contrast from the primitive living conditions they had experienced on this latest trip.  They called it a handsome city with a wonderful harbor and stayed long enough to enjoy its civilized comforts before forging on to the Amazon.

Harriet found the mouth of the Amazon River disappointing.

“It looks more like a wide and dirty brown lake flowing into the blue sea than a river,” she told Frank. (Harriet Chalmers Adams journal)  

They began their westward Amazon journey on steamers accompanied by passengers.  By the time they arrived at the branches and tributaries they were in canoes.   As often as possible, they stopped in huts to view the home life of the natives and study their customs.  It took three months to explore the Amazon forest. 

Reluctantly, they returned to the Amazon’s mouth, this time at its northern terminus to wait for transportation.  The North Brazilian coast was not a normal sailing route.  Finally, they found a captain who agreed to take them to Cayenne, French Guiana.  But the captain deserted them at a port in the far Brazilian north with no transportation in sight.  Frank searched for a ship or other type of vehicle, with no success.  They decided to continue to French Guiana on horseback.

Harriet became the first woman to make the journey along the coast from the Amazon river to Cayenne, French, Guiana.  Enroute to Guiana, she and Frank spent three months in the forest with the Indians and the Bosch Negroes.  These Negroes had descended from slaves who were sent into the jungle by the slave owners, who did not want to pay taxes.

The arduous trip ended on the Oyapoc river, the boundary between Brazil and French Guiana.  Again, they navigated the length of this river, stopping in Indian huts.    She almost died during this part of the journey after eating a fowl killed with a poisoned arrow.  For twenty-four hours she hovered close to death, with civilization and medicine beyond reach.  After a week, she was able to resume the journey.  A sailing vessel came to the village to take the Adams back to civilization.  To her grief, she lost her pet huron, who died of eating the same meat.

All three of the Guianas were visited, each one small enough to be a welcome change after the immensity of Brazil.  They traveled by canoe and sailing vessel, up one river, down another, visiting native villages, exploring the jungle, and tracking wildlife.  To complete their South American sojourn, they spent almost two months in Venezuela.

By this time, it was January 1906.  Harriet noted in her journal on January 9th it had been two years since they left San Francisco.  She also wrote her fifty-first “home” letter.   Her spirits revived when they journeyed to Curacao, a beautiful tropical island in the Caribbean.  Here they swam and  rested as Harriet prepared articles and lectures for their return home.

Columbia was their final South American destination.  Harriet was delighted with Cartegena, calling it the second most wonderful ancient city visited (after Cuzco).  The entire month of April she and Frank poked into old ruins, met the people, and prepared more lectures.   On April 29, 1906 they returned to Panama.  Traveling by trail and canoe across the Isthmus of Panama, they were fascinated by the changes in two years as construction of the Panama Canal continued.  Then they caught a train to Panama City, their circuit of South America completed.

As Harriet and Frank stood on a high point overlooking the Pacific ocean and gazed back on the continent they had traversed together, they became so emotional they could not speak.  Hardships, dangers, and discomforts were forgotten in that moment of accomplishment.  They had completed a journey made by only a few people -- and none of whom had been a woman.

One barrier stood between Harriet and Frank’s plans to continue traveling -- money.

Frank’s expertise as an engineer paid for their trip to Mexico and part of the expedition through Central and South America.  Alexander Chalmers provided the rest of the finances.  But they knew they could not continue to rely on Harriet’s father.  It would be necessary to find a way to finance future trips.   The best way to accomplish this was to move to New York City to find a job willing to pay them for their skills.

On May 16, 1906 they boarded a ship for their return to the United States -- and New York City.   Frank’s stay in New York City was brief.  With his expertise in Latin America, he easily found a job with the Bureau of American Republics (Pan American Union) as an editor.  His home base would be Washington, D. C.  Harriet did not want to settle down as a wife supervising a home.  What could she do after all her adventures?  How could she earn extra money to continue traveling?  Her answer came quickly.

Harriet had kept a complete journal of her Central and South American journey, had written over fifty detailed “home” letters, and had taken three thousand photos and dozens of motion picture rolls.  Would other people be interested in what she had seen?

She sent a letter to Gilbert Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society, summarizing her travel in Latin America and offering to lecture to the Society.  Grosvenor was entranced by the vividly worded circular she enclosed with the letter.  He invited her to Washington, D. C.  Harriet selected slides to illustrate her lecture techniques, and practiced telling about exciting travel incidents.  She easily won Grosvenor’s confidence with her sparkling presentation.  He asked her to lecture before the National Geographic Society.

Her interview with Grosvenor led to a lifetime friendship.  She worked with the National Geographic Society for nearly thirty years.  She published two articles in National Geographic Magazine in 1907, and in the years ahead she had as many as three published annually -- a total of twenty-two during her lifetime.

Harriet’s National Geographic Society lecture was enthusiastically received.  Members were charmed by this petite woman describing adventures undertaken by few men.   She had a sense of drama which mesmerized her audience -- a human narrative, humorous, warm, descriptive, making her audience feel part of the adventure.  Her appearance also was dramatic.  She selected red satin or velvet gowns to compliment her dark brown hair and dark eyes, wanting to convey the image of a feminine woman who could endure the trials of a man.  Often, reporters referred to her as “[…] this demure young woman in the startling red velvet gown.”  (New York Times, August 18, 1912)

The photographs taken by Frank and Harriet added a third dramatic element.  They were the first people in the United States to use natural color photography professionally in slide illustration.  Thus, her lectures were enhanced both by stereopticon slides and motion pictures.

Lecturing became a way of life for Harriet.   Several educational groups, in addition to National Geographic Society, sponsored her lectures.  Payment for her lectures began at forty dollars and increased over the years to six hundred dollars.  Fees for her articles started at forty dollars and increased to six hundred dollars.  On one occasion she received a thousand dollars for an article.

  Organizations throughout the United States wanted Harriet to lecture because of her dynamic presentations.  First she would present her illustrated talk then spend another hour answering questions.  In February 1911, the delegates to the Pan-American Commercial Conference, opened by President Howard Taft, heard this introduction:  “Mrs. Adams is recognized as the foremost woman authority on our sister republics, having traveled extensively . . .”  Her illustrated lecture on trade with Latin American countries concluded with a standing ovation.

   One of her greatest triumphs was her address in August 1911 to the Associated Advertising Clubs of America convention.  It was the first time in the organization’s history that a woman took part in the formal convention ceremonies.  The media was mesmerized, showing their enthusiasm with comments like:   “Harriet Chalmers Adams is America’s greatest woman explorer.  As a lecturer no one, man or woman, has a more magnetic hold over an audience than she.”  (New York Times. August 1911)

While Harriet enjoyed her lecturing, she also longed to continue to explore.  Frank was involved in his new job, so wouldn’t always be able to go with her.   Their next travel together occurred in 1910.   She wanted to trace Columbus’ movements along the coast of the island he discovered on his first voyage -- Hispaniola.   This island contained two countries -- Haiti and Dominican Republic. 

Havana, Cuba was their first stop on May 8, 1910, then on to Hispaniola.  They created a sensation when they landed by arriving with five trunks, a large camera, a moving picture machine, saddles, blankets and a complete camp outfit for the horseback trip through the interior. 

In Hispaniola, the Adams first circumnavigated the island, touching all historic points.  Then they began their horseback trip, traversing the mountains east-to-west.  The entire journey encompassed seventeen days and 510 miles.  They were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people in the sparsely inhabited rural areas.  They also enjoyed finding a rare animal -- the solenodon.  Only one specimen had been caught prior to their trip and it had died before it could even be photographed.  They found five solenodons and took them back to the United States to be divided between the National Zoo in Washington, D. C. and the Bronx Park Zoo in New York City.

Following the routes of Columbus and meeting the native people motivated Harriet to continue studying the history and original languages of the native people of Central and South America by traveling by herself.  She was determined to do research in many areas: (1) to study the manners and customs of the peasantry of Latin America and the descendants of the ancient Incas; (2) to study the Spanish heritage not only in Latin America but the Pacific Islands and Asia;  (3) to trace the Asian roots of native Americans, an interest arising during her first trip to South America.  Spanish customs and speech had fascinated her since her childhood in California’s rich Spanish and Mexican atmosphere so returned to Central and South America, and the West Indies, then decided to visit every land ever possessed by Spain.  She also became interested in tracing the Asian roots of native Americans during her first trip to South America.  To support her ideas, she knew she needed to travel to the Pacific and Asia.

  Frank decided to take a leave of absence from work to go on the six month trip she planned to the Far East.  They left in late May 1913, first sailing to the Hawaiian Islands.  Harriet lectured and visited Hawaiian native villages.  They briefly stopped in Japan, then sailed on to the Philippines, one of the places once occupied by the Spanish.   They started in Manila, then went to the islands of Luzon, Ceub, Mindanao, Sulu and Borneo -- plus touching British Malay and Singapore.  During all these stops, their main purpose was to meet the natives.  Harriet saw rajahs and head hunters, tigers and pythons -- enthralled by the picturesque life.

After those adventures they sailed to Hong Kong, then to Shanghai.  They boarded the Shanghai-Nanking Railway to cross China and go to the Gobi Desert and Manchuria. There they met and lived with the Mongols.  The trip ended with a ride on the Trans Siberian Railroad. They later called this trip traveling the fringe of Asia from Siberia to Sumatra. 

As she traveled through Asia, Harriet became convinced that the ancient Americ peoples came by sea (possibly in broken stages) from Asia.  She first made this announcement in a communication to National Geographic Society.  She expressed confidence that a closer study of the Malay, Chinese and Tibetan people, as compared to American prehistoric civilization would throw new light on original Americans.  In the Philippines she saw Ifugao warriors who resembled Aymara chiefs of the Andean highlands.  She took numerous photographs to compare with her photographs of Peruvian and Bolivian natives.

A story in the April 11, 1914, edition of the Washington Post was headlined FIRST AMERICAN NATIVE OF ASIA. 

“After a thorough study of the peoples along the fringe of Asia from Siberia to Sumatra in her effort to trace the original American, Mrs. Harriet Chalmers Adams, one of America’s foremost women explorers, in a communication to the National Geographic Society yesterday, expressed the opinion that the Ancient “Americ” peoples came by sea, possibly in broken stages from Asia.”  (“First American Native of Asia,”  Washington Post, April 11, 1914)

To support her theory, Harriet had records of twenty-five small boats that apparently were blown across the Pacific.   She speculated the following groups were descendants -- the Incas, the Quichua people, the Mayas, the Toltecs and Aztecs, and the Pueblo Indians of the United States -- especially the Zuni-Hopis.    She was adamant about this study because she hoped

“[…]to really give something of value to the world.”  (“First Americans Native of Asia,”  Washington Post, April 11, 1914)

   World War I interrupted Harriet’s travels, but did not fringe her adventurous spirit.  She was scheduled to sail on the Lusitania in May 1915 when her father became ill and she cancelled her trip.   The Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans on May 7, 1915. 

Harriet could not resist the urge to be involved with the war effort.  By 1916, she had found an assignment as a war correspondent.  Equipped with credentials and photographic equipment, she sailed for France in June, 1916.  She disembarked at Havre and took the train to Paris to present her credentials.  She was representing Harpers Magazine as a correspondent and also studying war conditions under the auspices of the American Fund for French Wounded.

Officials could not believe a woman wanted to go to the war front.   However, as they studied her resume they recognized she was well-prepared for the hardships of war after her three years in South America plus her other numerous explorations.

She took a train to Nancy which was only five miles from the front and being bombarded by the German’s most powerful guns.  

First she interviewed townspeople to hear their experiences during this war time.  Then she visited the first-line trenches of Champagne.  Four male correspondents and Harriet were in the contingent that made the trip early October 1916.  They traveled under a military escort and remained an entire afternoon.  The soldiers were amazed to see Harriet, never before having seen a woman in one of these trenches.  There she was, camera and motion picture camera in hand, unafraid , smiling and secure.

Harriet went throughout the trenches.  As she interviewed she was amazed at how the men had outfitted the dugouts, including planting flowers.   When she was about to leave, a soldier reached above the trenches and picked a bouquet of red poppies, white daisies and blue cornflowers.  The other correspondents quickly gathered for a picture opportunity.  This photo appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the world -- a young soldier, a brave woman and a bouquet of flowers.

When Harriet arrived home she began touring and speaking on behalf of the war effort.  Her purpose was two fold.  She also planned to write about Native Americans and to visit every Indian reservation as she lectured.  Sometimes she spoke six times in one day.  Her tours brought in thousands of dollars for war relief.   She had traveled to the front as a correspondent -- but would forever be remembered as a humanitarian.

Harriet’s search for the ancestors of America’s native population led her on one more quest -- to visit every linguistic branch of aboriginal America from Alaska to Terra del Fuego as she continued to study the history of aboriginal America.   She reached this goal in two ways.  As she lectured on behalf of the war effort, she visited every United States reservation, visit historic sites and museums related to that region’s Native Americans.   She was convinced an original common language existed during prehistoric times and as people moved and developed their own cultures language changed creating the present diversity.

Part of her study was a revisit to South America to update her lectures and articles.  In 1919 and 1920, her return included frontiers not reached on former journeys.  She traversed the entire length of Chile and studied the Arancanian Indians.  From Chile she journeyed to Argentina, Paraguay, Eastern Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil with extensive time spent in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.  This was not her first return to South America.  In the Fall of 1909 she made a trip on the Transandine railway, the final link in the 888 miles of rail that connected Buenos Aires on the Atlantic with Valparaiso on the Pacific.  She then wrote an article for National Geographic.

She continued to take trips:  to the Amazon; to the historic city of Cajamara where Pizarro met Atahualpa, the last of the Inca rulers; overland down the Chilean Coast to the lake country of South Chile and Patagonia.  Her mode of travel varied from train to sailing ship to saddle and canoe.  As a result of her Latin America travel, Harriet made closer relations between the women of North and South America a major goal. 

“The time has come for the women of the Americas to know one another[…] We can learn much from the women of the South -- lack of affectation, gentleness of manner, conservation of nerve force.”   (Harriet Chalmers Adams, “The Women of the Other America,”  The Ladies Home Journal, October 1916)

Following the trail of the old Conquistadors, she went to the Azores, Madeira, Portugal and Spain, then followed “things Spanish” into Moorish Africa.  She and her sister Anna spent a year of travel and research in Spain and Morocco.  They criss-crossed French and Spanish Morocco in every imaginable conveyance -- mule carts, oxcarts, mountain railways.   She explored the Iberian peninsula from the rock of Gibraltar at its outer tip, to the tall Pyrean mountains across its northern border.  Not content with Madrid and Seville, Barcelona and parts of Granada all tourists knew, she dug in the remote towns, traveling through the forbidding mountains edging Portugal.

At the end of these journeys, Harriet said: 

“I feel now that I have collected information that will take a lifetime to study, I have seen more than one lifetime could help to fathom but I have done enough to call attention to some new things.  And it is now my life work to formulate the results of my travel.  It is these results I am looking to, and not back at the adventures.”  (Harriet  Chalmers Adams, Letters to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor)

Harriet accumulated honors over the years.  In June, 1913, the Royal Geographical Society of London selected her as a member, the first American woman to receive the honor and only the third woman to be selected.  She was elected a corresponding member of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia in 1911.   Honors came from Latin America in appreciation of her honest appraisal and love of both the area and the people -- including Societies in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Dominican Republic.

However, she was frustrated that most geographic societies had women as secondary members only.  Therefore, she was thrilled in Spring 1925 when four friends met to discuss formation of a society for women geographers.   Their goal was to bring together women explorers whose work involved extensive travel in their investigations of little known or unique places, people, or things in the world -- establishing the Society of Woman Geographers.   Harriet was chosen as the first president in December 1925.  She insisted on having high standards for active membership, which was limited to those, who, by publishing the results of their studies, added to the world’s knowledge of some portion of the globe. 

  At her death, Society members saluted her: 

“It was not an easy task, mothering and nurturing this group from a tiny nucleus to a widespread organization, unifying its widely separated members into a whole.  But Harriet Adams sent out her own fresh energy and enthusiasm till it vibrated throughout the organization even to its most distant parts, and today the Society of Woman Geographers stands as a monument to her vision, her zeal and her devotion.”  (In Remembrance, Society of Woman Geographers, 1938 as a tribute to Harriet at her death.)  It remains a strong organization eighty years later.

In 1926 Harriet received the worst news of her life when she fell off a cliff while exploring Spain’s eastern seacoast.  A Spanish doctor told her she would never walk again, that she had broken bits of vertebrae and her spinal column would never knit.  She sailed home to New York strapped to a rigid board.  Frank met her ship.  For two years she lay strapped to the board within four narrow walls encased in a plaster cast and steel braces, rigid and uncomplaining as she gave her sturdy body time to heal itself.  Through it all, she remained president of the Society of Woman Geographers and retained her sense of humor, determined to conquer her injury.

  Her persistence paid off.  In the winter of 1928 she announced she would walk again -- and travel again.   By June 1928 she was ready to travel and over the next two years completed her projected tour of every country that ever belonged to Spain or Portugal.  During her 1930 East Africa trip, she attended the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, on his invitation.

Frank retired in January 1934 -- and wanted now to do more travel.  Harriet put on hold her plans to write a book about her travels and theories, going with him to Spain to live.  They traveled throughout Europe and the Mid-East.  By November 1936, she was seriously ill with a kidney inflammation she felt had resulted  from a bout of influenza during the summer.   Later speculation was her early trips into South America and a hospitalization in 1920 may have been the cause of this current illness.

Harriet died in Nice, France on July 17, 1937.

Her death was announced in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, London Times, Time magazine and newspapers throughout South America where she was dearly loved and respected.  The little girl from Stockton, California had lived the life of adventure she sought, going far beyond her early goals.  She gained the love, respect and admiration of millions the world over in the process.

References

Adams, Franklin Pierce, Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

________, Personnel File, Bureau of American Republics, Washington, D. C.Adams, Harriet Chalmers, Personal Scrapbooks, San Joaquin County Historical Society,    Lodi, California.

__________, Personal Journals P(In private hands)

__________, Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

__________, Correspondence with Gilbert Grosvenor, President, National Geographic          Society, Archives, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.

Crosby, Susan.  Harriet Chalmers Adams.  Thesis, San Joaquin Delta College,    Stockton, California, May 1983.

Davis, M. Kathryn.  The forgotten Life of Harriet Chalmers Adams:  Geographer,        Explorer, Feminist.  Master’s Thesis, California State University, San Francisco,       California, April 1995.

“Harriet Chalmers Adams, Our Fabulous Foremother.”  California History Magazine,   March 1, 1987, 32-3.

James, Edward T., Editor, Notable American Women, 1607-1950.

Martin, V. Covert.  Stockton Album:  Through the Years.  Stockton, California: Sirard   Printing Company, 1959.

Who Was Who in America, Volume 1, 1897-1942.  Chicago:  The A. N. Marquis         Company, 1942.

Biography:

Durlynn Anema, Ph. D., wrote “Harriet Chalmers Adams:  Adventurer and Explorer, 2nd Edition” after the first edition sold out.   The new edition included more details of Harriet’s childhood which provided the impetus for her desire to explore and to seek fame.  New sources also were added.  The book is available through Amazon.com.
Durlynn loves research and has written 16 books -- textbooks, biographies, self-help -- plus two newspaper columns.  She taught communication at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California before embarking on her writing career full time.  She continues to volunteer as a family counselor and travel throughout the world when not writing.  Durlynn resides in Lodi, California enjoying her quiet times beside the river as well as swimming, hiking and being with grandchildren.

labrys, études féministes/ estudos feministas
janvier/ juin / 2014  -janeiro/junho 2014