Best of The History Guy: Weird Biography

foreign [Music] Victoria was just 18 years old when she became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on June 20th 1837. her extraordinary 63-year and seven month long Reign represented an astounding growth of Empire when she ascended to the throne in 1837 the British Empire was in Decline as history extra the official website of the BBC history magazine notes in 1837 the empire was just a jumbled collection of territories that have been acquired in bits and pieces over the generations in less than 30 years of Victorious Reign that Empire would quintuple in size by the end of the century it was the largest Empire the world had ever known ruling over a quarter of the earth's land mass and a quarter of the Earth's population there are many explanations for the extraordinary growth of the British Empire in the Victorian era but not least among them were the Redcoats of the British army we could spend dozens of episodes talking about officers of the Victorian Army and we may well in the future but I think no officer represents a more harrowing example of the officers who grew and preserved Victoria's Empire then the strange story of field Marshal Sir Henry Evelyn wood a man of extraordinary bravery and weak Constitution the exploits and ailments of field Marshal Evelyn wood are history that deserve to be remembered born Henry Evelyn wood although he never went by the name Henry Evelyn wood was the fifth and youngest son of a vicar Sir John pagewood born in a vicarage near Braintree Essex February 9 1838 wood came from a distinguished family his paternal grandfather had been mayor of London paternal Uncle would become Lord High Chancellor his maternal grandfather had been an admiral in the Portuguese Navy and a maternal Uncle would become an admiral in the Royal Navy still despite being a baronet Sir John pagewood had difficult supporting his large family on a vicar salary and Evelyn Woods struggled with finances for much of his life Evelyn studied briefly at Marlborough College an institution founded to teach sons of the Church of England clergy but discipline there was harsh and after receiving what he thought was an unjust beating he begged to leave school and joined the Royal Navy at the age of just 15. he was able to secure an appointment as a midshipman an officer of the lowest rank due to the efforts of his uncle who was at the time a post-captain there was a little formal training for officers at the time and none in classroom they began service aboard the 110 gun first-rate ship of the line HMS Queen he passed his midshipman exam just in time to sail for the brutal war in the Crimea it was in this conflict that Evelyn wood just 16 years old would demonstrate what seemed to be a virtually required trait for a successful officer in the British military in the Victorian era an almost suicidal bravery wood was assigned to the naval contingent Naval Personnel serving on land he was part of the crew that operated a battery of large Naval guns bombarding the Russian Citadel at Sebastopol the capital of the Crimea firing the cannon would leave Evelyn hard of hearing for the rest of his life Woods bravery at the battery first drew the attention of the commander of the naval Brigade Royal Navy Captain Sir Robert peel who's the son of the former prime minister for leading a party bringing a powder to his battery Under Fire an action which peel described as Gallant wood would engage in many other notable acts of Bravery exposed himself to fire to repair a piece of broken Battlement during an artillery exchange the theft roof of a Powder Magazine was set to light nobody dared approach as the magazine could explode but Young Wood climbed on the roof and managed to stamp out the fire in the summer of 1855 the Allies attempted to break the siege via a number of abortive attacks on the Russian defenses in June the British began a suicidal assault on a strategic part of the Russian defenses in what became called the battle of the great Redan the battle consisted of frontal assaults on a fortification during which they suffered heavy casualties some 6 000 British Soldiers and Sailors would be killed or wounded in days of fruitless assaults wood had been made peels Aid to Camp during the battle and participated in assault on June 18th during his attack the 17 year old midshipmen carried a scaling ladder and was the only one in the assault to reach the Redan his left arm was shattered by grape shot from a Russian cannon and he was knocked unconscious he was saved by a Corporal from an Irish regiment who managed to bring him to Consciousness by shaking his wounded arm the soldier took him back to a doctor with the Irish regiment who according to Woods Memoir said sit down boy and I'll have your arm off before you know where you are wood then had to manage an escape from the Irish doctor making it back to the naval contingent where he was able to convince the doctor to save the arm his various acts of Bravery LED peel to recommend wood for a new medal one that had not yet been officially established but was rumored called the Victoria Cross it was what's first but not his last recommendation for the highest award in the British Armed Forces for Valor in the face of the enemy the award wasn't granted at the time but he did receive the French Legion of Honor and the ottoman order of the medity wrote Wood's father you'll be glad to hear that not only did your son show the most beautiful courage in battery but his conduct in manners are his exemplary as his courage perhaps most useful Woods bravery attracted the attention of Lord Raglan commander of the British Army in the Crimea who wrote a letter complementing him but the wound the first of many to come in the life of Evelyn wood refused to heal and he was invalid at home in many ways this wound could be said to be emblematic of the travails of Evelyn wood as it was healing the wound pushed out bone splinters he managed to reopen it twice once while hunting and another time when he fell down the Barrack stairs when he left the Navy and joined a Cavalry unit the 13th light dragoons is at Coronet a move made possible because of the letter from Lord Ragland his arm was still in a sling upon joining this regiment he was almost immediately posted back to the Crimea arriving in January 1856. but unfortunately for wood he saw no more battle in the Crimea he was struck down with both typhoid and pneumonia it was hospitalized at scutari in one of Florence nightingale's hospitals illness was not uncommon in the filthy conditions in which the armies lived in the Crimea a war in which more than four times as many britons died of disease than to battle the conditions there may have been part of what spurred wood to push for reforms within the Army in his later career but for what it was the beginning of a pattern wood would suffer constant medical complaints and injuries during his long career in addition to typhoid fever and pneumonia he suffered from chronic neuralgia and indigestion and had bout to malaria dysentery and sunstroke he had periods of deafness eye problems and toothache he was a chronically excitable Man Who Would often work until exhaustion and not surprising given all his actual conditions was an inveterate hypochondriac he also suffered numerous injuries and Avid Hunter he was described as an expert Horsemen in a crack shot and it still had frequent Falls and accidents while hunting in the hospital for five months he became so emaciated that his hip bone started to protrude through his skin he was only saved because his mother came to visit him when she saw one of Florence nightingale's nurses strike her ill son she demanded to bring him back home where she nursed him back to health by October 1857 he had recovered enough to secure a transfer to the 17th Lancers that allowed him to go to India to fight in the sepoy rebellion the Indian rebellion of 1857 was a Revolt by some regiments of the Native soldiers called sepoys of the British East India Company Army there were many reasons for the rebellion and early War for Indian independence which only took place in parts of the country but the fight was brutal for both combatants and civilians although it would arrived towards the end of the Rebellion the 20 year old Lieutenant saw enough action to be recommended a second time for the Victoria Cross this time for a single-handedly routing a group of mutineers who had surrounded him but he was also well himself he suffered from sunstroke fever a type of facial neuralgia that gave him what he called face egg and chronic indigestion he mysteriously lost his hearing for a period of time and Medicine he used for a toothache burned a hole in his cheek while hunting he rode into a tree and broke his collarbone another time he was Bitten on the hand by a wounded tiger which was killed in the nick of time by another officer in one of his most bizarre injuries he was visiting a local prince who had a menagerie that included a giraffe another officer bet him he could not write it wood climbed onto a balcony and managed to ride the animal but there was no good way to get off he fell and the giraffe stepped on his face his cheekbones came through both cheeks and his nose was crushed he breathed with an audible wheezing noise for the rest of his life yet he was as Brave and daring as ever after Rebellion ended many of the rebellious sepoys became Bandits December 19th 1859 wood leading just 10 cavalrymen charged a group of 80 Bandits he killed several and Scattered the rats rescuing two hostages that were being held for ransom the action earned him his third Victoria Cross recommendation and this time it was awarded but illness returned in 1860 and stricken with fever he returned to England he attended Staff College a place where he made many important connections most notably he impressed Garnet Woolsey one of the most famous generals in the Army in fact touted by the press as our only General the two never became good friends but Woolsey was impressed by Wood's energy and intelligence wood would become one of those officers that Woolsey took with him on his campaigns a group that came to be called the Wolseley ring but Evelyn wood was still Evelyn wood while at Staff College he went hunting fell off his horse and landed on the crown of his head so that quote his neck swole up larger than his cheekbones giving the appearance of a giant double goiter his children caught a fever and he helped nurse them back to health but it caused so much stress to him that he got insomnia a doctor prescribed morphine and he nearly died of an overdose in 1873 Woolsey was selected to lead a campaign in one of the series of conflicts against the Ashanti Empire on Africa's Gold Coast Woolsey selected wood a reverent Lieutenant Colonel to be his transport officer and to raise a native regiment wood who had suffered numerous tropical diseases and chronic medical complaints over his entire life went but he was not allowed to bring a servant because the Army said the climate was particularly fatal the Constitutions of Europeans in addition to his normal medical complaints he was taking laudanum and chloridine for his intestinal complaints in the brief Skirmish wood was struck in the chest by an Ashanti firearm the weapon was a Smooth Bore gun that used rocks or pieces of metals ammunition and a nail was stuck in Wood's chest near his heart doctors decided that it was too risky to remove and the nail stayed with him for the rest of his life would only stayed on the stretcher for a brief time before getting up and leading his troops well these troops had arrived in January 1874 and the war was over by July Victory made was a household name in England and raised the reputation of wood who was knighted in 1878 wood went to South Africa where he served on the staff of Lieutenant General Augustus theisiger and part of the series of Border Wars called the HOSA Wars wood had a good reputation although a subordinate wrote about him he's so Plucky that he imagines that everyone is like him and would lead us into trouble if there's any serious fighting his medical conditions followed him however and AIDS complained that they had to carry a virtual chemist shop with them to treat all his ailments wood earned thysiger's respect and win in 1879 Britain went to war with the Zulu Kingdom the general by then having inherited the title Lord Chelmsford appointed wood to command one of the three columns attacking into Zulu land the anglo-zulo war was a messy campaign where the British army suffered notable defeats and as a result was called a graveyard of reputations for the officers involved but not so for Evelyn wood when chencer's Central column faced the devastated feat at the Battle of this in Awana Samford sent a note to Wood saying You must be prepared to have the whole of the Zulu Army on your hands any day wood made his own missteps with his Cavalry being defeated in the March 28th Battle of flowbane but the next day the Zulu Army attacked Woods well-defended camp in the battle of kambula wood showed his shooting prowess in the battle reportedly killing a Zulu Chief at a range of 250 yards the Zulu were defeated and what was the turning point in the war and would the hero while the defeat at cambulla convinced the Zulu chief keechwayo that he could not win the war the war continued until the defeat of the Zulu Army at the Battle of alundi in July but wood was still wood became so hard of hearing that when he went to inspect his sentries at night and Aid always went with him because they were afraid he wouldn't hear a Sentry's Challenge and get shot in 1881 wood was sent as a second in command when the British went to war with the Boer republics what arrived too late however for the first anglo-bore Wars the British force was defeated in its Commander Sir George collie killed at the disastrous Battle of mujab Hill instead of continuing the fighting wood was ordered to negotiate an unpopular treaty despite the fact that he was following orders Wolseley was furious with him and he was still Evelyn wood while traveling in an artillery wagon the horses were spooked by a snake and bolted running the wagon into a termite Mound what was thrown out of the wagon Landing with his spine across the back of one of the horses an injury which caused his feet to swell to enormous size eventually wood would become so hard of hearing that Wesley complained that he grew hoarse from yelling at him by the end of the 1884-85 Nile Expedition where wood was responsible for transport Woolsey said that wood was so disabled from diarrhea that he could scarcely stand for more than a few minutes during the campaign he sat in a folding chair and accidentally cut his finger in the joint crushing the tip so that it was like jelly in his later career wood served in several important commands in England where he became an army reformer he pushed for better food clothing housing sanitary conditions and medical care for soldiers Queen Victoria liked him very much she described him as a remarkable man not only an admirable General with plenty of Dash as well as Prudence but a man of what can be called Imperial views he was made adjutant general of the army and in 1903 was promoted to the rank a field Marshal and yet he was still Evelyn wood in 1897 59 years old and a full General in the Army he took up the new craze of bicycling in London he accidentally ran his bicycle into a horse that was pulling a Hackney cab and the horse bit him on the arm so hard that it left a mark that like the Ashanti nail and the nose crushed by a giraffe and the loss of hearing from his time in the Navy lasted him for the rest of his life in 1900 he took a fall while hunting and it drove a crucifix that he had been wearing that had belonged to his late wife into his rib cage some accounts claim that Victoria's armies were in action somewhere in the world during every day of her 63-year seven-month reign it was officers like Evelyn wood that held the empire for her majesty wood retired from active service in 1904 although field Marshals never officially retire after leaving active service he wrote several books he was made under a kernel of the 14th Middlesex volunteer Corps and in 1911 was appointed Constable of the Tower of London Field Marshal sir Evelyn wood VC passed away peacefully at home in his bed in 1919 of heart failure at the age of 81. in 2017 a woman was arrested in Los Angeles claiming to be a German heiress she had managed to defraud and deceive various institutions in hotels and people of some 275 thousand dollars she called herself Anna delvey but her real name was Anna Sorkin the evening standard wrote of her if Anna delvey didn't exist then playwright Aaron Sorkin would have to have invented her or perhaps Roald Dahl or F Scott Fitzgerald or James Elroy although these literary Titans might have struggled to create a fiction as outrageous as the one that Anna Sorkin created for herself but she was by no means the first or most outrageous imposterous to sell a story that would well put daytime television to shame in the 1770s a woman arrived in America claiming to be the sister of Queen Charlotte queen of Great Britain and Ireland it is history that deserves to be remembered on an evening in the fall of 1764 a young woman appeared at the door of Thomas boxall Vauxhall lived near the border of the counties of Surrey and Hampshire south of London in a fairly isolated and dangerous area near what they called The Devil's punch bowl politician William coblet called the area certainly the most villainous spot that God has ever made it wasn't the sort of area where a young woman Vauxhall thought that she was about 20 years old would be expected to travel alone she was Slender had black hair and pale complexion and an identifying Speck or blemish in her right eye she said she was lost and voxel concerned for her offered her lodging until she could get back on her feet the woman introduced herself as Sarah wills browson and claimed that she had been thrown out of her home by her father a nobleman in addition to his wife Thomas had a son also named Thomas of about 17. Thomas the younger and Sarah seemed to be growing close and Sarah mentioned that she had a large Fortune some 90 000 pounds waiting for her in London soon Sarah suggested that she and the younger Thomas should marry and the offer was very happily accepted they were married on December 17 1764. Thomas boxall and Sarah Charlotte Lucerne wilbrson as she signed her name to get her fortune and her husband a commission she told her father-in-law she needed to be equipped in a genteel manner Thomas boxel mortgaged his property for 100 pounds and Sarah the younger Thomas and several of his friends went to London where they lived in an expensive manner for 10 days Sarah was off every day but every night she had some excuses to why she could not access her funds until the money ran out and Sarah disappeared Thomas and his friends were forced to sell their horses in order to settle the bill on January 5th they managed to wander home penniless and abandon they were some of Sarah Wilson's many victims the whole Adventure was reported in the newspaper along with the note that Sarah had for near two years obtained money by imposing on the compassion and credulity of different persons in Town and Country later investigation found that she had by that time already been through most of the northern counties unwinding the story of Sarah Wilson who the three-time mayor of Coventry John Hewitt described as the greatest imposterous of the present age is understandably difficult her earliest years are a mystery and indeed it's not certain that she was born Wilson although that is the name she was most often referred to and the one that she gave to Authorities on her arrest in England according to her own testimony her family lived in London and she was about 20 years of age in 1765. she seems to begin her career as a fraud around 1763 at 17 or 18 years old in 1780 Justice of the Peace John Hewitt published Memoirs of the celebrated Lady V Countess wilbrahamin Ilias molyneux Alias Irving Countess of Normandy and baroness Willington in it he claimed to have found that Sarah had been the menial servant in the kitchen of George Lewis Scott a neighbor to the Duke of York in London London would have been the best opportunity for her to learn to read and write in London around 60 percent of women could buy 1720. there was however little legitimate opportunity for her to rise out of poverty while she may have been born in London other versions of the story claimed that she was born in Staffordshire the daughter of a bailiff by 1765 she had perfected her strategy for living on the kindness of others after defrauding the Box all she stopped at a lawyer's home in Westmoreland where she introduced herself as V Countess lady wilbrahaman she was entertained for several days and promised again to get a commission for their son it was simple enough for the wealthy to procure a grant and even sell commissions and government posts in December of 1765 she was in London and she stopped by a shop in Haymarket she arrived when the owner was away but told Mrs Davenport's niece that despite her shabby attire she was a lady and had been forced to marry a foreign count who had abandoned her all she had was a note payable to a prominent Banker but that she couldn't go to the banker in shabby clothes the niece bought the story and gave Sarah room and board and equipped her very prettily Sarah was a careful planner she took the niche to a bank on the day that she knew that the banker would be gone and then had The Coachman bring her to the Banker's house asking Denise to remain in the coach Sarah went to speak to the banker but when she got through the door she asked for Molly when a servant with that name appeared she said Lord ma'am I beg pardon if your name is Molly but you're not the person I wanted and then she convinced the servants to let her out the back door Davenport's needs found out an hour later when she went to the door herself looking for the countess she continued to travel after that visiting several people in Cheshire she produced several letters supporting her story of a fleeing a home when her Protestant mother died and her father tried to force her to become Catholic she claimed that she had a large inheritance coming when she turned 21 including several Estates if she could stay through the winter she would reward her hosts graciously the victim who finally bet was Richard frith though suspicious he sent the V Countess wilbrahamin to his son's home his son also Richard and Richards the younger's wife bit hard the young couple treated her like royalty washing and dressing her and bringing her food on their knees Sarah promised the younger Richard that he could be her Steward in the Perry Vanessa to be the Godmother of their newborn child in May she took her Steward to London and promptly disappeared from there she traveled to Coventry visiting several families claiming to be Miss Wilbraham Earl Denby sent a letter to John Hewitt Alderman relating the very improbable story Sarah was peddling the Earl thought Sarah was either mad or an imposter you know it was a zealth thief Taker and magistrate and sought Sarah out to Hewitt she spun a similar story he said that her father lived at Corby castle that her mother was recently deceased and that she had fled because she refused to become Catholic he would was able to easily identify holes in her story and declared her an errant imposterous and arrested her she had a stolen letter case with two marriage certificates as well as evidence of several of the aliases she had chosen she provided to you with several names that she said could testify to her character including George Lewis Scott who she had once worked for and he left her in the care of the innkeepers he went to London to check those references The Innkeeper however believed Hewitt had made a mistake and helped Sarah to make her Escape Hewitt wrote in the newspaper that the notorious vagrant and imposterous made her escape and gave a description including the Telltale Speck or Kell over one eye she was identified as Sarah Wilson she remained free into 1767 when she convinced the household of an absent Lord that she was the Countess of Normandy she was briefly committed to a house of correction in Saint albums but somehow made another Escape until she was caught at De visas they declared her a notorious cheat who had played so many pranks at Litchfield Coventry and places adjacent she was convicted as a vagabond she could have been jailed for six months for the conviction but her description came to the attention of investigators in London thanks to her theft of good clothes from Mrs Davenport's niece two years prior Sarah was accused of knowingly and designingly by false pretenses obtaining one pair of stays one shift one Petticoat and other apparel total Fields Bridewell where Sarah was kept as a filthy place like most English Jails of the time women at total were made to beat him for use his rope a difficult and back-breaking job that no one else wanted to do she was found guilty at the quarter sessions in January 1767 of stealing three pounds and 18 Shillings worth of clothing adjusted for inflation that was over 700 pounds in 2022 values that amount could have been a death sentence but instead she was sentenced to transport to the American colonies for seven years it isn't known what ship she traveled on but the first available ship left in April and likely Sarah was aboard though Australia is better known for taking in convicts from another country plenty were also sent to America where they were not well welcomed Benjamin Franklin disliked accepting the felons and suggested sending England rattlesnakes in exchange once in America the felons were sold as seven-year servants and were completely at the mercy of their owners women convicts sold for between five and nine pounds Sarah seems to have been sold to a William DuVall who in 1771 reported that she had run away from Bush Creek Maryland despite being sent Halfway Around the World Sarah apparently remained a servant for most a few years before she turned back to her itinerant ways again reports suggested that she visited and stayed at the Mansions of wealthy Planters such as Suzanne landborn Reverend James Horrocks the president of the College of William and Mary and even John Page with whom Thomas Jefferson was a close friend Jefferson said to have written a draft of the Declaration of independent at Paige's home she seems even to have been received by Josiah Martin the last British governor of North Carolina as a princess she was so convincing that many had the honor to kiss her hand she continued adding aliases to her travels in Wilmington she introduced herself as Sophia Carolina Augusta princess of Brunswick and martians of Walter grave she was buoyed by her own Mystique with the Cape Fear Mercury wondering why she was traveling Incognito and reported the rumor that she was the sister of the queen when she arrived at Charleston South Carolina the paper reported that she was kindly and respectfully treated by many Discerning people to whom she made large and golden promises it is also reported the rumor that she was the daughter of The Pretender the Jacobite Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1773 rivington's New York gazetteer presented a report of one Sarah Wilson who had described as a former servant of a maid of honor to Queen Charlotte herself according to the report Sarah had been transported for stealing jewels from a cabinet in the Queen's Apartments now the report continued Sarah was traveling the colonies claiming to be princess Susanna Carolina Matilda promising appointments and promotions sawashi levied heavy contributions from prominent Southerners report ended with an advertisement by William DuVall of Sarah's Escape he had noted the blemish in her right eye and offered five pistolas or gold coins as a reward for her return Duvall had sent a man after her who might have caught up with her in Charleston if she was captured by her former owner however she was free by September of 1773 when the Martian s dewald grave appeared in New York possibly she used funds from her Southern expedition to buy her freedom the Boston Post boy said that she was Sarah Wilson Alias Carolina Matilda she still insists upon the Verity of these pretensions she added the title of Princess of Cronenberg to her repertoire as well the papers followed her travels in the north closely from New York she traveled to Newport in Providence Rhode Island and then to Boston she was in Boston when on December 16th the Sons of Liberty through tea into the harbor as thousands have gathered to watch the spectacle it's possible that she was a witness to that historic event but the reports about her always seem suspicious about our motives I mean after all she wasn't the first person to try to con people out of money by claiming to be someone that she wasn't the Massachusetts evening spy said of her that she was the most surprising Genius of the female sex ever to be obliged to visit America with the word obliged implying that she was a transportee by this time she seemed to find willing hosts more because she was a curiosity than that anyone actually believed her tales as The Duchess of broughtonsburg or her Serene highness Carolina Augusta Harriet princess hereditary of Rutenberg the Essex Gazette reported that she has occasioned much employment to busy curiosity it is confidently said that she is a person of the very first distinction in Europe Reverend Cutler one of her many hosts wrote in his journal that she appears to be a person of an extraordinary education but is generally supposed to be an imposter reports of her are fewer after 1775 as the war for independence likely made her travels more difficult by 1777 she returned to Boston and even sent a letter to be delivered to George Washington although no one knows if the general ever received it styling herself a certain princess she seemed to have been living on the Goodwill of others in her last year she lived with John and Lydia Costello in Berwick Maine she died in February 1780. her obituary identified her as a strange lady who called herself The Duchess of Cronenberg but is supposed to be one Sarah Wilson a convict Lydia Costello believes Sarah an imposter but still addressed her by her title and during her sickness gave her that attendance that led you that character might have expected despite Lydia's misgiving John Costello placed a letter in the newspapers at hercerine highness had died and not as the malicious vulgar had been pleased to call her Sarah Wilson according to him Sarah had fled Europe to escape her marriage to Charles Frederick Adolphus Johannes eldest son of the king of Sweden and that she was cousin the Queen Charlotte unsurprisingly there was no King Charles Frederick Adolphus Johannes of Sweden you know objectively Sarah Wilson was a thief a fraud whose lies caused real harm and yet for some reason just like Anna Sorkin people chose to believe her even when the lies seemed to be obvious and people remained fascinated with her even when the lies became known and the question is why in a 2013 Ted Talk professor Matthew hornsey of the University of Queensland suggested that the reason that people are so fascinated with imposters is because all of us strive to put a positive face to the world all of us strive to hide our flaws in the face of other people we become quite good at it to the point that the idea of a true self for an authentic self becomes harder and harder to find maybe the professor posits the reason that we are so intrigued by imposters is not because we want to be like them but because we worry that deep down we are like them thank you established in March Of 1872 Yellowstone is widely held to be the first national park in the world it took the vision of many people to compel President Ulysses Grant to set aside this vast amazing but at the time nearly inaccessible area as a public park and that decision was largely driven by three early scientific Expeditions and while each of those Expeditions is important and interesting in its own right the experience of just one member of one of those Expeditions represents the risks that those early explorers took in the creation of Yellowstone Park the amazing almost unbelievable story of the Misadventures of Truman sea efforts is a story of survival and a cautionary Tale about why it's important not to get lost it is history that deserves to be remembered the name Yellowstone is derived from the name the hidatsa a suian people used for the Yellowstone River mitsi adazi roughly roccular River it is possible the name referred to the color of stone in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone although the exact source of the Native American name is not clear the name was first translated by French fur trappers who use the name Roshon the name was then translated into English at least by 1797 when it was used by the British Canadian fur Trader and cartographer David Thompson according to the National Park Service the name was first used as two words Yellow Stone and over time became formalized as one word like we know it today the area around the Yellowstone River was used by Native Americans at least as far back as eleven thousand years ago by ancestors contemporary tribes like the blackfeet and the Nez Perce the area was known to European fur Trappers by the early 19th century notably John Coulter who had been a member of the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition and is widely considered to have been the first Mountain Man Coulter did Explorations in the Yellowstone area in the winter of 180708. while the area was visited by fur Trappers and Traders and its unique geological features recognized there was not a parent formal exploration or mapping of the area that would become Yellowstone Park and the fur trade had largely collapsed by the mid-19th century the first formal expedition to map the area did not occur until an expedition by three men from Diamond City Montana in 1869 David E Folsom Charles W cook and William Peterson the journals for that expedition inspired another expedition in 1870 under the direction of Henry Dana Washburn who had been a general the Union Army during the Civil War had served in Congress representing Indiana and in 1869 had been named surveyor general of the Montana territory the Expedition also included Explorer Nathaniel P Langford and a military escort under the command of Lieutenant Gustavus Doane of the U.S second cavalry but the expedition was not for the faint of heart there were several risks including risks from hostile natives the Chicago Tribune at Pine any man which contemplates this long and dangerous Journey may be prepared for any emergency that may arise in addition to Washburn Langford Lieutenant Doan and five soldiers as escort and two African-American Cooks named Newt and Johnny the Expedition included several volunteers from the Bozeman area volunteers included Samuel T Hauser president of the First National Bank of Helena Montana who had later become governor of Montana territory and Walter Trumbull son of U.S senator Lyman Trumbull also included was Truman C everetts of Helena Montana born in Vermont the son of a Great Lakes Ship Captain in 1864 everetts had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the first assessor of internal revenue for the newly created Montana territory in February 1870 President Grant replaced Everts with his own man in between jobs Edwards decided to volunteer for the Washburn Expedition although he was traveling with a group of experienced explorers efforts was not exactly an expert on Wilderness survival in October 2016 edition of outdoor magazine described him as a middle-aged widower who had been a desk jockey his entire life he was also extremely nearsighted for his part Everts wrote a desire to visit this remarkable region of which during several years residents on Montana I had often heard the most marvelous accounts led me to unite with the expedition in fact he said I engaged in the Enterprise with enthusiasm feeling that all the hardships and exposures of a month's horseback travel through an unexplored region would be more than compensated by the Grandeur novelty of the natural objects with which it was crowded at the time he seemed not to have fully appreciated the risk involved writing that of course the idea of being lost in it without any of the ordinary means of substance and wandering for days and weeks in a famish condition alone in an unfrequented Wilderness formed no part of my contemplation the group left Helena on August 16th and picked up their military escort at Fort Ellis departing again on August 22nd in the next few weeks the party viewed the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone reached Yellowstone Falls and crossed the river the Expedition found the area to be as marvelous it had been described with the Saint Joseph weekly Gazette noting that they continued to meet with scenes of marvelous Beauty which caused them in some instances to take off their hats and Shout with ecstasy by September 9th they were near the headwaters of both the Yellowstone River and the Snake River the morning of the ninth a group was traveling through dense forest as was common in the area and while picking through an area of Fallen trees in order to find his own path Everett somehow became separated from the rest of his party the party realized that Evers was missing that evening the party had already agreed to a meeting spot along the shores of the Yellowstone Lake in case they got separated the rest of the party went to the spot where they created a large bonfire fired shots into the air but evidence was nowhere to be found according to lanford's account we searched for him for seven days then our Provisions became short and it was necessary for us to strike for home party member William Gillette and two privates from the second Cavalry stayed behind and continued to search returning October 2nd without having seen any sign of him the cashed food for him in locations near where they had first lost track of him but he did not seem to find them Langford lamented as he met death by accident or may he be injured and unable to move and be suffering the horrors of starvation and fever has he wandered aimlessly hither and thither until bereft of reason as I contemplate all these possibilities it is a relief to think that they may have lost his life at the hand of some Vagabond Indian The Gazette noted their Pleasures were marred by the loss of one of their members Truman C everetts who wandered from the party and has not since been heard from it is fear that has fallen into the hands of the Indians the Burlington weekly press of Burlington Vermont reported miles a Edwards of this city had received a paper published in Helena Montana containing intelligence of the loss in the woods and probable death of his brother TC Everts while connected with an exploring party up the Yellowstone River but effort's death probable as it was was being staved off by his even more improbable survival upon being separated everetts seems to have been completely confident that he would meet up again with his party he knew of the point where they were supposed to meet but apparently was disoriented and took off the wrong direction he spent his first night in reasonable Comfort his horse carried his tent equipment and food but searching for the party the next day he was saying we don't find their path since the falling foliage of the Pines had obliterated every trace of travel then disaster struck well searching for a path he dismounted and walked a few Paces decided which path to take and his horse bolted he wrote I turned around in time to see him disappearing at full speed among the trees in fact the party would find his horse but not Everett still efforts was in good spirits writing that he was cheered by the hope that it should soon rejoin my companions who would laugh at my adventure and incorporate it as a thrilling episode into the Journal of our trip but his situation was much different having lost his horse leaving with him no food no fire no means to cure either alone in an unexplored Wilderness 150 miles from the nearest human Abode surrounded by wild beasts and famished with hunger alternating between hope and despair first Everts was afraid he might run into hostile natives but then he began to hope that he might find a friendly group but it was already clear that hunger was affecting him at what point he rejoiced at seeing a canoe being paddled by a lone oarsman imagining rescue only to realize as he got closer that what he thought to be a native in a canoe was only an enormous Pelican he remarked this little incident quite unmanned me but he then found his salvation a thistle plant while looking for a spot where I might Repose in safety my attention was attracted to a small green plant of so Lively a hue as to form a striking contrast within the Deep Pine foliage for closer examination I pulled it up by the root which was long and tapering not unlike a radish it was a thistle I tasted it it was palatable and nutritious my appetite craved it and the first meal in four days was made on thistle Roots Eureka I had found food the plant was cerseum scardiozum a type of thistle plant according to the U.S forest Service Flathead Indians liked the thistle so much that they imposed a taboo to prevent people from overpicking the plant well coming in called elk thistle the plant is also known as efforts thistle the plant provided sustenance and energy but it came at a cost that Everts would discover later everetts was facing many obstacles including hunger and cold but the Wilderness is also full of animals some of which are quite dangerous to humans while Knight Edwards found himself being hunted by a mountain lion he climbed a tree to avoid the creature saying I would alternately sweat and thrill with horror at the thought of being torn to pieces and devoured by this formidable monster the lion stocked under the tree but eventually gave up and laughed although animals abounded Everett's had few means to capture any at one point he managed to catch a small songbird which he ate raw saying it was a delicious meal for a half starved man another time he found the wingtip of a goal caught in a bush and was able to grind and boil the bones into a small amount of broth at first he had no means to start a fire he decided to stay in an area of Hot Springs to stay warm the plan worked well enough until event of steam scalded him severely on the hip the burnt was serious and compelled him to his sleep sitting up eventually he realized that he could start a fire using the lens from his opera glass one of the few items on his person with the thistle root and opera glass he crowed I was now the happy possessor of food and Fire as the sun was unpredictable he took to kindling the fire midday and then carrying a flaming brand with him blowing on it to keep an embergoing and to lightfall when he would use it to start a fire in this process he often burned his hand he managed to fasten a knife from a Buckle in his vest and a fish it from a pin inside his clothing and some ribbon that was in his pocket he never caught any fish however and lost both the Buckle knife and the Fish Hook when his fire got out of control one night as he slept he barely escaped The Blaze riding my left hand was badly burned and my hair singed closer than a barber would have trimmed it while making my escape from the semi-circle of burning trees he also burned the entire Hillside the entire Hillside was an ocean of glowing and searching fiery Billows favored by the Gale the conflagration spread with lightning swiftness over an illimitable extent of country filling the atmosphere with driving clouds of suffocating fume and leaving a broad and blackened trail of spectral trunks shorn of Libs in foliage smoking and burning to Mark the immense sweep of its devastation one night Camp along the river he took off his shoes to let his blistered feet heels he walked along the beach sand somehow he managed to lose one of his shoes which would have been a likely fatal disaster he spent a night searching and recovered the shoe he eventually located the place where the party had built a bonfire looking for him but they had long ago departed in the location where they camped he only found an old dinner Fork which afterwards proved to be of infinite service in digging roots and the discarded can that he could use as a cup as he became more emaciated he hallucinated more being given directions by an apparition of an old clerical friend for whose character and Council had always cherished peculiar regard the hallucination told him put your trust in heaven help yourself and God will help you he also began talking to parts of his body saying my arms legs and stomach were transformed into so many traveling companions often for hours I would plot along conversing with these Imaginary Friends gradually it became clear that he was dying he wrote I lost all sense of time days and nights came and went and were numbered only by the growing Consciousness that I was gradually starving I felt no hunger did not eat to a peace appetite but to renew strength I experienced but little pain the gaping sores on my feet the severe burn on my hip the festering crevices at the joints of my fingers all terrible in appearance had ceased to give me the least concern he recalled looking at his arm saying Flesh and Blood had apparently left them the skin clung to the bones like wet parchment a child's hand could have clasped them from wrist to shoulder and finally he came to surrender a solemn conviction that death was near that at each pause I made my limbs would refuse further service and that I should sink helpless and dying in my path overwhelm me with Terror amid all this tumult to the mind I felt that I had done all that a man could do but again probable death was thwarted by improbable survival if I'm returning to Montana members of his party had offered a reward for anyone who could recover him or his body two Trappers Yellowstone Jack Barnett and George a Pritchett had discovered him nearly dead mumbling and Delirious more than 50 miles and were first Gone Missing baronet headed first thought he had seen a wounded bear but on close inspection said when I got near it I found it was not a bear and for my life could not tell what it was it did not look like any animal that I had seen it was certainly not a human being the semi-weekly Billings Gazette wrote of him the man was crawling along on hands and knees his clothes were tattered and his shoes and feet had given out so that the bones protruded and he was forced to crawl by the time he was found everetts had not only suffered severe burns frostbite and blistered feet but reportedly weighed a mere 50 pounds despite being rescued Everts wasn't out of the woods just yet it seems that after weeks of eating nothing but thistle wrote his entire digestive system had ceased to operate having him probably survive to get rescue now it looked like he might not pull through reportedly it was a local Trapper Who provided the remedy he had him drink a pint of hot bear grease and that managed to unclog the pipes Evert survival made national news to attention to Yellowstone helped to spray a Geological Survey in 1871 and that helped to convince Congress to create the world's first national park owing to his notoriety two Truman Everts was offered the position as the first superintendent of Yellowstone Park but he was forced to refuse as the position had no salary he eventually moved back to Maryland worked for the Post Office passed away in 1901 the age of 85. foreign [Music] Joseph Nash McDowell was in his day one of the most respected physicians in the Western United States having built a reputation in several states he came to St Louis in 1839 and opened his own medical school one of the first west of the Mississippi River established a reputation so strong that in 1894 history of 100 Years of Missouri medicine described him as one of the most conspicuous and best-known men in St Louis but his reputation was not just based in his medical skill Dr McDowell was to put it mildly and eccentric whose story included body snatching ghosts demagoguery artillery a brown bear and even an accusation of murder most foul it's hard to separate fact from fiction in the life of Joseph Nash McDowell but there's a point where both of those become history history that deserves to be remembered born in Kentucky in 1805 somewhat fittingly given his lead reputation on April 1st Joseph McDowell was the son of John McDowell a military officer who had fought alongside George Washington and then in the war of 1812. but instead of following his father into a military career Joseph instead chose to follow in the path of his uncle a Pioneer in Kentucky physician who in 1809 was the first doctor successfully removed an ovarian tumor during the epithet the father of ovarian atomy Ephraim McDowell became so famous as a physician that his home office and apothecarrier maintained as a museum in Danville Kentucky where a major regional medical center is named after him Joseph studied medicine under his famous Uncle whom he apparently idolized but the two had a falling out purportedly according to Victoria Cosner and Lorelei Shannon's 2015 book Missouri's mad Dr McDowell because Ephraim refused to support Joseph when he asked to marry ephraim's daughter who would have been of course Joseph's first cousin unlike his famous Uncle Joseph went on to earn a medical degree from Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky there he made the acquaintance of Henry Clay then a professor at the University who would eventually become speaker of the U.S House of Representatives and U.S Secretary of State of McDowell's time at the University clay said McDowell had the greatest mind on earth except for its eccentricities McDowell married the sister of one of his professors Dr Daniel Drake the couple would have 10 children after graduation McDowell practiced in the east in 1827 he was appointed as a professor of anatomy at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and he served on the faculty of the Cincinnati College medical Department in Ohio he developed a notable reputation before relocating to St Louis in 1839 there became affiliated with Kemper College established by the Episcopal Church in 1837 the short-lived College it failed finally in 1845 was named after Episcopal missionary Reverend Jackson Kemper McDowell along with four other St Louis area Physicians created a medical department at Kemper College St Louis's Washington University's website says that the lectures delivered by these Physicians were the first medical courses taught west of the Mississippi River although that claim is disputed when Kemper closed in 1845 the medical school became associated with the University of Missouri medical school was different in the 19th century the website of Washington University School of Medicine notes that they were for-profit institutions that were funded by students paying for lectures professors received fees for the courses they taught and maintained busy private practices they were not expected to produce original research Stu students were admitted to medical schools without rigorous preparation and often without college degrees instruction was based almost entirely on lectures laboratory or bedside learning was rare in those days the success of a medical school could depend upon the reputation of its faculty in the college colloquially known as McDowell Medical School benefited from the doctor's reputation a 2012 article in the magazine the Confluence published by Lindenwood University of Saint Charles Missouri writes McDowell gained wide Acclaim in an entrepreneurial network of young doctors who start up medical programs differed from European state-run schools because they were more tightly organized around the personalities of individual professors kosner and Shannon write that he was loud and opinionated with an overwhelming personality McDowell's enthusiasm for his teaching inspired intense loyalty among his students McDowell was however clearly an eccentric for example he was apparently fascinated with Andrew Jackson and bearing a passing resemblance to the former president dressed like him and tried to mimic his mannerisms the college started failing financially in 1847 Costner and Shannon write that with his characteristic energy and enthusiasm McDowell took on the reorganization of the college part of the process was to construct a new building at 9th and Gratiot streets it was a building that was as eccentric as McDowell the new College included an octagonal building with wings on either side and on the lowest floor of that building there were niches built into the walls that were intended to house the future remains of McDowell's family that's right he intended to preserve them and display them in the basement of his Medical College moreover the structure had an undeniable military appearance emphasized by the placement of cannons on the roof there are various stories about how McDowell acquired the canons one story says he melted down the school's Bell to have cannons made he also reportedly acquired various arms including several cannons and 1400 antique muskets bought from the Army for 2.50 cents each before coming from Kentucky my summer accounts with a plan to carry on a filibuster to take Northern California one Canon was said to been used by the famous pirate on the feet because well don't all good stories involve Pirates and the Cannons on the roof were not purely ornamental a 1970 edition of the registry of the Kentucky Historical Society rights many days and nights Dr McDowell and a few of his students were busy engaging in overhauling his Arsenal loading and cleaning the guns putting them in place replacing the flints in the musket locks and maintaining the collection the fortress-like design of the McDowell Medical College was intentional the registry of Pines Joseph McDowell constructed a thick walled Fortress designed to guard the ideals of his school Guard from whom exactly will be outspoken and opinionated doctor might have had more than a few enemies but the building was most likely designed to protect him from Catholics the registry continues the late 1840s was the period of widespread anti-catholic feeling in the United States a particular importance for St Louis for a large Catholic population had built a university that was run by Jesuits St Louis University began planning for its own Medical College in 1841 and shortly thereafter McDowell school started to struggle financially the registry contends that somehow Dr McDowell came to the conclusion that the Jesuits were conspiring to ruin him the always opinionated and never apparently circumspect doctors started making inflammatory anti-catholic speeches this engendered so much excitement and enmity that he carried pistols with him and wore a brass breastplate to protect him from assaults the octagonal fortress-like structure was the registry contends built to enable him to resist any assault that is he had cannons on the roof in order to resist assaults from Saint Louis Jesuits and assaults actually did eventually come but for a different reason by most accounts McDowell was an excellent teacher the registry notes that Joseph McDowell was worshiped by the students in his class for he not only instructed them but amused and entertained them simultaneously one student wrote that he made even the dry bones talk and he was also known as a fine physician as the Confluence notes McDowell's College epitomized the emergent professionalization of medical education this contrasted with the untrained pill vendors that were still common among medical practitioners at the time and one of the Hallmarks of this new professionalization that distinguished it from the purveyors of patent medicines was a knowledge of anatomy based on dissection teaching Anatomy for these new professional doctors therefore required a steady supply of cadavers to be dissected in fact dissecting a human corpse was a requirement for graduation from a Dalles medical school but a 2015 article in the St Louis Post-Dispatch notes early Missouri law allowed for hang criminals be used for dissection but by 1835 the state outlawed removing bodies from graves for sale or Dissection terming the ACT uh misdemeanor the only bodies that could be legally acquired for a dissection were criminals who have been executed and whose families did not claim the body that Supply was simply insufficient to serve the needs of medical schools and so the Post-Dispatch writes like a horror tale akin to Frankenstein Graves were rifled not just for jewelry and other shiny Goods but for something far more gruesome fresh Corpses to be clear this type of practice wasn't limited to McDowell or St Louis or even the United States or even the 19th century it was a worldwide phenomenon people who professionally stole corpses to be sold to medical schools were called resurrectionists and usually preferred corpses of people who were poor or enslaved or otherwise unlikely to have family with the power to do anything when a relative's body went missing 1788 there was a riot in New York City called The Doctors Riot over corpses mostly of African-Americans disappearing from the city's cemeteries to the city's medical schools and was not always the case that only the graves of the poor were robbed in 1878 the body of congressman John Scott Harrison some of former president William Henry Harrison and father of future president Benjamin Harrison was stolen and later discovered at the Medical College of Ohio the subject of another episode of the history guy had McDowell or students been caught in the act of body snatching it would have been both a crime and a scandal but medical schools at the time were adept at keeping their practice hidden McDowell himself was never officially charged with the crime of body snatching and reportedly admonished students to treat the cadavers with respect was careful not to waste any tissue that could be used for teaching and refused any corpses that appeared to have been murdered for the purpose of sale but he almost certainly did engage in the practice kosner and Shannon write that McDowell was known regularly to go on grave robbing Expeditions with his students in fact one example was recounted by the doctor himself as told by his cousin in the biographies of his uncle published in 1894. when a young German girl that he was treating died apparently he had the body recovered in order to determine the cause but the family caught wind that the body had been stolen and a mob came to the school McDowell was able to both hide the stolen body and himself pulling a sheet over himself so that he would appear to be a cadaver medal was able to escape Discovery because he told his cousin he was warned by the ghost of his dead mother in any case McDowell and his college developed a reputation for body snatching Costner and Shannon noted that they had such a reputation that people of color and Catholics would cross the road in order to avoid walking near the college fairly or not McDowell was even suspected of participating in Murder to acquire Corpses when the wife of a prominent German immigrant named malter disappeared in September 1849 a rumor spread that her handkerchief had been found behind the college quickly a mob formed intent on searching the college for her Remains the Confluence writes by Friday morning September 14th hundreds of Germans in the city south side were convinced someone had seen a whole bundle of clothing in front of the college Mr malter demanded satisfaction and at noon two to four hundred persons collected in the vicinity of the college when they arrived McDowell according to the Confluence looking just like pictures of General Jackson his favorite hero stood valiantly by his guns with a fuse in one hand and some locofoco matches in the other the registry describes what happened next most everyone bearing arms within the Medical College expected to hear old Lafitte Cannon opened the battle with a thunderous Roar but much to their surprise a strong Squad of policemen rapidly moved to the scene of the conflict while McDowell pretended to be infuriated that the police had intervened in fact he had asked the police for protection in a compromise Mr malter was allowed to search the grounds of the school for any sign of his wife and he found none the Confluence explains why two months later Mrs malter was founded in Alton Missouri in the company of a handsomer man to make the story even stranger the doctor apparently included in his collection of medical Oddities in the college a collection of live animals including a cinnamon-colored brown bear at least one report says that during the standoff he released the bear on the mob but Costner and Shannon Wright the bear merely ambled out yawning and did not attempt to eat or ball anyone in fact it seemed rather confused by the whole affair further evidence of McDowell's grave robbery came during the Civil War The Kentuckian McDowell sided with the Confederacy and served as the Surgeon General for the Confederate Army in the west some of his sons also served with Confederacy his school was taken over by the union and used as a prison when the Army took over the building large amounts of body parts were discovered in the basement the Post-Dispatch writes Joseph McDowell was nuts and Up Bones were found in his basement to fill three wagons perhaps the oddest story among many with Joseph McDowell was his idea of what to do with the remains of his own family several of his children died in infancy and he had each sealed in a glass coffin filled with alcohol apparently an attempt to preserve the remains and placed in a mausoleum behind the school his cousin would later write that he believed that traditional burials stifled the soul and his means of preserving his family would facilitate communication between the living and the dead the most famous story is how he treated the remains of his daughter Amanda who died of pneumonia in 1857 at the age of 13. in 1847 McDowell purchased a cave in the northern Missouri Town of Hannibal the Limestone cave kept a constant temperature of 52 degrees McDowell was reported to tour some of his collection of guns and cannons in the cave but also suspended Amanda's coffin placed in a copper tube filled with alcohol in the cave and then sealed the entrance with an iron door he'll remove the remains apparently when he discovered that locals were breaking into the cave just to view the coffin tour guides what today is called Mark Twain Cave insists that the cave is haunted by Amanda's ghost a ghoul is a creature that digs up the bodies of the dead and as to that Dr McDowell is apparently as close to real life ghoul as you can get well it's difficult to prove the stories of ghosts McDowell claimed that he spoke to ghosts and there are persistent rumors of Haunting both in the cave near Hannibal now called Mark Twain Cave and in the former medical school but the accusation of murder most foul appears to have been merely a misunderstanding based on his fearsome reputation a reputation that certainly led to plenty of enduring Legends some claim that Dr McDowell is the model for Dr Robinson a notorious body snatcher in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer a story that also famously includes a cave near Hannibal called mcdougall's cave Costner and Shannon conclude that in a span of less than 40 years McDowell and his strange building created enough horror to last several lifetimes McDowell Medical College was nearly destroyed in the war but he returned and rebuilt it the college eventually merged as part of the history of the Washington University School of Medicine the remains of the McDowell family were removed from the mausoleum behind the medical school and are today interned in St Louis's famous Bellefontaine Cemetery and as to that point where fact meets Legend despite all the Macabre stories that are the reason that Dr McDowell is generally remembered today when he passed away suddenly of a congestive chill in 1868 he was Remembered in local papers rather fondly the St Louis Daily Republican said of him that he was a physician of eminent ability Who as a surgeon had few equals in the country instead of lured Tales of body snatching they described him as a man with kind impulses and charitable disposition lamenting Dr Joseph Nash McDowell with his strongly marked character will retain a place in the historic record of St Louis I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short Snippets have gotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send those to our suggestions email box check out our webpage at thehistoryguide.net and of course we're on Facebook Instagram and Twitter you can book a special message from the history guy on Cameo and check out our merchandise at teespring.com and if you'd like more episodes of Forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 141,996

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy

Id: 75Jew239QeI

Length: 62min 47sec (3767 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023