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N0KFQ > TODAY 21.03.16 16:25l 63 Lines 2907 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 88290_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 21
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Sent: 160321/1421Z 88290@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1871
Stanley begins search for Livingstone
On this day in 1871, journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his
famous search through Africa for the missing British explorer Dr.
David Livingstone.
In the late 19th century, Europeans and Americans were deeply
fascinated by the "Dark Continent" of Africa and its many
mysteries. Few did more to increase Africa's fame than
Livingstone, one of England's most intrepid explorers. In August
1865, he set out on a planned two-year expedition to find the
source of the Nile River. Livingstone also wanted to help bring
about the abolition of the slave trade, which was devastating
Africa's population.
Almost six years after his expedition began, little had been
heard from Livingstone. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., editor of the
New York Herald, decided to capitalize on the public's craze for
news of their hero. He sent Stanley to lead an expedition into
the African wilderness to find Livingstone or bring back proof of
his death. At age 28, Stanley had his own fascinating past. As a
young orphan in Wales, he crossed the Atlantic on the crew of a
merchant ship. He jumped ship in New Orleans and later served in
the Civil War as both a Confederate and a Union soldier before
beginning a career in journalism.
After setting out from Zanzibar in March 1871, Stanley led his
caravan of nearly 2,000 men into the interior of Africa. Nearly
eight months passed-during which Stanley contracted dysentery,
cerebral malaria and smallpox-before the expedition approached
the village of Ujiji, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Sick and
poverty-stricken, Livingstone had come to Ujiji that July after
living for some time at the mercy of Arab slave traders. When
Stanley's caravan entered the village on October 27, flying the
American flag, villagers crowded toward the new arrivals.
Spotting a white man with a gray beard in the crowd, Stanley
stepped toward him and stretched out his hand: "Dr. Livingstone,
I presume?"
These words-and Livingstone's grateful response-soon became
famous across Europe and the United States. Though Stanley urged
Livingstone to return with him to London, the explorer vowed to
continue his original mission. Livingstone died 18 months later
in today's Zambia; his body was embalmed and returned to Britain,
where he was buried in Westminster Abbey. As for Stanley, he
returned to Africa to fulfill a promise he had made to
Livingstone to find the source of the Nile. He later damaged his
reputation by accepting money from King Leopold II of Belgium to
help create the Belgian-ruled Congo Free State and promote the
slave trade. When he left Africa, Stanley resumed his British
citizenship and even served in Parliament, but when he died he
was refused burial in Westminster Abbey because of his actions in
the Congo Free State.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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