Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer who lead several expeditions into northern China, Mongolia and the so called 'back of the beyond'. He was supposedly the role model for Indiana Jones and his career may indicate why...1906: Took a job as a janitor at the American Museum of Natural History. Collected specimens for the museum whilst earning a Master of Arts degree in mammalogy.
1909: Sailed aboard the USS Albatross on a trip to the East Indies collecting snakes and lizards and observing marine mammals.
1913: Sailed aboard the schooner Adventuress to the Arctic to film seals and whales.
1916: Together with his wife, led the Asiatic Zoological Expedition to China.
1920: Lead expeditions to Mongolia and drove a fleet of Dodge cars westward from Peking.
1922 - 1925: lead four expeditions to the Gobi desert and discovered the first dinosaur eggs which were later revealed to belong to the Oviraptor species and a fossil of Indricotherium (then named "Baluchitherium").
1925 - 1930: Expeditions continued when local politics allowed. In 1930 Chapman Andrews led his last expedition and discovered mastadon fossils.
1931 - 1934: Served as President of the Explorers Club in New York.
1935: Wrote the book 'The Business of Exploring'.
1942: Retired to write his memoirs.
Despite the lack of Nazi antagonists, it seems Chapman Andrews led a very active life and may have had a few run in s with bandits in his time. Dinosaur eggs and old bones might not be as exciting as golden idols, alien skulls and the arc of the Covenant, but according to Wikipedia, real life for Chapman Andrews might have been thrilling enough, if it wasn't really all just another example of a man who understood how to promote himself. Personally, I choose to believe the former because I cherish the idea that life can be an adventure! There is something appealling in the idea of finding purpose in life through the active pursuit of curiosity. Something which I think may be linked to the notion of glory, but without the lust for killing people that the word glory usually conjures up..Douglas Preston of the American Museum of Natural History wrote:
Andrews is allegedly the real person that the movie character of Indiana Jones was patterned after. Andrews was an accomplished stage master. He created an image and lived it out impeccably—there was no chink in his armor. Roy Chapman Andrews: famous explorer, dinosaur hunter, exemplar of Anglo-Saxon virtues, crack shot, fighter of Mongolian brigands, the man who created the metaphor of 'Outer Mongolia' as denoting any exceedingly remote place
4 comments:
How odd you bring this up today, because only yesterday I heard a radio interview about the 'real Indiana Jones' and the focus was on Percy Fawcett
, not R.C. Andrews. Kinda makes me wonder how may historians/authors think they have found the real inspiration? :D
Heh. The early twentieth century was full of such people, but I'm glad to have heard of another one! I shall have to read about Fawcett now and probably write a post about him too!
Thanks Jaime!
"... I cherish the idea that life can be an adventure! There is something appealling in the idea of finding purpose in life through the active pursuit of curiosity. Something which I think may be linked to the notion of glory.."
I'm not sure there's a link between pursuing curiosity and the notion of glory. Although, I am sure that for the vast majority of the adventurers you speak of it was an inherent link in their lives and self understanding.
I think it is absolutely possible to find purpose in life through the pursuit of curiosity, as a matter of fact that's what I'm trying to do. If you don't explore subjects that pique your mind and your adventurous and curious sides, how will you then ever be anything more than a drone living a boring and bored life? It is however important to note the variety of things that people might find interesting.. :.)
And yet drones have a purpose in life. Thats why they're drones.
Perhaps key to a good life is the search for a meaning, and the curse is in finding it?
Of course, having children can give meaning too though...
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