# Which Way Did They Go? \[Vanished explorers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357 "2010-11-20T19:15:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/21 "2010-11-21T06:44:12Z")
I believe any explorer sailing from Europe in a ship from at least the seventeenth century onward would have had insurance underwriters to answer to. (Or at least the voyage backer and/or shipowner would.) I’m sure that then as now, the insurers would be determined to get to the bottom of just what happened to the assets in question. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/22 "2010-11-21T15:13:00Z")
I can think of a few …like Gaspar Cortereal (Portuguese) who never came back from a North American voyage. Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) also never returned-and probably countless others. One interesting one was the case of Colonel Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle, in the 1920’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/23 "2010-11-21T15:38:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Perhaps the most famous “lost explorer” was [David Livingstone.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone) However, he was never really lost; he knew exactly where he was, and how to get back, even if the outside world thought he had “disappeared.” I just finished reading _Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone_, by Martin Dugard. I nearly didn’t get it, as I thought that _Blue Nile_ and _White Nile_ pretty much covered the great African explorers. However, it’s an excellent and informative read on the subject. Livingstone eventually made it back to England, though in a coffin. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/24 "2010-11-21T15:52:03Z")
In 1845 the Franklin arctic group was lost [Franklin's lost expedition - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition) They later found some of their bodies ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/25 "2010-11-21T16:08:44Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > In 1845 the Franklin arctic group was lost > > [Franklin's lost expedition - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition) > > They later found some of their bodies See post #7. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/26 "2010-11-21T16:26:00Z")
Considering all the exploration Roald Amundsen did, it is perhaps not surprising that he disappeared and his body has never been found. He was not, however, exploring the unknown when it happened - he was on a [rescue mission](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen#Disappearance_and_death) looking for an expedition led by his former friend, later rival, Italian pilot Umberto Nobile. (Nobile was eventually rescued, as were some of the members of his expedition.) ---
**Author:** ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/27 "2010-11-21T17:17:53Z")
Another interesting case is the Narvaez expedition to settle Florida - from which 4 people survived out of about 650. They were found eight years later on the other side of the continent. Alvar Cabeza de Vaca, one of the survivors, wrote about his recollections of what happened, and is well known in certain parts of Mexico and Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/28 "2010-11-21T17:51:40Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Magellan also died (in the Philippines) on his circumnavigation. > > Which always made me leery of those GPS units that bear his name. 😃 That’s why you should go with [Garmin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin). The people that’s named after are [still](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Burrell) [around](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Kao). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/29 "2010-11-21T18:04:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Having been to Darien about 30 times, and personally led expeditions into some of the remoter parts of it, I’d have to say its reputation is somewhat exaggerated.😉 However, there are parts that remain pretty dangerous, mostly because of the presence of Colombian FARC guerrillas. There are regular narcotraficantes and maleantes (bad guys) too, but most of the Darien these days is OK. > > I’ve read pretty comprehensively about the Darien, and I am unaware of any expeditions that actually disappeared. One that contributed to the Darien’s malignant reputation was the [Strain Expedition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Strain) in 1854. They were trying to cross the isthmus, and thought they were on a river that led directly to the coast. Instead they were on one that took an extremely meandering course. They marched for weeks, and some died of starvation before they were rescued. _The Darkest Jungle_ is an excellent recent book about the Strain expedition. > > In earlier days the Darien was in fact the haunt of hostile Indians, rebel slaves, and pirates. Another famous catastrophe was the failure of an attempted Scottish colony in 1698-1699 in which thousands died of disease, shipwreck, and the attacks of the Spanish. By the way, I have to say that I’m impressed by your journeys in that region. That’s saying something, since I’m rarely impressed by anybody these days. But then I’m an avid reader of survival and exploration history. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/30 "2010-11-21T18:08:21Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > By the way, I have to say that I’m impressed by your journeys in that region. That’s saying something, since I’m rarely impressed by anybody these days. But then I’m an avid reader of survival and exploration history. Excuse my ignorance, but the Darien Gap isn’t that large an area-why not just follow the coatline? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/31 "2010-11-21T18:17:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, there’s always Amelia Earhart, although technically she wasn’t an explorer so much as an adventurer. Besides Earhart, there is also Charles Nungesser, who was France’s third most successful fighter pilot in World War I, who disappeared along with Francois Coli in 1927 trying to beat Charles Lindbergh in crossing the Atlantic, > **[Charles Nungesser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Nungesser)** > > Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser (15 March 1892 – presumably on or after 8 May 1927) was a French ace pilot and adventurer. Nungesser was a renowned ace in France, ranking third highest in the country with 43 air combat victories during World War I. > After the war, Nungesser mysteriously disappeared on an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, flying with wartime comrade François Coli in L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird). Their aircraft took off from P... ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/32 "2010-11-21T18:24:14Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > By the way, I have to say that I’m impressed by your journeys in that region. That’s saying something, since I’m rarely impressed by anybody these days. But then I’m an avid reader of survival and exploration history. Thanks. It’s a fascinating place, especially in that such wilderness remains within an hour’s flight from Panama City, and that some of it remains effectively unexplored by outsiders. I was the first ornithologist to survey the highest peaks in two of the four main mountain ranges of Darien, the Serrania de Maje and the Serrania de Jungurado. In the second place, our camp was so remote that even my Indian guides had never been there, and had a conclave to decide what to name it. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Excuse my ignorance, but the Darien Gap isn’t that large an area-why not just follow the coatline? The “Darien Gap” refers to the roadless area in eastern Panama and western Colombia. (In Spanish it the “Tapon de Darien,” the “Darien Stopper.”) It’s the only stretch between Alaska and Tierra del Fuego that is not transitable by road. The mountains are very close to the coast along the Caribbean coast, and this is withing the territory of the Kuna Indians, who would be very strongly opposed to any road through here. There are other mountains close to the Pacific coast, and the coast is also broken by large estuaries. So the only feasible route is inland. However, rivers and the giant Atrato Swamp on the Colombian side make road construction difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/33 "2010-11-21T18:53:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Thanks. It’s a fascinating place, especially in that such wilderness remains within an hour’s flight from Panama City, and that some of it remains effectively unexplored by outsiders. I was the first ornithologist to survey the highest peaks in two of the four main mountain ranges of Darien, the Serrania de Maje and the Serrania de Jungurado. In the second place, our camp was so remote that even my Indian guides had never been there, and had a conclave to decide what to name it. Just. . .wow. I’ve been fascinated by what might be around the next bend ever since I was a child and have traveled quite a bit, but wilderness of that sort has always necessarily been a vicarious journey. The closest have been safaris in Africa, which are not exactly wilderness. > [@](#): > > The “Darien Gap” refers to the roadless area in eastern Panama and western Colombia. (In Spanish it the “Tapon de Darien,” the “Darien Stopper.”) It’s the only stretch between Alaska and Tierra del Fuego that is not transitable by road. > > The mountains are very close to the coast along the Caribbean coast, and this is withing the territory of the Kuna Indians, who would be very strongly opposed to any road through here. There are other mountains close to the Pacific coast, and the coast is also broken by large estuaries. So the only feasible route is inland. However, rivers and the giant Atrato Swamp on the Colombian side make road construction difficult. Also, IIRC the original exploration was for the purpose of determining the feasibility of digging a canal across the isthmus there; so explorers weren’t necessarily looking for a route for a north-south road, but rather an Atlantic-Pacific shortcut. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/34 "2010-11-21T20:06:21Z")
2 guys who tried to climb Everest were lost in 1924. [Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallory_and_Irvine_Research_Expedition) 1 body was found in 1999 ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/35 "2010-11-21T22:12:03Z")
Salomon Andrée’s Arctic balloon expedition disappeared, and their fate remained obscure for thirty-three years. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/36 "2010-11-21T23:08:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, there’s always Amelia Earhart, although technically she wasn’t an explorer so much as an adventurer. Her plane and remains have been found. IIRC Columbus did have some contact with a guy who is known to have been to Greenland. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/37 "2010-11-21T23:19:01Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Her plane and remains have been found. [Not conclusively.](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Group+ends+island+search+for+Earhart-a01611379261) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/38 "2010-11-21T23:27:53Z")
> [@Satyagrahi](#): > > I read somewhere, in decades past, that before Columbus succeeded in persuading the Spanish Queen Isabella to finance an expedition west, he actually did succeed in persuading the Portuguese…who sent an expedition of their own. > > However, the Portuguese used one of their own captains and left Columbus on dry land. The Portuguese captain sailed directly west from Portugal and was never heard of again. > > Some years later, Captain Columbus first led the Spanish expedition south to the coast of Africa and then west so that he could pick up the trade winds and, as was realized later, avoid the Gulf Stream. > > Unfortunately, I haven’t been unable to find an online source mentioning this Portuguese expedition. Anyone? > [@Colibri](#): > > The Portuguese crown didn’t believe that Columbus’s proposed voyage was feasible, and were also strongly committed to reaching India by going around Africa. I am unaware of any serious attempt by Portugal to sail west of the Azores before Columbus’s voyage. > [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > The story is highly unlikely. The Portuguese had spent decades methodically working out the logistics of sailing around Africa to Asia. Bartolomeu Dias rounded the cape in 1488, four years before Columbus’ first voyage, and the first Portuguese expedition arrived in India in 1497. It’s very unlikely that they would try a crazy shot in the dark like Columbus’ voyage when their plans were so close to coming to fruition. In fact, the willingness of the Spaniards to risk the western route was a function of how close their rivals were to succeeding. Finally found the reference, in _ **The Discoverers** _ by Daniel J. Boorstin: > [@](#): > > King John II’s (of Portugal) committee did not allow themselves to be persuaded by Columbus’ will to believe. Still, in 1485, presumably with the committee’s expert concurrence, the King authorized two Portuguese, Fernão Dulmo and João Estreito, to try to discover the island of Antillia in the Western Ocean. This expedition was to be at their own expense, and they would be hereditary captains of any land they discovered. But they promised that after they had sailed west for forty days they would return home whether or not they had found any islands. We know no more of that ill-fated expedition than that they set sail in 1487. And that, unlike Columbus, they made the mistake of setting out from the Azores, in the high latitudes where the strong westerly winds made their expedition nearly impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/39 "2010-11-22T02:16:27Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The French explorer [Laperouse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Galaup,_comte_de_Lap%C3%A9rouse) disappeared in the Pacific in 1788. No trace of the expedition was found until 1826, and the wreck of one of his ships was not definitively identified until 2005. The Sydney suburb of [La Perouse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Perouse,_New_South_Wales) is named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357/40 "2010-11-22T02:23:12Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Finally found the reference, in _ **The Discoverers** _ by Daniel J. Boorstin: Thanks. That’s very interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-way-did-they-go-vanished-explorers/561357.md?page=3)