THE OPEN LETTER
MONOLITHIC GATEWAY AT TIAHUANACO
We are indebted to Dr. Hiram Bingham and his Peruvian Expeditions for the interesting picture material in this number of The Mentor. Dr. Bingham (Lieut.-Colonel Bingham) became interested in South America when he was in Yale University, and in 1906 he took an expedition over the historic march of Bolivar from Venezuela to Colombia. Two years later, when Colonel Bingham was appointed a delegate to the first Pan American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile, he went there by way of Bolivia and Peru, and, while in Peru, he visited the ruins of Choqquequirau (meaning the “cradle of gold”), said to be the last home of the Incas.
Colonel Bingham’s studies led him to think that the legend was wrong. So, in 1911, he set off to Peru, with a party of six, his objects being to hunt for “Vitcos” (the name of the last home of the Incas) and to make an ascent of Corropuna, reputed to be a rival of Aconcagua for the honor of being the highest mountain in South America. The expedition was very successful. Corropuna was scaled, and found to be somewhat lower than Aconcagua. Vitcos was found at Rosaspata and not at Choqquequirau. The reputed bottomless lake of Parinaccochas was found to be no more than four feet in depth, and, best of all, Machu Picchu was discovered.
All this was so important that the National Geographic Society decided to assist in another expedition to carry on the good work. Accordingly, the Peruvian Expedition of 1912, under the auspices of Yale University and the National Geographic Society, was sent out. It cleared the way, photographed and mapped Machu Picchu, and made many other explorations. A report of this expedition was received with so much interest, and the pictures were considered so beautiful, that the Peruvian Expedition of 1914-1915 was organized under the same auspices. This expedition accomplished a great amount of additional work in the way of map making and archeological research, collecting flora and fauna from districts previously unvisited, and determining the location of several rivers.
A vast amount of important historical material has been gathered by these expeditions, and The Mentor is very fortunate in being permitted to use photographs collected in the course of the expeditions, and in having a member of the party as author of this article. In connection with Mr. Hardy’s account of the Incas, Colonel Bingham writes to The Mentor as follows:
“Within the confines of the ancient Inca empire, the archeologist can find a field for work, which, in the beauty of its natural surroundings, and the healthfulness of its climate, together with the interest lent by the present-day inhabitants, is equal, if not superior to, any other part of the earth’s surface.
“In the past, its comparative inaccessibility has been a very great deterrent to systematic work in the regions once occupied by the Incas. Now, better steamship connections with the rest of the world, and increasing railway mileage within, have greatly lessened the transportation difficulties.
“The solution of the problem of man in the Andes has only begun, and it is to be hoped that American students will have many future opportunities to enter this field of research.”
W. D. Moffat
Editor