I spend many of my days researching, and I often come across strange and fascinating tales that don’t quite fit in my books. Thus, Friday story time is born. Because really, does a great story need a reason? Here’s this week’s tidbit:

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was treasurer of a Spanish expedition in 1527. Heavily infected with gold-fever, the crew landed in Florida and declared the area a part of Spain. Then half the group — including Cabeza de Vaca — decided they couldn’t possibly wait to settle and plan. They took off into the rainforest in search of treasure.

The men faced hurricanes, bugs, and disease. Their efforts at diplomacy included capturing the local native leader, so neighbourly relations were somewhat fatal. Finally, after weeks spent lost in the swamp, a couple hundred men arrived back at the coast. Slaughtering and eating their remaining horses to regain their strength, they then patched together a few rafts and attempted to sail to Cuba.

By the time another storm swept them onto the beaches of what is now Texas, there were only 80 left alive. All were enslaved by local natives.

But the story grows stranger…

Cabeza de Vaca eventually escaped captivity, became a trader and faith healer, and travelled with native groups across the southern portion of the continent. After a chance meeting with other Spanish explorers, he returned to Spain in 1537. He served as a (likely corrupt) governor in Mexico and a judge in Seville, Spain.

He was one of only four men to survive the expedition.

I spend many of my days researching, and I often come across strange and fascinating tales that don’t quite fit in my books. Thus, Friday story time is born. Because really, does a great story need a reason? Here’s this week’s tidbit:

During World War II, Italian soldier Felice Benuzzi was stuck in a British prisoner-of-war camp in East Africa. After months of confinement, he grew bored. So he convinced two other prisoners to sneak past the guards and climb Mount Kenya with him.

Using home-made clothing, tents, and crampons, the three men evaded leopards and rhinos at the base of the mountain, then climbed all 16,300 feet to the summit and hoisted a homemade flag.

Having conquered a mountain that had beaten hundreds of experienced mountaineers, Benuzzi and his friends returned to their prison camp and turned themselves in.

I spend many of my days researching, and I often come across strange and fascinating tales that don’t quite fit in my books. Thus, Friday story time is born. Because really, does a great story need a reason?

In 1881, American Adophus Greely (a man with no northern experience) led a scientific expedition to the Arctic. Because the summer was unusually warm – something Greely had no way of knowing – his crew was able to sail far toward the pole. Supply ships were unable to reach them the next year, and rescue attempts failed in 1883. Eventually, Greely’s ship sank, and 24 men sailed small boats for 250 miles in an attempt to meet a supply party. When they arrived, they found no rescuers and only enough provisions for a few weeks.

By 1884, when a relief ship finally arrived, there were only seven men left. One had been shot for stealing food; some had starved; some had drowned or died of frostbite; and some, claimed the newspapers, had been eaten. Rumors of mutiny, poor leadership, and cannibalism followed Greely for the remainder of his life.

In an interesting epilogue, data from early scientific expeditions – even the catastrophic journey of Adophus Greely – is now being used to measure climate change. So all those chewed-up sailors can rest, knowing their deaths have a purpose at last.