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accepted a trip to Choquequirao, one of his first key decisions on his path to Machu Picchu. Bingham and a

large group began a very difficult trek but Bingham was informed by the U.S. government not to complain.

Upon finding no treasure at Choquequirao, Bingham was disappointed, but his appetite for Incan cities was

just forming. An interesting note of this particular expedition is Bingham was not looking for anything in

particular, just something that would potentially make him famous. Following lessons from his father,

Bingham was known to make large to-do lists, rushing through the list and crossing off accomplishments as

he went along. It was this mindset that would lead him to Machu Picchu and the same mindset that would

lead him to almost overlook it.

1911 PERUVIAN EXPEDITION AND ALBERT GIESECKE

After more help from Kodak’s George Eastman, Abercrombie and Fitch, and National Geographic,

Bingham returned to Peru with his mind set on finding the Incan “Lost City”. Upon arrival in Cusco,

Bingham met up with a young Pennsylvanian professor named Albert Giesecke. During the previous winter,

Giesecke met a local Quechuan man named Melchor Arteaga near current day Aguas Calientes, who

mentioned that there were interesting ruins on a nearby ridge. However, it was impossible to navigate in the

rainy season, and he would have to return in the Peruvian winter. Giesecke began communicating with

Bingham through mail and was able to convince him to investigate the ruins when he arrived in June.

Hiram Bingham landed in Cusco in June 1911 accompanied by a tranlsator and security guard in hopes

of finding the “Lost City of the Incas”. Unbeknownst to Bingham, he would discover Espíritu Pampa, the true

Lost City, soon after finding Machu Picchu. However, he was too occupied with the excavation process to

pay any attention. Had he known this was the fabled Vilcabamba, Machu Picchu may have remained covered

for many more years. Hiram Bingham and his team trekked through difficult terrain from Mandor Pampa, led

by an eight year-old boy who knew the area well. While documenting the events, Bingham did not credit the

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