Page 214 - ce_cusco_2019

boy, Giesecke, or the local farmer Arteaga. However, the determination and grit demonstrated by Bingham is

still impressive for an inexperienced Yale professor.

In yet another example of Bingham’s strange discovery of Machu Picchu, Bingham found himself in a

race to beat Rhode Island alpinist Annie Smith-Peck to the mountain Coropuna. The two wrote to each other

back and forth in the months leading to the voyage, taking jabs at the other’s toughness and will. Bingham

met her on the trip to Peru and described her as “a hard-faced, sharp tongued old maid of the typical New

England type. An article from The Boston Post stated that “It is an open secret to (Bingham’s) friends that he

has been chafing under his routine ever since he heard that Miss Peck had started on the first lap of her race”.

This publicity was not the fame Bingham was seeking and most likely embarrased him while at Machu

Picchu. Therefore, upon his first arrival at the site, Bingham only spent a few hours there, organizing

clearances and excavations for the following weeks. Bingham left to hike Coropuna and arrived after Peck,

however he hiked the highest peak which Smith-Peck missed.

The expedition to be the first person to summit Coropuna did not give Bingham the fame he was

looking for. Soon he realized that although there were locals cultivating the area and others who had been

before him, the outside world had never been introduced to the beautiful scenary and intricate structures that

Machu Picchu held. On his initial expedition to the site Bingham wrote “Houses, streets, stairs. Finely cut

stone.” However, once he was paid to write the National Geographic piece in 1913 on his initial trip in 1911

and second excavation in 1912, he had polished his story-telling ability. In this edition, Bingham writes “It

seemed like an unbelievable dream…it fairly took my breath away.” He even contrasts the reaction of his

own to those of the 8 year-old boy that guided him to the ruins and his Cusqueñan guide. Pretending as if he

initially saw the beauty in Machu Picchu is disingenuous. However, the retrospect of the discovery is normal

because excavations are a very long and strenuous process.

214