Part 3 - Around the World on Foot (1894-1899)

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By Davy Crockett

During the very late 1800s, people from various countries started to attempt to walk around the world for attention, money, and fame. In Part 2 of this series on walking around the world, I shared many stories of “fakes” who took advantage of the American public by traveling around the Midwest United States claiming to be on treks around the world, but making little or no effort to actually leave the States.

However, others at that time made more sincere attempts and successfully did extended walking on multiple continents, accompanied by newspaper stories confirming their presence in different countries. Several walkers were well-educated and certainly not the typical tramps and drunks that were highlighted in Part 2. Some of the individuals covered in this article became famous as explorers and were given credit for conducting valid walks around the world. But did they actually do it? What was their motivation for spending months and years in this activity? What did they do with their lives after their walk? Here are five intriguing stories of individuals who became very famous. They were a Russian, a Frenchman, a Greek. and two Americans.

Konstantin Rengarten – Russian walker – 1894

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rengarten (1864-1906) was born in the Baltics in the Minsk province (today in Belarus). His father was a district overseer of a tax department. He became a ship boy and was an athlete in high school. He was fond of traveling and at an early age went to Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. He longed to walk around the world and spent ten years preparing for the journey.

Rengarten started a walk around the world west to east from Riga, Russia (capital of present-day Latvia) on August 15, 1894. He was highly educated, rich, well-funded, and represented ten German newspapers and magazines, five that were published in Russia including the St. Petersburg Herold. He would regularly write columns to be published. He would also ship back home “all manner of specimens, rare and interesting, that are duly arranged and classified by his wife, who is an ardent scientific student.”

He spoke German, French, Russian, and a little English. He expected to walk for three years. Nikolai Greinert volunteered to go with him. Unlike most of the other globetrotters of the time, Rengarten did not travel due to a wager and paid his own way instead of expecting locals to always support him.

When they crossed through Ukraine, the rainy season slowed them down terribly. Greinert gave up and returned to Riga. Rengarten continued alone. In his backpack he carried climbing equipment, woolen underwear, a camel-wrap, a gun, a large hunting knife, a cooking pot, a camera, and a small supply of food.

More than a year later, on October 9, 1895, he arrived at Tashkent in present-day Ubekistan, about 4,000 miles to the east. His pace was about 10 miles per day average. He had taken a route through South Russia, to the Black Sea, across the Caucasus Mountains (in Georgia), across Persia (Iran). At Armenia, the Kurds believed that he was a great physician. The lame, halt and blind flocked to him for treatment.

“Rengarten wears only woolen clothes, and for the most part adopts the foot-wear used in the countries through which he passes. During the whole journey he has not once had to call in the advice of a doctor, but he has lost a good deal of weight.”

During Rengarten’s walk through Persia (Iran), he observed terrible conditions and he found their customs abominable. He said, “all women and girls from 10 years up are absolute slaves, while the male part are lazy, filthy, vile barbarians. The Persian prisons are veritable hells, where the government takes no responsibility except to incarcerate the victims.” His pace through Persia was faster, where he walked 1,100 miles in 70 days, 110 miles per week. He had to spend several nights sleeping in sheds and stables. People thought he was a doctor and came to him to treat eye pain or burns.

While traveling through East Russia he observed that the arrival of the railroad was having dire effects. The people’s lives were not improving with modern innovations. Instead, they were falling prey to drunkenness. Whisky was sold at five rubles per gallon, four as a tax by the government who encouraged its consumption to get money. He said in one city of 3,000 that he only found 150 sober people. In Tomsk, he met his wife who had traveled from Riga to see him after many months.

In Siberia, which was the most difficult stretch of his journey, Rengarten met some of the most famous and widely-known exiles of the day. From eastern Siberia he entered Mongolia and set out across the great Gobi Desert. He spent 36 days crossing it and was struck by the size. The nomads were very hospitable to him. The Mongols also helped him and respected his property. He reached northern China where he found many Russian merchants and then went on to Bejing. There he met Li Hongzhang, the Chinese viceroy. He then steamed to Japan where he stayed for four months.

During his travels through various countries, at times he was jeered and insulted for his foreign habits and costume. He was particularly critical of Japan, that published many articles about him in their press. He felt that he was treated with contempt and was said he followed by secret police as he walked in cities such as Nagasaki and Yokohama.

Entry on passenger list, *SS Tenshin Maru*

On April 16, 1897, after more than two and a half years, Rengarten arrived at Seattle, Washington on the steamer Tenshiin Maru from Japan. The ship had broken all known speed records, arriving in only 15 days, 8 hours. Her cargo brought 2,543 tons of tea, silks, matting, 700 tons of fireworks, and one globetrotter.

Rengarten claimed that he had walked more than 9,000 miles, averaging about 290 miles per month. He carried a scrapbook of newspaper clippings from the countries he had visited and said he ultimately intended to write a book about his travels. For his walking days, he estimated he covered about 25 miles per day. He preferred walking on wagon roads rather than railroad tracks and headed south through Oregon to California.

On May 8, 1896, Rengarten gave a free lecture at Salem, Oregon for the German population living there. He shared his interesting experiences while traveling through Persia and conditions in Siberia. About 50 people attended. He said he so far enjoyed walking in the United States and had high praise for the people of America who he said treated him nobly. He said was seriously contemplating making America his home after he completed his walk. He was taking a deep interest in the Native Americans. He visited a school for the blind in Salem and was very impressed.

Salem was very impressed with Rengarten, his “deep and studious habit,” and interest in natural history. “He is a man of means, entirely adequate to permit his indulgence in the time-taking method of pursuing his extended journeys in search of general knowledge. He holds it to be a flat impossibility for anyone to study nature faithfully while rushing over or through her domains at fifty miles an hour and hence he walks, enjoying the correlative privilege of stopping to observe closely whenever it is expedient.”

On June 15, 1897, Rengarten arrived at San Francisco, California after being on the road for a total of more than three years. “On his journey up Market Street, he was followed by a curious through of men and small boys, all interested to know the identity of the dusty and ragged stranger attired in a much worn and weather-beaten suit. He carried an Alpine stock and small bundle, weighing about 20 pounds, containing his accounts and worldly belongings. In spite of his appearance, the traveler has credentials to prove that he is all he claims to be – a Russian journalist making a tour of the world for the pleasure there is in it for him.”

After staying for two weeks, he left San Francisco on June, 30, 1897 with an unusual route through San Jose, Merced, Yosemite Valley, Mona Lake (July 22) to Reno, Nevada. From there, Rengarten walked the railroad to the east, stepping off the track when trains appeared, and reached Salt Lake City, Utah in September, 1897. There, he was seen accompanied by his Russian interpreter who walked with him. He estimated his walking miles to be 11,292.

At Kansas in November, it was noted, “His paraphernalia includes a knapsack, revolver, cane, notebooks, and very little else. His lectures are given at schools to pay his expenses.” He gave a lecture to a large audience in the chapel of Bethel College that was said to be “one of the best lectures ever given within the college walls.” Newspapers across the country would at times publish lists of unclaimed letters in their post offices, and often there were letters waiting for Rengarten, further evidence of his travels.

In January 1898 at Illinois it was observed, “He is not one of the ordinary globe trotters, but writes stories of his journeys. He makes copious notes. He has walked a fraction over 13,000 miles and traveled about 4,000 miles on steamships. His journey is not made with the object of bleeding the people. The German people who have conversed with him say he is one of the most intelligent men they have talked within years. He says there is so much sameness to the scenery between the mountains and the Mississippi, one big farm after another.” He thought the Mississippi Valley was one of the most fertile places he had seen during his travels. In mid-March he lectured in Detroit, Michigan.

From New York City, Rengarten steamed to Le Havre, France where he was welcomed as a famous traveler. He walked through France, visiting Paris and welcomed at many cities. Through Germany, he lectured at universities at various cities.

A triumphal arch of flowers was built for him to pass through at the Russian border. On September 27, 1898, Rengarten returned to his starting point in Riga after a little more than four years on his walk. Everywhere were smiling faces with bouquets of flowers in their hands. He became very famous. “The streets of Riga were unusually lively – cries of cheers sounded, rejoicing reigned. So Riga met its resident Konstantin Rengarten, completing a trip around the world. The traveler crossed the Pontoon Bridge and headed straight to his apartment which drowned in flowers. The owner of a bookstore hung a portrait of the explorer in the most prominent place of his institution.” He was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Riga.

He estimated that he had walked 16,700 miles in four years, one month and 12 days. For his final 17 months, he significantly increased his weekly miles to a difficult, but believable, 105 miles per week. After his journey, a report of his travels was published in several countries and he gave several hundred lectures in Russia and Germany. In 1898 he published a book, Foot to China in Polish. In late 1898 Rengarten planned a hiking expedition to Tibet and back, but it was called off because of a lack of funds. Rengarten died in 1906 in Transbaikal, Russia, from pneumonia, at the age of 42.

Did Rengarten really do it? His timeline and route was very believable if you accept his fast concluding 17-month pace across America and through western Europe to Riga. Anyone who claimed to do it solo is highly suspect, but some accounts mentioned that he had a servant with him at times. His reports back to newspapers were many, and no reports were found doubting the authenticity of his walk. He never changed his story along the way. I have concluded that this was a fairly legitimate effort, perhaps the first true walk around the world.

Henri Gilbert – French walker – 1895

Henri Narcisse Gilbert, a journalist, was born in Nantes, France on May 4, 1865. On February 19, 1895 he started his west to east walk around the world from Paris on a wager for 10,000 pounds between six wealthy friends. He also hoped to publish a book about his adventures. He started without money but was allowed to contract work and accept room and board. He was required to finish by June 1, 1900 and cover a route of 41,500 miles. Not many details were found about his first few years when he claimed to cross Spain, the Middle East and India.

In Syria, he was captured by a band of Turks, who asked him if he was Christian. They let him go once they learned he was a Frenchman. In 1896 he was near Baghdad and reported about torrential floods that caused the waters of the Tigris to rise so rapidly that the town came under serious danger. While Gilbert didn’t speak all the languages, he said he was a great believer in the power of mimicry, and by using a few signs he generally succeeded in getting what he wanted.

Gilbert’s most famous experience occurred in India on December 25, 1897. Near the village of Aring, he met a tourist who let him borrow his bicycle for an hour’s ride. He rode into open fields and later stopped for a rest under a wild banana tree by a pool of water. He then heard a sound that paralyzed him with fear. “My gaze rested upon the fierce and wicked head and long, striped body of an immense tiger about thirty yards from me.” He first remained still and then hid as the tiger lapped up some water. But then it started to creep in Gilbert’s direction.

“Leaping to my feet, I hurled myself in the direction of the bicycle.” He then started riding away fast for his dear life. The tiger ran and leaped after him and came within six yards on a leap. “A sixth leap almost brought the claws of the monster within striking distance of my back tire, but still I pedaled away desperately.” As he made a turn onto another road, a tree was lying across the path with the tiger still coming. “I charged the obstacle headlong and just before crashing into it, I leaped from the machine and scrambled over.” He got back on the bike, peddled on as the tiger leaped over the fallen tree. Thankfully the beast soon gave up the chase and Gilbert made his way back to the town utterly exhausted and shaking.

In 1897 Gilbert arrived in Australia where he would trek for several years and he kept a detailed journal. In August he started a journey of more than 1,500 miles across southern Australia following a telegraph line. He had a rough start. On his second morning he discovered that he had been drugged by chloroform and all his possessions except for his clothes had been stolen causing him to return to his starting point at Albany for a month. Then in October 1897 after wandering 14 days in the bush, suffering from hunger and exposure, he arrived at an outpost “in a state of collapse.” He returned again to Albany for medical treatment.

On April 2, 1898, Gilbert arrived in Adelaide and received a grand welcome from a large crowd. “Thousands of people followed him along King William Street to the post office, where he was heartily cheered.” He said he had been walking for more than three years and had traveled a total 23,220 miles. He next planned to walk another 1,500 miles to Brisbane through Melbourne.

He still claimed that he never took rides. “He must avoid, as he would the plague, any friendly coach or carrier who might help him over a hard pinch of his track.” He had a pass to walk along the railway track.

Gilbert arrived in Melbourne on April 30, 1898. A large crowd cheered him at the post office. “He walks gingerly, being evidently footsore. He wears a khaki suit with a wide-brimmed pith hat, and carries with him a staff, while on his left arm are the colours of his beloved France. He generally travels along the railway line, which is harder walking than on the road, but prevents him from missing his way, and thus losing time and adding to the distance he has to travel.”

In October, 1898, Gilbert arrived at Sydney, Australia and reached Brisbane on December 24, 1898. He intended to take a ship to China within a few days, but did not. By August, 1900 he was still in Australia. He married Marie Barat who walked with him for many more miles in Australia. A daughter was born on a ship on June 20, 1901. She was named Henriette Powell Marie. In October 1901, Gilbert and his family sailed for Hong Kong.

Gilbert became seriously sick at Hong Kong and was hospitalized for a month. His family stayed at an Italian convent. The French Consul wouldn’t allow them to travel through China, so they went to Saigon, Vietnam, which was a French colony, and he tried to give lectures. But they caught diseases there and went to Hanoi, Vietnam, and he was again hospitalized. Gilbert’s wife wrote, “The sickness has made me so poor and weak that I have got thin like a sardine in a tin. I am still in the hospital and my baby also.” Gilbert deserted his wife who likely soon died. Their daughter lived on as an abandoned “orphan” but has living descendants today.

Gilbert’s walk continued to Port Said, Egypt, on the Suez Canal. Gilbert had also deserted another wife before leaving France. Simon Miller, a librarian from Australia, obtained information from a descendant of his first wife. Gilbert returned to France in 1903 but never returned to his original French family.

In 1909, he was arrested in Algeria for “non-presentation for a recall” from the army in 1908 and was sentenced to one day in prison. He may have served in the French military during World War I. Obviously, he never actually walked all the way around the world but certainly did walk thousands of miles in Australia.

George M. Schilling and his dog – 1897

George Matthew Schilling (1874-1920), from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the son of German parents. Some writers have recognized Schilling as the first to walk around the world. At the age of nine, his left arm was ripped off by some belting while playing in an axe factory. He went on to be an athlete and daredevil. In 1892 at the age of 22, he entered some local athletic games and surprised everyone by long jumping 20 feet, one inch. In 1893 he won the triple jump with 42 feet and became locally famous. In 1894 he jumped off the Point Bridge, near Pittsburgh, a distance of 110 feet which increased his reputation. He did another jump into the Mississippi River of 140 feet.

In 1895 Schilling started ultra-distance walks with a 407-mile walk from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to New York City. He wanted to travel the 407 miles in 12 days which he thought would be an amateur pedestrian record. “He will carry with him but little baggage and will not push himself to any great extent as he expects to be in shape for several field meets soon after he reaches New York. Schilling is a strong walker, a very clever jumper and quite a good short distance runner. “ As Schilling walked, he wasn’t shy about boasting of his accomplishments and during his walks wore medals won in athletic contests. He reached New York in nine days without a cent in his pocket, but was generously provided food along the way.

From Pittsburgh to San Francisco and back

On April 20, 1896, Schilling started a walk from Pittsburgh to San Francisco and back with his St. Bernard named King, on a wager from an athletic club. He was required to cover the 7,500 miles in ten months, leave without a cent, and return with one thousand dollars. (The “wagerers” demanding to bring back money are red flags for phony wagers.)

Near the beginning of his journey, his dog became foot sore and exhausted, laid down, and died. In Ohio he was given another dog, a foxhound, which he named, King II. King’s sore feet limited Schilling’s pace.

Schilling was described as, “a strong, tall man with a light complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. His height is six feet, two inches, and weight about 170 pounds. He wears a maroon sweater, grey coat and hat, black tights and heavy laced shoes.” He walked mostly on the railroad and carried letters to prove he was a pedestrian and not a railroad hobo. After Wyoming, news coverage halted, but on August 24, 1896, it was reported that he arrived at San Francisco, only 26 hours ahead of his planned schedule.

Schilling announced that his return trip would start in Portland, Oregon, probably because he had learned about the impossibility of returning through the Sierra, and sparse Nevada/Utah desert alone. He returned to Pittsburgh on February 18, 1897, just two days under ten months, accomplishing his planned timeline. “A large crowd collected around the office and cheered the plucky walker and this trim-looking dog. Schilling looks in splendid shape, and appears much bigger and stronger, and certainly more tanned than he did nearly a year ago.”

He claimed that he walked 8,900 miles, taking 126 days to go west and 156 days coming back. He said he walked every foot of the distance which he “proved” by stamps, seals, and postmarks collected along the route. He returned with only a couple hundred dollars and thus didn’t meet the $1,000 requirement. He said he would never undertake such a long walk again.

Did he really do it? One must be very skeptical about this accomplishment due to the lack of coverage and lack of witnesses to his walking. After the first couple months of his trip, no details were given how he survived going across the western desert states with no crew support, and no mention of help from the railroad, a big red flag.

Within a few months Schilling was calling himself “the world’s champion long-distance walker” and was selling a book about the history of his life and adventures. A New York newspaper was skeptical and commented, “This book makes Schilling a greater discoverer of lands and peoples than the late Christopher Columbus.”

Schilling starts his walk around the world

In May 1897, Schilling announced plans to walk around the world in four years, hoping to visit the World’s Exposition in Paris in 1900 along the way. He would take his dog again, which he said helps prove that he isn’t jumping on moving trains. Some must have accused him of taking rides on his previous trip.

On August 3, 1897, Schilling left New York City and started his attempt with his foxhound, King II, on an alleged wager of $5,000. He was required to leave without a cent in his pocket and was not allowed to “beg, borrow, or spend” along the way, a huge unrealistic requirement that accompanied most of the fabricated transcontinental walks of the era. After those four years, he needed to return with $5,000 in cash.

On September 11, 1897, Schilling arrived in Detroit on a pace of about 20 miles per day. The press was skeptical of him. “Schilling has conspicuously placed on his blue sweater this announcement: ‘Walking Round the World,’ while ‘Champion Walker’ attracts attention to his cap.” In his knapsack he carried copies of his book that he was selling.

On February 17 Shilling arrived in San Francisco, reporting that it had taken him 6 months, 14 days and 4,470 miles to reach the city. He took a southern route. “I crossed the Mojave desert without much trouble, the only objectionable feature being a hard sandstorm which made my eyes sore and nearly killed the dog.” He said he had been delayed in New Mexico and Arizona due to deep snow.

Schilling in Australia

Schilling searched for free passage on a ship to Australia. He was also willing to work his way on a ship. He couldn’t find passage on a steamer that would allow his dog, knowing it probably wouldn’t be allowed to enter Australia. So he walked “every inch” north to Seattle, Washington and then to Vancouver, Canada where he hired on a sailing ship that allowed King to come.

Seven months later, on September 8, 1898, it was reported that Schilling was in Sydney, Australia. The ship had sailed slowly for 82 days. He wrote, “On arriving here, my dog King was taken away from me as they do not allow dogs to land in Australia. He was taken by the quarantine officers, who nearly destroyed him before I was able to secure bonds. It is likely he will fret and die in distress.” He was being held for six months.

Schilling’s around the world walk shifted from a point-to-point walk circling the globe to a walking tour of various countries. He prepared to walk 650 miles from Sydney to Melbourne. He arrived there on October 17, 1898. “The country people are very good. In the miles I walked from Sidney, I never passed a night without a good bed and plenty to eat.” At one point he walked 15 miles with aborigines who carried spears and boomerangs. He watched as they threw one and killed a bird flying overhead.

After Melbourne, no letters from Schilling reached home for more than a year and many believed he was dead. Fifteen months passed and a letter finally arrived. In February 1900, Schilling was still in Australia after a year and a half. He claimed that he had walked more than 9,000 miles through nearly all of Australia. He had also visited Tasmania and New Zealand where he claimed to walk an unlikely 2,000 miles in four months. That is walking an extremely difficult and unrealistic 610 miles per month for 18 months straight.

Schilling had joined a band of musicians and made a large amount of money finding time to perform. Returning to Australia in July, 1899, he was able to be reunited with his dog, King. About Australian conditions, he wrote, “There is a water famine in South Australia. Rabbits are dying by the thousands and all water holes are dried up. I have experienced very hot weather, as high as 115 degrees in the shade. I have had considerable hardships of late and was compelled to carry water for long distances. The dog is in good condition.”

Schilling in Asia

In August 1900, Schilling arrived in Sri Lanka and crossed India northward to Bombay where his dog King died in an accident. Schilling next sailed to Singapore and Hong Kong, where he arrived in March 1901. He claimed that due to wars in various regions, that he his wagerers granted him an additional year for his trek. (Changing wager terms were always another clue that the wager did not actually exist).

Schilling on Pacific Islands and Africa

Schilling said he sailed to Shanghai and hoped to walk through China but could not, because of the Boxer Uprising. This rebellion lasted from 1899 to 1901 and involved protesting attempts by westerners to colonize China. So, instead he went over to Japan in June 1901 and walked there. He next then went on to the Philippines and Indonesia and then was said to be in South Africa in October 1901.

Communications about Schilling ceased totally for nearly three years, but in January, 1904 he showed up in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He told people that his wager term had always been to complete his walk within seven years instead of the original four years, and he planned to be back in New York before August, 1904. But in August, Schilling instead arrived in Berlin, Germany where he became sick and stopped for two months. It was discovered that the person who he claimed promised him $5,000 for the wager had died during all this time.

Schilling explained what had happened during the past three years. He said he had great difficulty walking through Africa and eventually was arrested by the Turks who didn’t believe his story.

He reached London in November 1904 and then gave many lectures throughout the country, in no hurry to complete his goal. While there, he met and married a girl in Hull, England. He never returned to Pittsburgh that year. Instead he became a serious self-promoter, continuing to do stunts and “boasted that he was the first man who had ever walked around the world.” He said he had walked 55,000 miles in those seven years, averaging a stunning 650 miles every month, more than 150 miles per week.

His 1905 tales became highly embellished. He said, “Half a dozen times I nearly lost my life. Three times I was almost killed by disease. In central Africa I was attacked by natives and severely hurt.”

Despite earlier saying that he didn’t walk through China, he said, “In the Yunnan province of China I was beaten and left for dead. In India I was again and again attacked by villagers armed with bamboos, who tried to kill me because I slaked my thirst at their village wells, which they regard as sacred.”

Schilling presented his collection of 4,000 village seals and stamps that filled 28 books. He said, “The days I have spent in securing these certificates amount to a year and a half of the time. I collected two trunks of curios but one I lost and the other fell into the Zambezi River (in Africa) and the contents were ruined.” Also, seven years after he started, it was reported very widely that he originally started his journey only wearing newspaper clothing which didn’t happen. He had changed his start story to match a common story used by others.

Schilling stunts

Six years later, in 1911, the gullible public believed a crazy stunt Schilling was said to be performing. “Schilling has undertaken the gigantic task of rolling a large globe around the world and also living and sleeping in it. The globe is seven feet in diameter and twenty-two feet in girth. Schilling states that owing to an accident, he has had to temporarily place the globe on wheels. This is his second attempt to accomplish his long journey, the first time he had the misfortune to lose an arm in China during the Boxer rebellion.” It is funny how stories changed. Schilling said he would be gone for 12 years pushing the globe. In 1913 he claimed that he had pushed it 10,000 miles. He also claimed that back in 1908 he pushed a model airship 19,000 miles starting from London, something no one witnessed.

Schilling finally returned to Pittsburgh in 1914 and died on May 9,1920 at age 45. His occupation was listed as “lecturer” and his death certificate included as a cause that he was “insane.” He left behind his wife, May, with five young children, including a new baby. His obituary included, “His death is mourned by a wide circle of friends, specially the old-timers who remember his achievements in the athletic world.”

Did Schilling truly walk around the world as his tombstone states? No. Did he walk in many countries on five continents? Apparently, yes, with his postmarks and seals as some proof. But while he was away from America, until arriving in England, the only source for his travel details were his own letters that were sent to the Pittsburgh Daily Post and the lectures he gave while in England. There were no news stories from third-party witnesses found except for a few during his American transcontinental beginning. His stories changed over time. It is up to the reader to decide what to believe and what to discount. Some of his obvious false claims cast doubt on the whole.

Author, Jan Bondeson, wrote of Schilling’s trek in her 2018 book,The Lion Boy and Other Medical Curiosities, and mistakenly stated that “George M. Schilling was by far the most successful of the early would-be globetrotters.” The Guinness Book of World Records also incorrectly gave him recognition of being the first. Instead that credit should probably go to Konstantin Rengarten.

George Melville Boynton – explorer – 1897

George Melville Boynton (1869-1945 ) was a famous explorer during the early 1900s. But those who have written about say “he was a braggart and swindler whose larger-than-life public persona was developed through relentless self-promotion and whose money-making schemes straddled the line between hopelessly naïve and outright fraud.” During his early adventure career, he attempted to walk around the world. Because of his fame, his story must be told.

Bonyton was born in Laconia, New Hampshire on July 15, 1869. His father eventually became a very successful cloak merchant in New York City. Boynton was well-educated in public and private schools. In 1889 after a serious argument with his father, Bonyton left home to never return when he was twenty-year-old. He falsely claimed that he went off to South America for a number of years, soldiering in various battles. Immigration records show that he actually went to London and then to Australia in 1889. He later claimed that during the next eight years that he had made six trips across the Atlantic Ocean instead of being in South America.

By 1897, Bonyton had returned to America and claimed that he was living in San Francisco as the “around the world” frenzy was taking place. Bonyton joined the craze and the main source for his story were his own words. On August 18, 1897 he asserted that he accepted a $50,000 wager to walk around the world in five years, with the usual suspect conditions to spend no money and sponge off the generosity of others. He said that he wanted to prove “that money is not the most important thing, that the superiority of man over colossal difficulties can be accomplished minus the aid of ‘Uncle Sam’s’ gold certificates.”

Like others, and with no witnesses, he began in a paper suit and eventually upgraded to real clothes before he left the city. There were no San Francisco newspaper articles about his start. He claimed that when he was 35 miles from Ogden, Utah that he was shot at by an Indian, but that was really his only hardship, He said that he only had to sleep out in the open for three nights on his journey east, a total impossibility because of the distance between towns and railroad section houses.

In fact it wasn’t until he arrived in Pennsylvania, about four months later, in December, 1897, that anyone noticed him. He likely never lived in California and actually started his adventure in Pittsburgh. Even the frauds had stories of their arrivals printed in the newspapers, but for Boynton, they were silent until he was near the east coast.

In the Allegheny Mountains, Boynton said that he used a long railway tunnel after receiving information that no train would be coming. “He was feeling his way along one side of the tunnel, when his body was caught by the steps of a special train which whizzed past, and flung him against a huge boulder near the track. He lay stunned, but recovered and crawled through the tunnel.” On the other side a railway official tended a nasty wound on his head and then placed him under arrest thinking he didn’t receive permission to use the tunnel.

Boynton said one of his goals were to have audiences with all the rulers of the world. His planned route would take him to nearly every country and capital city in Europe and Asia. Boynton’s unbelievable story continued as he claimed to be entertained by President William McKinley at Washington D.C. on January 22, 1898.

In Great Britain

At New York City, a friend paid his passage to Liverpool, England on a steamer that left on February 20, 1898. He started walking around England and in April went to Ireland and walk there too. He said he needed to travel 40,000 miles on foot and said falsely that he had already been around the world four times and visited every country known to travelers. He said his around the world quest would end in Washington D.C. in 1902 when he would dine with the President of the United States.

To Boynton’s credit, his journey in Great Britain went according to his stated plans set months earlier and were backed up by numerous reports in England newspapers. In June 1898 Boynton was in central England heading north on zig-zag route in England. While at Edinburgh he married a Scottish woman. He had seen her picture in a photography studio and then went to Glasgow to pursue her. They quickly married on June 11, 1898 and they only spent one day together as a married couple. He left to continue his walk with a new young brother-in-law. News about Boynton was silent about his travels from there, but he told some fantastic tales.

In Spain

Boynton next steamed to Portugal on July 30, 1898, obtained a passport on August 2nd, and made his way from Lisbon to the border with Spain three weeks later. Strangely, Boynton, an American, wanted to walk in Spain just as the Spanish American War was concluding. He was denied entrance into Spain by border guards, but that night he crawled across the border on his stomach and was spotted by a sentry who opened fire. He made a run for it, successfully getting away and spent the night under an olive tree.

In his traveling kit, he carried, “several changes of underclothing, a sword-stick with a Toledo blade, and an automatic pistol.” Soon he was given a donkey to carry his things.

He claimed to walk a zig-zag route through Spain and for much of it with two American flags on his back. He said, “At several towns I was arrested as a spy and my passport was taken away after one day.” At one town, a Spanish fisherman didn’t like the flags on his back and threw a knife at him. “It did not hit me, but in return I threw a stone and hit him in the head. I cleared out after that as soon as possible. At Caragena, I was attacked by a mob and almost killed. I used my revolver to good advantage and kept the crowd at bay until I made my escape.”

In another account, he said he simply greeted the mob by taking off his hat, bowing, and saying politely in Spanish, “A nice day, good evening ladies and gentlemen. They were stunned and did nothing. The police arrived and placed him under arrest.” While there he was borrowed 10 pounds and thus broke his wager.

Boynton said Spaniards tried to poison him along the way. Their plan was to get him to eat many Indian figs and then drink a certain wine which would cause a dangerous chemical composition of poison. “I ate my fill of the fruit, but when the wine was passed, I refused it. The natives were highly indignant at my refusal to partake.”

Bonyton said he was in Toledo, Spain in November, 1898 with the Austrian consul in a café. “The room was crowded with Spanish officers. They, knowing the consul, asked for an introduction to me.” They drank together and one of the men put poison in Bonyton’s glass. “I did not feel the effects of the drug until I reached my hotel. I was then taken deathly sick.” He forced himself to vomit and eventually recovered and went on to Madrid.

“The day I left Madrid I had to pass in front of 20,000 Spanish troops. I had the two America flags draped about my body. I thought sure I had done my last walking. But instead of being killed, I was cheered along the route” later claimed to be attacked later in a town by three bandits who he fought off.

He finally neared the French border. He said, “I had just arrived at Jaca, Spain, when a Spaniard accosted me and slapped me on the back and said, ‘Those colors of the Yankee are damn bad in Spain.’” They soon started to wrestle. “I shoved him away so as I could get my sword out of the case, but he came at me again with a knife and I shoved my cane at him. He grasped it and I gave a quick jerk and released the sword. He came again and I stuck him in the stomach and he toppled over the bridge, down an embankment to the stones below. I did not stop to see whether he died, but got out of town as soon as possible. I later found out that I killed him.” He quickly crossed over the nearby border into France on New Years Day, 1899, just in time because Spanish soldiers arrived one hour later at the border to arrest him for murder.

In January 1899, word arrived that Boynton nearly lost his life in the Pyrenees Mountains.. “When in the mountains, in the darkness, he stepped into a chasm and fell from a considerable height. The little donkey bearing the luggage and provisions stopped just on the verge of the precipice. A donkey driver who passed the place shortly afterwards chanced to hear Boynton’s groans and rescued him.” Unfortunately he suffered from terrible frostbitten toes because he had been walking in Spanish sandals ever since his boots had been stolen.

Boynton returned to England for medical help. He said he had to borrow $50 to make the trip and used that violation of his wager as an excuse to stop his trip. He went to Scotland to deal with his wife. After being married for only eight months, he filed for divorce, admitted he had been repeatedly unfaithful, and said that he intended to return to the United States to pursue mining in Colorado. He had no desire to bring his wife with him. Eventually his marriage was dissolved.

Expedition attempts

By June, 1899 he was back in New York City, entered a six-day race at Madison Square Garden, and gave walking exhibitions. He started calling himself “Captain Boynton,” claiming that title gained while serving in the Brazilian army, but also likely to make people think he was another famed “Captain George B. Boynton” at that time. He began a walk across America and back, giving lectures along the way telling his fantastic tales, but quit in Missouri.

Boynton went on to build his fame and planned an expedition to the North Pole by means of an air ship. He traveled trying to raise funds. In Kansas City it was written about him, “the captain may be destined to be a great man. He thinks he is. He might be a lunatic, and he may be a harmless vagabond; at any rate he tells an interesting story about himself.” The scheme never got off the ground.

Reaching Colorado, Boynton claimed to beat the world record climbing Pikes Peak and then established a gold claim with a partner called the Motezuma Gold Mining and Milling Corporation and founding the city of Barnes. But it the claim turned out to be a fraud, seeded with gold from other claims. He went on to establish other companies that all failed and lost fortunes for shareholders.

In 1907 He started to market a proposed five-year expedition to explore the South American interior for lost gold mines. He named it “The Darkest American Expedition.” Later he changed the emphasis to a scientific exploration. In Boston he peddled his expedition to solicit funds dressed in a khaki uniform with his chest covered in unrecognizable medals. His sham soon failed. He dodged hotel bills and eventually was arrested and spent time in prison. Nothing came of his South American expedition. When World War I broke out, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and was wounded multiple times and was able to spend time fighting in East Africa. Finally in 1924, he announced that he was planning an expedition to find a lost Aztec city in Central America. It never took place. For the last 20 years of his life, he lived in San Francisco. He listed his occupation as “military adviser,’ and died around 1945, alone and was largely forgotten.

Dr. Peter Attias – Greek walker – 1899

Dr Peter Georges Paul Attias was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Greek parents on May 29, 1872. From his early youth, he had determined to be an explorer. His father was a wealthy Greek merchant broker who traveled widely. Young Attias was educated in Paris and received a college degree when he was still a boy. He next went to the University of Geneva and received a doctorate in geographical science. He also claimed in later years that he was a graduate of the French Institute of Medicine and Surgery at Paris.

Before he was age 21, his father suddenly passed away and his relatives was expected young Peter Attias to carry on the business by his relatives. But he was determined to lead a life of adventure and began long journeys on foot in Syria.

Attias lived in California from 1891-92 bought horses in California for the British government and was very involved in the trade industry. In 1892, he was appointed chief of staff to a wealthy Russian exile, Prince Zamourim, who directed him to go off on a series of exploration expeditions in Africa, to the gold mines of Kilimanjaro and Rovensonry in Uganda. He also went on expeditions in Central America, had some dangerous encounters and was shot twice and stabbed with a sword. Upon the death of the prince, he returned to Europe and won fame by walking from Smyrna to St. Petersburg, a distance of 5,000 miles in 78 days. On another walk he crossed the Balkans and was decorated with the Order of the Cevailer by the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.

It was said that Attias was extraordinarily intelligent and also was very strong physically. “His muscles are like bars of steel, and his mental activity is almost bewildering.” He could converse in twelve languages. But more recently a writer wrote that he was “one of the most polished of the around-the-world con artists” and was a habitual liar. Here is his walk around the world story.

One day he awoke one morning in London aware of the fact that only a few thousand dollars separated him from absolute poverty. He tried to think of something that might repair his fortunes when several wealthy sporting men offered to make him a wager.

On January 1, 1899, at the age of 26, Attias claimed to start a walk around the world with the London Sporting Club for $25,000. He needed to go 40,000 miles by land and 28,000 by sea, an impossible accomplishment, traveling only be foot and ship. An itinerary was planned with certain distance to be traveled in each country within three years.

Attias started in Cadiz, Spain on the far southeast of the country. He claimed that he headed east across Europe, through the Suez canal, to India, China, Japan, and Australia. He then went to London by sea, walked through England and Scotland, and then steamed to Baltimore, arriving on June 13, 1899 after only six months from his start. Prior to crossing America on foot, he took letter of introduction to President McKinley in Washington D.C. He was described in America as “a botanist and geographer. He wears a jeweled decoration of the Order of Chevalier, presented him by the Czar for walking across the Balkans. His support is derived from lectures, the publication of a magazine of travel, correspondence to magazines and European newspapers, and travelling without money.”

In a newspaper interview he said, “You have others traveling about begging and they ‘claim’ to have walked so far. I do not claim. I prove. I have been several times around the world so I know how to do it now. And I travel in an aristocratic manner. I have three men to arrange details and I have two dogs. I have spent $17,000 already. I earn money. I do not beg. I travel in the interest of science.”

Within two months Attias arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, accompanied by his secretary and two large St. Bernard dogs. He reached San Francisco by the end of September, 1899, making the trip across America in a little more than three months, averaging a very unbelievable 40 miles per day with scant news coverage. Naïve people reported, “He is a tramp of the first order, and is now in this country on a walking tour of the earth, visiting every principal country on foot.”

Attias gave his impressions of America. “The supreme ambition is the dollar. The American is inclined to be cold-hearted and inhospitable. A poor man in the States, even when of great merit, has not any social position, but if the same man had $20,000, he would be introduced to a respectable merchant, invited to dinner, and might marry the heiress of his unexpected friend. Life is full of material ambition.”

Attias then claimed to head southward through Central and South America to Valparaiso, Chile. He was impressed by Mexico but predicted that it would soon be taken over by the Americans. “The construction of the railway that has been made to unite the capital of Mexico will all that capitals of the United States is a signal of that future.” Columbia was experiencing a revolution. He said, “they live only to triumph in war.” He found Peru to be a beautiful rich nation and very hospitable. Given the pace he made his way through the countries it is very evident that he did not travel by walking, covering more than 8,000 miles in only four months.

Attias claimed that he completed his trek one month before the specified time accomplishing the terms of the wager. He next wanted to head to Australia and needed to cross the Andes Mountains in a hired four-horse carriage in February, 1900. While traveling on a mountain side road with a cliff on one side, and a roaring river down below, “about midnight the guide shouted back that there were obstructions in the road and stopped the carriage. Just as they pulled up, a rumble was heard, and a huge rock was seen tumbling down toward the carriage. Attias jumped from the carriage, but not in time to escape the shock. Carriage, horses, occupants, and Attias were hurled over the bank. The carriage and horses went into the river but Attias was found unconscious by the guide some time afterwards, lodged on the bank, haven fallen about 100 feet. Four men, including his secretary and servant were swept away and drowned. He lost his entire proof of his journey, including a collection of photographs and manuscripts.

Attias later claimed that he finished his trip in London with thirty days to spare and netted more than $100,000. A few months later, in 1900, now married Attias, started another wager to travel around the world within 12 months, this time by motor car, by rail or by steamer, and by any means for a bet of $25,000. He went with his new bride, the daughter of a Major General in the British Army.

In November, 1900, New Orleans revealed that Attias was a con, a faker, and he deserted new wife. She explained that a few years ago she have been living in London with her two children a collection of about $5,000 of jewelry. Attias came, swept her off her feet, telling her that he owned estates in Egypt and Switzerland. But on their “honeymoon” around the world trip, he pawned much of her jewelry and the rest was seized by proprietors because of unpaid bills. In New Orleans, at a public lecture, he was accused by a partner for an hour of being “a monstrous impostor, faker, fraud and tramp.” Attias ditched his wife and she thought he was on the way to Mexico. She called him “the greatest rascal I ever knew.”

Attias continued to live a life as a con artist. He married multiple rich widows without getting divorces. He borrowed money that was never paid back. He gathered investors for companies or projects that never materialized. When he appeared in Salt Lake City, Utah, and conned the Greek population there in 1904 he was described as, “ a very much known impostor, who sometimes appears as a pedestrian, other times as a doctor, and other times as an enterprising person.” He was arrested there for practicing medicine without a license. In 1906 he was amazingly granted U.S. citizenship in Los Angeles, California.

Attias experienced frequent lawsuits and arrests including in 1909 when he was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, selling worthless stocks in the Global Radiator Company. After trying to flee prosecution, he was finally taken into custody, taken away from his “wife.”

In October 1909, Attias received a verdict of guilty from a jury trial. They only deliberated for two hours. “As an officer slipped the manacles on his writs, the ‘doctor’ asked his attorneys if they would comfort his wife. The conviction of the stylish little Greek was the sad ending of the dreams of many Detroiters, who lost their money in the proposed Globe Radiator Company.” He spent about a year in prison, moved to Portland Oregon and died in 1919.

Read all parts:

Sources:

Baron Rengarten, Our Glorious Fellow Countryman
Jan Bondeson, The Lion Boy and Other Medical Curiosities
Sterliny Daily Gazette (Illinois), Aug 28, 1896
Los Angeles Herald (California), Nov 8, 1896
The San Francisco Call, Feb 22, 1894, Jun 1, 1894,Jun 30, 1895
The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Jan 15, 1896
Liverpool Mercury (England), Nov 3, 1896
The Age (Melbourne, Australia), Mar 6, 1897
The Standard (London, England), Sep 3, 1896
The Pittsburgh Press (Pennsylvania), Apr 14, 1895
Harrisburg Telegraph (Pennsylvania), Apr 19, 1895
Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pennsylvania), Apr 29, Jul 13, 1895, Feb 19, 1897, Feb 28, Jun 5, Oct 16, Dec 25, 1898,
The Fort Wayne Sentinel (Indiana), May 4, 1896
Sterling Standard (Illinois), May 28, 1896
Salt Lake Herald (Utah), Feb 20, 1897
The World (New York, New York), Jul 22, 1897
Detroit Free Press (Michigain), Jul 8, 1882, Sep 12, 1897
Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska), Jul 15, 1895
The Wilmington Morning Star (North Carolina), Aug 3, 1894.
The Standard (London, England), Oct 30, 1895
The Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), May 6,10, 1897
San Francisco Chronicle (California), Jun 15, 1898
The Salt Lake Tribune, Sep 3, 1897
The Weekly Republican (Newton, Kansas), Nov 19, 1897
The Times (Streator, Illinois), Jan 11, 1898
The Guardian (London, England), Apr 23, 1896
The Sydney Morning Herald (Oct 8, 1897, Jun 2, 1898)
The Age (Melbourne, Australia) Apr 4,30, 1898
Machester Weekly Times and Examiner, Jul 29, 1898
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington), Jan 14, 1900
Simon Miller, “The French Pedestrian and the Mystery Woman”
The Fulton Democrat (McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania), Jan 13, 1898
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Jan 17 1898
Belfast News-Letter (Northern Ireland), Apr 1, 1898
The Freeman’s Journal (Dublin, Ireland), Apr 11, 1898
The Morning Post (London, England), Jun 18, 1898
The Pittsburgh Press (Pennsylvania), Dec 19, 1897
Omaha Daily Bee (Nebraska), Jan 8, 1899
The Huddersfield Chronicle (England), Jan 10, 1899
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York), Jun 7, 1899
The Ottawa Citizen (Canada), Aug 22, 1900
Chicago Tribune (Illinois), Jun 13, 1899
The Denison Review (Iowa), Aug 18, 1899
The San Francisco Call (California), Sep 29, 1899
The Butte Miner (Montana), Jul 9, 1899
Buffalo Courier (New York), Aug 27, 1900
Steve Frango, “The Greek Rogue of the American West – Part One”
Detroit Free Press (Michigan), Oct 16, 1909
Democrat and Chronicle (Aug 23, 30 1909)
Detroit Free Press (Michigan), Sep 5, Oct 24, 1909
Buffalo Weekly Express (New York), Jul 20, 1899
Charles Roberts, “George Boynton: the greatest explorer that never was”
Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), May 14, 1899
The Brooklyn Citizen (New York), Jun 18, 1899
Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), Apr 21, 1900
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), Nov 32, 1900
The Salt Lake Herald (Utah), Jul 29, 1904

40: Around the World on Foot – Part 3 (1894-1899)

By Davy Crockett

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