Spectacular Angel Falls, world's longest waterfall, Canaima, Venezuela (wikipedia) |
Born
in Missouri
in 1899, Jimmie Angel was an adventure lover with a passion for flying.
Following World War I, he contemplated the idea of becoming a commercial
airline pilot but decided the job would be too confining to suit his
personality.
Canaima, Venezuela (wikipedia) |
Over
time, the celebrated folklore surrounding Jimmie Angel made it difficult to
separate myth from reality. Unverified stories that he taught himself fly when
he was 14, that he was a Royal British Flying Corps Ace in World War I, that he
created an air force for a Chinese warlord in the Gobi Desert or that he worked
as an aviation scout for Lawrence of Arabia all became part of the legend.
Among
the accounts, which intensifies the mystery, involves an American geologist
known only as McCracken who met Angel in a smoke-filled bar in Panama
in the early 1920s. For a fee of $5,000,
a hefty sum at that time, Angel agreed to fly McCracken to a river of
gold flowing through an unknown tepui (plateau) in the Gran Sabana of
southeastern Venezuela
Orinoco Delta in Venezeula (wikipedia) |
McCracken
never returned to Venezuela .
He died in the United States
and Angel spent the remainder of his life searching for the lost river of gold.
It is uncertain whether the story is true, but Angel told it often and his
obsessive search for the river may have been an indication of its validity.
In
November 1933, while flying a solo flight in the canyons of Venezuela ’s Gran Sabana, Angel
claimed to have sighted a “mile high waterfall.” Understandably, with other
“tales” from Jimmie’s past, there were serious doubts about its authenticity.
One
reason for the skepticism was the seasonal nature of many waterfalls, and the
Auyántepui rising from the neighboring Kamarata Valley
was uncharted at the time. It was believed that the indigenous Kamarakotos
Pemón tribe knew of it, but regarded the tepui as an evil spirit so they feared
talking about it.
Panoramic view of Angel Falls (wikipedia) |
Finally, in the spring of 1935,
Angel convinced three other explorers to fly an expedition into the canyon to
verify his claim and take pictures.
L.P. Dennison published the adventure in 1942 in a
book titled Devil Mountain .
Wrote
Dennison, “’Now I
will show you my waterfall!’ shouted Jimmie with glee!”
When he spotted the falls himself, Dennison was in
awe. “I could only stare in amazement. It looked like an immense rope hanging
over the canyon wall, and it fell for all of 3,000 feet, possibly more, without
interruption until it spread out into a billowy cloud of fine, fluffy mist.”
Now
vindicated, Angel and his wife, Marie, flew his beloved Flamingo airplane, named
El Rio Caroni , returned to the falls on
several occasions between 1935 and 1937. The Caroni River
was the primary visual navigational tool Angel used to find his way back to the
waterfall.
El Rio Caroni, the historic plane of Jimmie Angel in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela (wikipedia) |
Still
seeking his “golden river” in 1937, Angel intended to land on Auyántepui for
some exploration on foot. Though the landing went smoothly at first, El Rio Caroni hit
soft ground and nose dived into a layer of mud causing a broken fuel line.
Fortunately,
in anticipation of problems, Angel had parachuted supplies to the area before
attempting the landing. Despite being well equipped, the trip back to
civilization required an arduous 11-day trek by the four-person expedition.
Canaima Lagoon, Venezuela (wikipedia) |
Seven
years earlier, in 1949, World War II correspondent and photojournalist, Ruth
Robertson led the first successful land expedition to Angel Falls .
The falls were then declared the tallest in the world at 3,212 feet and
Robertson’s story is documented in the November 1949 edition of National Geographic
titled “Jungle Journey to the World’s Highest Waterfall.”
Travelers
interested in retracing the steps of Ruth Robertson can do just that on a
special tour from June 27 to July 4, 2014. The program is being handled by
Angel Ecotours.
In 1964, the
Venezuelan government declared El Rio
Caroni a national monument. It was dismantled by the Venezuelan Air Force in
1970 and partially restored and reassembled by the Aviation
Museum in Maracay .
Front view of El Rio Caroni (wikipedia) |
Though the
airport in Ciudad Bolivar , Venezuela is small, it is the
gateway for excursions to view Jimmie Angel’s magnificent waterfall. Meanwhile,
tiny El Rio Caroni sits proudly on
the lawn in front of the terminal paying homage to the Devil Mountain
discovered by an Angel.
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