It took more than three years of campaigning before he finally secured funding for a third mission. He was particularly enthralled by a Portuguese fortune hunter’s 1753 account of a stone jungle metropolis of great “size and grandeur.”Īs the years passed, Fawcett became increasingly obsessed with seeking out his modern day El Dorado, which he dubbed the city of “Z.” He launched two searches for it in the early 1920s, but was driven out of the jungle on both occasions by poor weather, fever and exhaustion. His run-ins with native Indians had convinced him that it was possible for large groups to thrive in the unforgiving environment of the rainforest, and he’d stumbled upon references to sophisticated settlements in the histories of the European Conquistadors. They even inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write the 1912 novel “The Lost World.”Īlong with making his name as one of the world’s great explorers, Fawcett’s adventures also led him to develop the theory that an advanced and ancient city lay in the Amazon. His exploits grabbed headlines around the world and won him a prestigious medal from the Royal Geographical Society. He was most famous for his half-dozen mapmaking expeditions to the wilds of the Amazon, a place he called “the last great blank space in the world.” Beginning in 1906, Fawcett had ventured into previously uncharted territory in Brazil and Bolivia, where he dodged poisonous pit vipers and made contact with hostile native tribes. His resume included a stint as a British artilleryman in Sri Lanka, a tour of duty in World War I and a top-secret gig as a spy in Morocco.
With his steely blue eyes, manicured beard and trademark Stetson hat, Colonel Percy Fawcett looked like the quintessential swashbuckling adventurer.
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