The Spike Island resident who was the inspiration behind Indiana Jones

Colonel Percy Fawcett was a most interesting man and a friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose book, The Lost World, was based on his explorations.

The Lonely Planet recently listed him as one of history’s most famous explorers, up there with Marco Polo and Leif Erikson. But who was this amazing man and what was his connection to Cork?

Percy Fawcett was born in Torquay in Devon in 1867.

In 1901 he joined the Royal Geographical Society to study map-making and survey work. Using this cover as a surveyor, he worked for the British Secret Service in North Africa.

He spent his early life travelling around the world with the British Army before a posting brought him to Spike Island in 1903 with his wife Nina and their young son Jack. It was here on Spike Island that his second son Brian was born. He enjoyed his quiet life on Spike but he also yearned for adventure.

In 1906 he was sent to South America surveying in Brazil and it was here that he befriended local chiefs and tribal leaders.

He wrote about his travels in the Royal Geographical Society magazine, describing his exploits, the tribes he encountered, and life in the jungles of South America.

Fawcett developed a fascination with a lost city which he called Z. He believed that a thriving city had once flourished in the now jungle area and he was determined to find it.

He came into possession of a document written by a Portuguese explorer from 1753 which outlined a lost city near the Mato Grosso area of northeastern Brazil.

In 1911 Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Picchu and this discovery spurred Fawcett on further to find Z.

In 1914, the Great War broke out and Fawcett was recalled to the Royal Artillery where he served for the next four years on the Western Front.

He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1916.

He was mentioned many times in dispatches and received the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) for operational gallantry for “highly successful command and leadership during active operations”.

He left the military in 1919.

After the war, he returned to South America, and building on his previous knowledge he found many things, including pottery and overgrown tracks which led him to believe that he was on the right path to his lost city of Z.

Each adventure took him further into the unknown and each time he returned to England he told of his escapades to masses of people.

His letters back were printed to be read by people all around the world. It was at this time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his book The Lost World using Fawcett as the inspiration.

In 1925 Fawcett travelled back to South America with his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimmel where they ventured to the Mato Grosso area.

In his last letter to his wife Fawcett wrote, “You need have no fear of any failure”.

Fawcett was now 58 years old, travelling into an unknown part of the jungle, full of tribes which were weary of outsiders.

One such tribe, the Kalapalo, met Fawcett and his companions.

The Kalapalo later told a search party that they had warned Fawcett not to go any further along as the next area where they intended to go was controlled by a more hostile tribe who were very violent.

Fawcett pushed further along and the Kalapalo tracked their campfires for four more days.

After that, no more was ever seen or heard of Col Fawcett or his companions ever again.

Over the following years, many searched for Fawcett but nothing of his disappearance or death was ever proven.

There was lots of speculation at the time about cannibal tribes, massive snakes, even one that suggested that he had become a chief of a tribe and lived the rest of his life there. But it might be that, driven on by his age and need for success, he went too far and ran out of supplies.

His son Brian arranged a book from his father’s manuscripts, log books and records, Exploration Fawcett, (Journey to the lost city of Z), and travelled to South America himself in later life.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Col Percy Fawcett’s disappearance.