By Davy Crockett 

This is the third part of the rim-to-rim series. Read first Part 1 and Part 2

As the Grand Canyon entered the 1940s, the corridor trails were in place along with the Black Bridge across the Colorado River, making rim-to-rim travel on foot possible. By the early 1960s, a few daring athletes were hiking or running rim to rim in a day and even a few completing double crossings in a day. Credit goes to Pete Cowgill (1925-2019) and his Southern Arizona Hiking Club from Tucson, Arizona, who demonstrated to all that crossing the Canyon on foot in a day was not only possible but was an amazing adventure.

The Boy Scouts in Arizona started to offer rim-to-rim patches to those who completed the hike. A rim-to-rim-to-rim patch appeared in 1963. Publicity for the patches were being published in national scouting magazines. That year a fifty-mile hike craze was also burning throughout the country attracting more hikers to the Canyon. Arizona State College in Flagstaff started to organize large rim-to-river and back hikes.

Warnings were offered by the wise: "It is more rugged than anything you have every pictured. Despite its famed beauty, the canyon is a natural killer and hardly a year goes by that it doesn't claim at least one life in some way."

In 1963, visitors topped 1.5 million and serious growing pains were felt at Grand Canyon Village with traffic, crowded lodging, and strained Park services. More development was needed but the big limitation was water. The quest for water would result pausing in rim-to-rim travel for more than five years.

The Trans-Canyon Water Pipeline

As you hike or run rim to rim, you see can see at times pipes and other indications that there is a pipeline buried under the North Kaibab and other trails. This is the trans-canyon pipeline which is the lifeblood for the South Rim and other locations along the way that supplies the water for your adventure. There is significant history behind the creation of this pipeline and several people even lost their lives during construction. As you travel rim to rim you should observe and know what once took place on the trails you travel including a massive 1966 flood, the most destructive event to the corridor inner canyon in recorded history.

South Rim

Water tankers deliver to South Rim

Obtaining water for both Grand Canyon rims has always been a challenge. Since before 1900, on the South Rim, water was hauled in from 18 miles or more. By 1919, the Santa Fe railroad hauled up to 100,000 gallons per day to Grand Canyon Village. In 1926 a reclamation plant was built to reclaim water for non-drinking uses which helped some. Deep wells did not exist because of all the sedimentary rock layers. Rainwater would just run out of the rock and down into the Canyon.

Tram lowering trailer

In 1931 construction of a water system began at Indian Garden to pump water up to the South Rim. A cable tramway was constructed from the rim to about a mile above the Garden which was used to bring down a five-ton tractor to help with construction. The tram was removed in 1932 but signs of it still be seen 50 yards northeast of the 3-mile rest house. By 1934, the pump was in operation bringing about 150,000 gallons per day 3,200 feet up a six-inch pipe to the South Rim. The water was still supplemented during the summer with water tank train cars and million-gallon storage tanks. Portions of this pipeline are still visible.

North Rim

Over on the North Rim, there were a few springs a couple hundred feet below the rim. During the early 1920s. young Robert Wylie McGee would make daily trips to a spring to haul water by burro to Wiley Way Camp. He wrote, “The spring was about 5/8th of a mile, down in the mouth of a draw, west of the camp. The climb was probably a 200-foot change in elevation. Brighty (the burro) and I would make about four to seven trips daily. I filled the cans out of a wood barrel that the spring dribbled into using a b...

By Davy Crockett 

This is the second part of the Rim-to Rim story. Read/Listen/Watch to Part 1 here.

Descending into the inner Grand Canyon is an experience you will never forget. Part one covered the very early history of crossing the Canyon from 1890-1928. Trails that could accommodate tourists were built, including Bight Angel and South Kaibab trails coming down the South Rim. A tourist in 1928 explained, "the Kaibab trail is a fine piece of work, easy grade, wide and smooth, while the Bright Angel trail still belongs to the local county and is maintained by it, and is steep, narrow and poorly kept up. Each person going down Bright Angel pays a toll of one dollar." There was no River Trail yet, so those who came down the Bright Angel Trail used the Tonto Trail at Indian Garden to connect to the South Kaibab Trail. "The Tonto trail was perfectly safe and the scenic views were wonderful."

Phantom Ranch was established in the early 1900s. The same tourist continued, "It is beautiful down here now in the dusk with the towering cliffs above and a mountain brook singing along in front of my cabin, and the weather at least 20 degrees warmer than up on the rim, where the ground is covered with snow. After a hearty, well-cooked beefsteak dinner, I am settled in a one-room, stone walled, cement floored cabin, with a roaring fire in a cute corner open fireplace."

My new book! Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History

The North Kaibab trail coming down from the North Rim was completed in 1928.  The steep, rough Old Bright Angel Trail coming down the North Rim was abandoned and today is an unmaintained rugged route.  A scary swinging suspension bridge spanned the Colorado River, bringing tourists over to Phantom Ranch. Multi-day rim-to-rim hikes had begun both from the North Rim and the South Rim. How all this came to be by 1928 is told in Part One. If you have not read, listened to, or watched Part One first, you should.

Black Bridge

On the Swinging Suspension Bridge

In 1926. nearly 23,000 automobiles entered the park, bringing 140,000 visitors. As tourist traffic continued to increase to Phantom Ranch, a new bridge was needed. The swinging suspension bridge that was constructed in 1921 was nearly impossible to cross when it was windy. High winds had capsized it more than once. "In using the old swinging bridge, it was necessary for tourist parties to dismount in crossing, the animals being taken over one at a time. This caused congestion and delay at one of the hottest points on the trans-canyon trip." One visitor mentioned, "We crossed the Colorado river on a frail looking bridge, one mule at a time only, rider unmounted, and the bridge waving up and down under the weight. Having gained so much weight since leaving home, I was obliged to cross considerably in advance of my mule."

Bringing down a main cable

In 1927, $48,000 was quickly appropriated for a new bridge to connect the two Kaibab trails. Construction began on a new bridge on March 9, 1928 with nine laborers who established their camp on the confluence with Bright Angel Creek. The crew soon grew to twenty. All the 122 tons of structural materials were brought down into the canyon on mules except for the massive four main support cables. Forty-two men, mostly Havasupai Indian workers, spaced 15 feet apart, carried the huge 550-foot main bridge support cables down the South Kaibab Trail on their shoulders, about fifty pounds per man. Each of the four cables weighed 2,154 pounds.

Bringing down a wind cable

“When they got to the bottom of the canyon, after getting rid of the cable, they went down onto a flat, gathered brush, made sort of a trench of it, and placed big boulders on the brush. Then they set fire to it. After the fire died down, they spread their blankets over a wooden frame that they had constructed, doused the rocks and live coals with water, and walked through this tunnel of blankets getting steam baths and then jumped into the mudd...

By Davy Crockett 

For both ultrarunners and hikers, the Grand Canyon is considered by most, one of the greatest destinations to experience. Thousands make their pilgrimages each year to experience the joy of journeying across the Canyon's great expanse, rim-to-rim (R2R). Crossing the Canyon and returning back is an activity that has taken place for more than 125 years. Native Americans crossed the Canyon centuries earlier.

During the spring and fall, each day people cross the famous canyon and many of them, return the same day, experiencing what has been called for decades as a “double crossing,” and in more recent years, a "rim-to-rim-to-rim" (R2R2R). Anyone who descends into the Canyon should take some time learning about the history of the trails they use. This article tells the story of many of these early crossings and includes the creation of the trails, bridges, Phantom Ranch, and the water pipeline, the things you will see along your journey. Hopefully this will help you to have a deeper respect for the Canyon and those who helped make it available for us to enjoy.

New Book! Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History. This book shares a 130-year history of the Canyon crossings and contains twice the amount of content and stories compared to these articles. Order on Amazon

Grand Canyon Today - note the dates

Introduction

My new book! Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History

Today if you hike or run across the Grand Canyon you have choices.  You can start from the South Rim or from the North Rim. A South start is more common. On the South side, you can use either the Bright Angel Trail from Grand Canyon Village, or the South Kaibab Trail that starts a few miles to the east, using a shuttle to Yaki Point. On the North side, the North Kaibab Trail is used. These are the main trails into the Grand Canyon and referred to as the "Corridor Trails," used by the masses and mule trains. Today, there are two bridges along the Corridor to cross the Colorado River, Black Bridge or Silver Bridge.

When this history story starts abut 1890, there was no Grand Canyon Village, no Phantom Ranch at the bottom, and these trails did not exist. There were few visitors to either Rim because they lacked roads and there were no automobiles yet.  Early miners used many places to descend. This article will concentrate on the corridor region near Grand Canyon Village where most modern crossings are taking place.

Creation of Bright Angel Trail (South Side)

South Rim about 1890

The upper part of Bright Angel Trail, coming down from the South Rim, was originally a route used by the Havasupai to access what became known as Indian Garden, halfway down the Canyon, about 3,000 feet below. In 1887, Ralph Cameron (1863-1953), future US senator of Arizona, prospected and believed he found copper and gold near Indian Garden. He said, "At that time my only purpose in building the trail was to use it in pursuing mining operations."

Peter Berry

Work began on December 24, 1890 and it would take 12 years to complete. In 1891 Peter D. Berry, (1856-1932), longtime friend of Cameron  succeeded in obtaining rights for the trail, including rights to collect tolls which were not collected until 1901. Berry had also helped engineer the Grandview Trail (Berry Trail) further east. Other trails were being used. Hardy tourists were descending down to the Colorado River using the Bass Trail far to the west. By the end of 1891, after spending $500, and two months of labor, a very rough trail existed that descended the Bright Angel fault to Indian Garden.

 

The trail's name

John Hance

Originally called the "Cameron Trail", by 1892 the trail was also named “Bright Angel Trail.” It would cost about $100,000 and 12 years to fully build, and at its height was worked on by 100 men. How did the trail get its name? This is a subject of entertaining legend and folklore. One story was told by "Captain" John Hance (1840-1919) who cam...

By Davy Crockett 

This is the second part of the Dave Kunst story. Read/Listen/Watch to Part 1 here.

Dave Kunst, originally from Minnesota, now from California, claims that he was “the first person verified to have completed circling the entire land mass of the earth on foot.” Kunst's 1970-74 walk has historic importance for the modern-era of ultra-distance walking. I believe that Konstantin Rengarten was actually the first in 1894-1898 (See Part 3). I will show that Kunts' "verified" claim is dubious, but his amazing walk did happen, and the story is fascinating and exciting. But at what cost to those who believed in him? With the end just days away, everything seemly fell apart.

In 1970, Dave Kunst of Waseca, Minnesota, started a walk around the world with his brother John. Part 1 of this story covered their travels east to New York, by plane to Portugal, and then on foot with a mule to Afghanistan where John was shot and killed by bandits. Dave was wounded and returned to Minnesota to recover in November 1972.

Dave felt strongly that the walk should be continued, and he deeply wanted to get back on the road to experience an exciting and free life, without family, job, or financial obligations. He said, “The walk will definitely go on. I want to keep the ball rolling. I will be back to finish what my brother and I started so he will not have died for nothing.”

Plans to resume the walk

Pete and Dave

In January 1973, only three months since he had been shot in the chest, Dave Kunst announced that he would resume his walk in March 1973 with his brother Pete. They would travel back to Afghanistan and resume the walk from the mountain pass where their brother John was killed. Dave said, “Pete’s wife was reluctant before, but now she is in favor of it.”  Pete said, “It’s too important to all of us to abandon this idea now. My wife understands this, especially since John gave his life for it. We have to finish the job.”

Dave’s wife, Jan, was not as sure. She had mixed emotions about him again leaving her alone to raise their young children. She said, “I knew he really wanted to do it. I told him if he had to go, to go and get it over with before the kids are teenagers. I’m scared for him to go back there, but it doesn’t seem to bother him.” His reply to her worries appeared to be rather harsh. “Well that’s a typical reaction of a lot of people. That’s really the difference in individuals. Adventurers don’t think of things like that. Columbus – if he’d thought of that, he wouldn’t have discovered America. Definitely, she’s right, but if I sat here and thought about that. I’d be miserable as hell here.”

Dave's brother, Pete Kunst, 28, of Santa Ana, California, was a former marine who served in the Vietnam war.  He was a stock clerk at Data Technology Corp. He was married to Nancy with four children. He didn’t originally join his two brothers because his wife was expecting in 1970. Dave said, “We kind of decided, the three of us, that if one of us dropped out, Pete was going to finish.” Pete said, “I knew one way or another, I was going to go.”  Pete had joined Dave and John on the walk in 1970 for three days when they were in Pennsylvania, but now he was going to join full-time.

They estimated that to complete the walk, it would take them at least another year. Pete took out a $2,000 loan to help Nancy support the family while he was gone and she also worked as a secretary. Friends helped to raise money for their air fare back to Afghanistan.

The two made preparations both in California and in Minnesota to drum up support. they met with Hubert Humphrey before they left, again collecting a letter of introduction and securing his support. They involved UNICEF as part of their walk. UNICEF did not endorse their effort, but was happy to receive any donations they brought in. For the first two and a half years of the walk, the only verified donation amount was just $3,000.

By Davy Crockett 

Who was the first person to truly walk around the world? If your search the Internet the answer that come back is: Dave Kunst, an American who claimed to do it in 1970-1974.  Dave Kunst, originally from Minnesota, claims that he is “the first person verified to have completed circling the entire land mass of the earth.”

The previous parts of this series have hopefully taught the reader to be very skeptical of such claims. Is his claim true? Did he really walk around the entire world in 1970-1974? Was he the first? Was it truly independently verified, and how? Well, with any such bold claims there are problems with it, even if Guinness was at some point convinced to include it in their record book.

The Kunst tale must be told and it will be covered in two parts. He was not the first to walk around the world. Konstantin Rengarten of Belarus and Latvia was the first in 1894-1898. (See Part 3). But I believe Kunst was the first to walk around the "world" in the modern, post-war era. His walk had the usual route and verification issues as other globetrotters before him. Kunst published a 1979 book about his walk, that is difficult to read. I will tell the tale primarily from the hundreds of newspaper articles published between 1970-1974, and I chose to not use addition tales from his book that were full of ego, which were not mentioned in the newspapers.

Dave Kunst’s walk inspired and entertained hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed it, read about it in the newspapers, and heard about it on television and radio. But sadly, the walk left within its wake, tragedy, death, heartbreak, deception, and betrayal. Thousands around the world thought the purpose of the Kunst walk was to support a humanitarian cause and they freely financially supported him. But actually, the walk was motivated by a man with a huge ego and with selfish intentions. The truth eventually came out and it surprised and disappointed many people with a shocking ending. Nevertheless, the walk happened, and in the decades that followed, Kunst would inspire thousands of youngsters to dare to fulfil their dreams.

Before the walk

Kunst family in 1940 census

David William Kunst was born on July 16, 1939 at Caledonia, Minnesota where he was raised. His parents were Aloysious “Al” Kunst (1919-2010), a salesman, and Augusta Onstad Kunst (1921-2007). The family was longtime Minnesota residents. Dave’s grandfather, Frank Kunst, immigrated from Germany and was a harness maker. Dave’s mother’s family, the Onstads, immigrated from Norway. In his early years, Dave’s family lived with his Kunst grandparents in Caledonia. While Dave was young, his father Al served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was deployed to the Philippines. On his return he managed lumberyards and then became a salesman.

Dave's father, Al Kunst

Dave was raised in the Catholic faith and attended a private Catholic school which certainly exposed him to a greater level of rules from authority figures that influenced his later attitudes. He also participated in the scouting organization. He had two younger brothers, Pete and John. Dave said, “My mom had an adventurous spirit, and she instilled that in me during my Caledonia years.” His mom would at time drop him off to go hunting for three days in the woods. At times on those trips he wouldn't hunt but would cover 20-30 miles exploring. He would always come back in a good mood.

Jan Wabner Kunst

In 1959, Dave married young, at age 19, to Janice “Jan” Wabner, who became a very important figure in the walk story. In her senior yearbook it was written of her, “She can live without poetry, music or walking, but she can’t live without talking.” She was active is Chorus and Drama.

Dave went to work for the local county and eventually led a team of surveyors that worked on the highways. In the 1960s the Kunsts had three children, Daniel, Debra, and Brad. In 1970, the Kunst family lived in Waseca,

By Davy Crockett 

Attempts to walk backwards for ultra-distances has taken place for more than two centuries. Why? One backwards walker once said, “With the whole world going backwards, maybe the only way to see it is to turn around.” Obviously, such attempts caused a stir of attention. Common comments heard around these individuals were, “What is that fool doing?” and “When did he get out of the asylum?” In recent years some have actually encouraged the practice as a way to burn more calories, sharpen senses, train your peripheral vision, and improve balance. But walking backwards for hundreds and thousands of miles is simply bizarre. Let's first take a look at the very early history of walking backwards for ultra-distances and then examine the stories of attempts to walk backwards across America and around the world.

Get Davy Crockett's new book, Strange Running Tales: When Ultrarunning was a Reality Show

Early backwards walking

On July 11, 1817, at Wormwood Scrubbs, England, Darby Stevens started to walk backwards for 500 miles in 20 days on a wager for 50 guineas. “A line is laid along the ground which is 200 yards in length, and which he takes hold of when he deems necessary.” It is unknown if he was successful.

The next day Daniel Crisp of Paddington, England took his place at the same location without the aid of a rope and walked 280 miles backwards in only seven days. A newspaper editorialized, “We have reason to believe that the idle scene of walking backwards, which continues to disgrace even Wormwood Scrubs, is encouraged for the very worst purposes and the public disgust will be still more excited, when we state that it is meant to continue these vicious scenes throughout the whole of the summer. Another of these reprehensible matches is already determined upon.”

In 1821 on a road near Bath, England, John Townsend walked 21 miles backward in 6:45. In 1822 he walked backwards 38 miles in 12 hours for three successive days. “This arduous task he performed, and won in great style, admidst the acclamation of a great number of spectators.”

Townsend really stepped up his backward game in 1823 when he walked 73 miles backward in 24 hours at Bristol, England on a mile out-and-back. “He commenced at midnight, a man preceded him with a lantern during the night.” He started walking 15-minute miles and large betting took place. Later that year he broke his record with 74 miles. Also that year, Townsend walked backwards 64 miles per day for ten successive days at Ipswich, England.

In 1824, Richard Sutton walked backwards 250 miles in six days in Sydney Gardens, in Bath, England. During the Pedestrian heyday of the 1870s and 1880, several individuals claimed that they were the "champion backward walker" and many matches were held.

In 1907, Paul Guavarra, a Spaniard who claimed to be a descendant of Christopher Columbus was arrested in New Jersey for walking backwards in houses to beg. He explained that he had been on the island of Marinique when Mount Pelee hand blown up and “contracted the habit of going backwards because he didn’t dare turn his back to the volcano while he was running away from it. He walked backwards into the cell assigned him at the jail.”

Patrick Harmon - San Francisco to New York City

Patrick Harmon was born in 1865, in Ohio. By 1910 he was living in Great Falls, Montana working for the railroad. He also became a joint owner of Semaphone Cigar Shop at Great Falls. A new mayor was elected on a anti-gambling platform in 1913. Harmon’s place was scrutinized, and the law discovered that gambling was taking place in his establishment. It was raided an in October 1913, Harmon was arrested along with others, admitted that he had a card room, was found guilty and fined $100. In early 1915 Harmon sold his ownership of the shop, moved to Seattle Washington, and started to experiment with backwards walking in the mountains. A farmer friend, William H.

By Davy Crockett 

During the early 1900s, hundreds of people were claiming falsely that they were walking around the world and were given free room and board by the trusting public as they came into towns. Nearly every “around the world on foot” walker mentioned a wager as their motivation for making the attempt, similar to Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg’s wager in his 1872 novel “Around the World in 80 Days.” More than 95% of these globetrotters made claims that were false.

Beginning about 1904, a new twist emerged. A few of the globetrotters claimed that they were part of a race or competition with others to be the first to circle the globe on foot within a certain period. Such a competitive event created a stir of interest when walkers came into town. Wow, it sounded like the modern-day “Amazing Race” reality show.

One common thread involving these race claims was that they were organized by the “Touring Club de France.” Did this organization really get involved in Pedestrian races? One participant in such a race was a famous Romanian globetrotter, Dumitru Dan. Numerous articles about him in recent years claim that he was the first person to walk around the world and he is considered a Romanian local hero. Was he truly a participant in a race and did he really walk 62,000 miles around the world as he claimed? For the first time, this will be examined closely. First, I will analyze carefully Dumitru Dan's walking story which he sadly fabricated. It was not true. Then I will examine the similar false race tales of others.

The story of Dumitru Dan and other globetrotters is told in the new book by Davy Crockett, Around the World On Foot: The Early Globetrotters.

The Touring Club de France

The Touring Club de France (TCF) was established in 1890 as a French social club devoted to travel. It was founded by cyclists, inspired by a similar club, the British Cyclist’ Touring Club founded two decades earlier. Originally the club was relatively small with about 3,000 members, but after 15 years it had grown to nearly 75.000. By 1900 the club was also promoting “automobilism.” The club, headquartered in Paris, published an annual journal about places of interest in Europe and the condition of roads. By 1910 they had spent more than four million dollars on improving roads and putting up road signs in France. It also offered many annual prizes to encourage planting and the preservation of trees. Organizing races was not part of their mission.

Dumitru Dan - Romanian globetrotter

Dumitru Dan (1890-1979) was from Buzau, Romania and eventually became a recognized hero in his city. Some believe he was the first person to walk around the globe and in 1978, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Decades after his walk, a reporter tape-recorded an interview with Dumitru Dan, and he gave a detailed story of his historic walk. His memoirs given late in his life were the main source for the details of his travels. In addition, there were 1914-1915 newspapers articles from America and Europe, along with some surviving certificates that tell a much different tale than Dumitru Dan's personal story. Most biographers for Dumitru Dan have believed everything he stated in his lectures and the interview/journal, without doing any fact-checking.

I realize that some people will not be happy with my story and its analysis. For all the dozens of “around the world on foot” walkers I’ve analyzed, I first assume they are legitimate, and then analyze the evidence left behind, trying to prove that they were authentic efforts. I treated this story carefully, realizing it is about a recognized hero. Prepare yourself, most of his story was fiction.

The Touring Club de France competition

Dumitru Dan claimed in his story given decades later that in 1908, the Touring Club de France announced a six-year “around the world on foot” race with a prize of a staggering 100,

By Davy Crockett 

Before returning to more serious ultrarunning history, three more “around the world on foot” tales must be told. These stories are so bizarre that they are hard to believe, but they did happen. These individuals gave up years of their lives to gather attention by walking thousands of miles enduring much hardship. Eventually as world conflict exploded into World War I, much of what the public thought was nonsense, disappeared for a time.

These three stories involved a “masked walker,” an English man who tried to walk around the world in an iron mask. Also, an Austrian man who tried to push his family in a baby carriage around the world. And finally, the “king of the casks”, two Italians who tried to roll a giant barrel around the world. While wager conditions surrounding all three were hoaxes, the extreme walking efforts that took place were genuine. Attention was given worldwide to their efforts. Commenting on one of them, it was written, “He is one of the oddest of the cranks that have started to go around the earth.”

The Masked Walker - 1908

The “man in the iron mask” was a prisoner held in a French prison during the 1600s. Books, theatrical plays, and movies have been produced involving his story. In 1847 Alexander Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, wrote a fictional tale about the man in the iron mask which captured the imagination of readers in the 19th century.

In 1908, word came from England about a bizarre “around the world walk” that had begun, involving a man in an iron mask. A news report included, “When the average English newspaper is looking hard for a genuine unmitigated ass, it’s a plugged Canadian dime to a double eagle that it will settle on an American millionaire.” Indeed, it was believed that an American multi-millionaire put up $100,000 for a person to walk around the world in very unusual circumstances.

The conditions included that the man must wear a mask keeping his identity a secret for the entire journey! In addition, he must start with less than five dollars, earn money along the way, get a signature from a town official from every town he entered along with a cancelled postage stamp, must push a perambulator (baby carriage), and must find a wife along the way.

Many scoffed that this must be a joke. “The English reading public will believe anything that can be invented by the most prolific and imaginative of minds and expressed in the confines of a newspaper column. The English dailies print a whole lot of stories that would be laughed out of an American newspaper office.”

The "iron mask" on a postcard with his assistant

Nevertheless, a man in England took up the challenge, and encased his head in a black iron mask “of the fashion of the Middle Ages” and started from London’s Trafalgar Square on January 1, 1908. He pushed a perambulator into a biting wind to begin his ten-year walk around the world, accompanied by an assistant.

The masked walker said, “I at once made up my mind to accept the wager. Upon telling the millionaire the decision I had come to, he at once made arrangement with another well-known American gentleman to accompany me. He is only doing it for the sport.” The masked walker preferred that he be called “the iron mask” and the press wondered how he would find someone willing to marry him without looking at his face. But they guessed if he had a chance of winning $100,000 that there would be plenty of takers. He stated that his future wife must be between 25-30 years old, well-educated, of even temper, and have some knowledge of music.

As he left Trafalgar Square, he waved to the crowd and yelled, “Farewell, see you in ten years.” He then went over London Bridge and down the Old Kent Road with a large crowd following. He said, “I shall sell photographs and pamphlets while on the journey.” The perambulator was filled with them. That first day he was selling them as fast as he could grab the money.

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.

By Davy Crockett 

In Part 1 of this series, about walking around the world, I covered the very early attempts. By 1894, dozens, if not hundreds of walkers, started to participate in an “around the world on foot” craze. For many it was a legitimate ultrawalking attempt, but for most it was just a scam to travel on other people's generous contributions.

The typical scam went like this: They claimed that they were trying to walk around the world to win thousands of dollars on a wager, but they had to do it without bringing any money. They needed to be funded through the generosity of others, get free room and board, and free travel on ships. Walkers came out of the woodwork and the newspapers were fascinated by these attempts.

Eventually some in the press started to get wise. These walkers started to be referred derisively as tramps, globetrotters, cranks, fools, or "around the world freaks." One reporter wrote, “A great majority of these wanderers upon the face of the earth are men who would rather do anything than work.” Another astute reporter identified many of these walkers as “frauds, traveling over the country practicing a smooth game in order to be wined and dined.”

Sprinkled in with these self-promoting frauds were also those who were legitimately striving to circle the globe on foot. Their efforts were real and very hard. They underestimated the difficulty involved yet had amazing experiences. There were too many of these “globetrotters” to even list. This article will share some amazing and bizarre tales of the naive, those that failed, the cheats, and the fakers. In the next article, I will share stories about successful walks around the world.   

Samuel Wilson and Horace Yorke – British walkers - 1893

Those that went in pairs usually went the furthest. In 1894 two men from England started a unique walk around the world that would cross through Canada. Samuel Wilson, age 30, of Australia and Horace G. Yorke, an American living in England, both journalists, started their east to west walk around the world from Lincoln, England on August 11, 1893 and they were required to finish it in an unrealistic 18 months. Crazy restrictions were imposed as part of their “journalistic enterprise” that they could not spend any money on food or clothing but had to depend on the hospitality of others they met.

Wilson, a journalist, spoke six languages, claimed that he had previously walked from Cape Horn to Boston and had been the guest of President Grover Cleveland at the White House. (No evidence was found of this ever happening).

They first walked across Britain to Liverpool and then took a steamer to Quebec City, Canada. They walked the railroad tracks to Montreal, arriving there on Aug 28, 1894. There, they received permission from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to walk the line across Canada and use all the bridges.

The paper wrote, “Nearly every person possesses a craze of some sort, but probably the latest development towards the extreme point of the sensation is that of Mr. Samuel Wilson who informed us that it was his intention to tramp round the world. He simply carries a satchel containing his register, wherein he gets subscribed his visits to the various towns he passes through.”  Wilson was asked why he was really doing the walk. “I am engaged by the Sydney Bulletin for certain purposes and when my books are published, I shall of course, receive remuneration for them” Why was he going without money? “I believe a man can go through anywhere with civility. You hear a lot of nonsense and tomfoolery in this country about savages, but I have never been seriously molested by them.”

The two continued their walk across Canada going from railroad section house to the next, day by day and never camped out as they made their way to Calgary during the winter of 1893-94. “It was useless to carry food or water because both would become frozen. Neither was there any wood to build a fire,