Hiram+Bingham

Hiram Bingham

Hiram Bingham was an American academic, an explorer and a politician. He was a senator from Connecticut and made the existence of the Inca city of Machu Picchu public in 1911 with help from local indigenous farmers. Hiram Bingham was born November 19th 1875 in Honolulu, Hawaii and died on June 6th 1956 in Washington, DC. Hiram Bingham was most famous for his determination to find the last “lost city of the Incas”. In 1905 Bingham made his first trip to South America, he wrote about his trip in, The Journal of an Expedition across Venezuela and Colombia. He than returned to South America in 1908 and retraced the Spanish trade route from Buenos Aires to Lima. In 1911 when Bingham went back to Peru he had two goals, he wanted to climb Mt. Coropuna to see if it was taller than Mt. Aconcagua and he also wanted to find the last Inca capital. Upon his return to South America in 1911, Bingham on July 24th, rediscovered Machu Picchu. Hiram Bingham, traveling by foot, made his way to Cuzco into Urubamba valley with his team. They met a local farmer who told them about ruins located at the top of a mountain. The farmer called the mountain Machu Picchu, which in the Quechua language means “old Peak”. After Bingham made it to the top of the mountain he was met by a group of people who led him the rest of the way. An 11 year old boy led him into the entrance of Machu Picchu.