The Amazing Life and Times of John Ledyard

The AMAZING LIFE AND TIMES of JOHN LEDYARD

GRAPHIC STORY

BILL GIFFORD '88

AN EPIC TALE GREATLY ANNOTATED IN WHICH WE GO ’ROUND THE WORLD WITH DARTMOUTH’S CLASS OF 1776 POSTER BOY FOR ADVENTURE, JOHN LEDYARD.

LEDYARD TORMENTS WHEELOCK. HE HANDS HIM A PETITION REQUESTING THAT, LIKE HARVARD STUDENTS, DARTMOUTH BOYS BE INSTRUCTED IN "STEPPING THE MINUET AND LEARNING TO USE THE SWORD."

LEDYARD IS ALSO AN OUTDOORSMAN. HE LEADS A DOZEN MEN ON A WINTER HIKE UP VELVET ROCKS, WHERE THEY BED DOWN ON PINE BOUGHS IN THE SNOW-PERHAPS THE FIRST FRESHMAN TRIP ANOTHER TIME LEDYARD VANISHES FOR MONTHS, POSSIBLY TRAVELING AMONG NORTHERN TRIBES.

OUR PADDLER EMBARKS ON A WEEK-LONG TRIP DOWN THE CONNECTICUTPOSSIBLY THE FIRST DESCENT OF THE RIVER BY A WHITE MAN. HIS CRAFT IS STOCKED WITH VENISON, A BEARSKIN, AND BOOKS. AT JOURNEY'S END HE SURPRISES RELATIVES IN HARTFORD.

JUMP TO 1775: LEDYARD DONS THE BRIGHT RED UNIFORM OF A BRITISH MARINE. HE'S A REDCOAT, BUT NOT A TRAITOR, EXACTLY. (IT'S A MURKY STORY)

OUR HERO REFUSES TO FI6HT. HE FINAGLES HIS WAY ONTO THE SHIP OF CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, EMBARKING ON HIS THIRD VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD. AS A MARINE, LEDYARD'S JOB IS TO PROTECT COOK AND HIS CREW FROM HARM, EITHER FROM WITHIN OR WITHOUT.

BORN TO A FAMILY OF CONNECTICUT MERCHANT SEAMEN (ALSO KNOWN AS "RUM SMUGGLERS"), LEDYARD LOSES HIS FATHER AT AGE 12. HIS WEALTHY GRANDFATHER LATER DISOWNS HIM, AND MOST OF THE FAMILY'S VAST ESTATE GOES TO A HALF-COUSIN.

"I AM THE LEADING DESCENDANT OF A BROKEN AND DISTRESSED FAMILY," LEDYARD LATER WROTE.

AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE FEW DECENT ROADS TO HANOVER, LEDYARD SHOWS UP AT DARTMOUTH IN A SULKY,

A HORSE CART AKIN TO TODAY'S SPORTS CARS. HE HAS LOADED IT WITH BOLTS OF COLORFUL FABRIC HE PLANS TO USE IN THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS.

HIS FLAMBOYANCE CLASHES WITH THE COLLEGE'S RUGGED REALITY LOGGING CREWS ARE CLEARING TREES FROM THE SO-CALLED GREEN. STUDENTS LIVE IN CABINS. PRESIDING IS THE DOUR, IRASCIBLE ELEAZAR WHEELOCK, WAGING WAR AGAINST WILDERNESS, SIN, SWEARING, TAVERNS-AND LOOMING BANKRUPTCY.

IN SPRING 1773 LEDYARD FELLS A TREE NEAR THE SITE OF THE LEDYARD BRIDGE AND CARVES A DUGOUT CANOE, GASHING HIS LEG IN THE PROCESS. SOME SAY HIS VESSEL WAS NEARLY 50 FEET LONG.

IN LATE APRIL HE PUTS INTO THE SPRING-SWOLLEN CONNECTICUT RIVER. AS A FEW FRIENDS WATCH, LEDYARD OSTENTATIOUSLY PULLS OUT A VOLUME OF OVID'S POETRY, WHICH HE PERUSES AS THE CURRENT CARRIES HIM AWAY

ROMANTIC AS IT SOUNDS, LEDYARD'S DEPARTURE WAS FORCED: HE WAS BROKE. WHEELOCK WAS DEMANDING TUITION. IT WOULD BECOME A COMMON CONDITION OF LEDYARD'S LIFE. "I AM ACCUSTOMED TO HARDSHIPS/' HE LATER WROTE. "I HAVE KNOWN WHAT IT IS TO HAVE FOOD GIVEN ME, AS CHARITY TO A MADMAN."

AFTER A YEAR AT SEA WITH STOPS IN NEW ZEALAND AND TONGA, THE EXPEDITION MAKES LANDFALL ON VANCOUVER ISLAND.

A TRIBE GREETS THE SHORE PARTY WITH A GRUESOME GIFT: A ROASTED HUMAN ARM. LEDYARD LATER WRITES THAT HE TASTED IT "WITHOUT SWALLOWING EITHER THE MEAT OR THE JUICES."

IN THE ALEUTIANS LEDYARD GETS DRUNK WITH RUSSIANS. "THEY WERE VERY FOND OF THE RUM, WHICH THEY DRANK WITHOUT MIXTURE OR MEASURE," HE REPORTS.

IN HAWAII COOK IS INITIALLY WELCOMED AS A GOD. BUT IN A CONFRONTATION OVER A STOLEN BOAT HE IS IMPALED AND KILLED. THE EXPEDITION ENDS IN LATE 1180, WHEN LEDYARD, STILL A ROYAL MARINE, IS SENT TO NEW YORK TO FIGHT ThE AMERICANS. A PATRIOT AT HEART, HE INSTEAD DESERTS.

LEDYARD TRAVELS TO LONDON AND PROPOSES A SOLO EXPEDITION ACROSS AMERICA. HIS AUDACIOUS PLAN ANTICIPATES LEWIS AND CLARK'S ODYSSEY BY MORE THAN A DECADE. "I DIE WITH ANXIETY TO BE ON THE BACK OF THE AMERICAN STATES," HE WRITES, "HAVING COME FROM OR PENETRATED TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THERE IS AN EXTENSIVE FIELD FOR THE ACQUIREMENT OF HONEST FAME."

IN 1785 LEDYARD MEETS THOMAS JEFFERSON IN PARIS, WHERE THE FUTURE PRESIDENT PRESIDES OVER A MOVABLE FEAST OF ECCENTRIC AMERICAN EXPATS—ARTISTS, SCIENTISTS, BANKRUPT PLANTERS, DRUNKEN MERCHANTS. "SUCH A SET OF MONILESS RASCALS HAVE NEVER APPEARED SINCE THE EPOCH OF THE HAPPY VILLAIN FALSTAFF," WRITES LEDYARD.

MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED, LEDYARD EMBARKS FOR ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT. HE DUBS HIMSELF "THE GREATEST TRAVELLER IN HISTORY-EXCENTRIC, IRREGULAR, RAPID, UNACCOUNTABLE, CURIOUS, ft WITHOUT VANITY, MAJESTIC AS A COMET."

THE SQUALOR OF CAIRO HORRIFIES HIM. "SWEET ARE THE SONGS OF EGYPT ON PAPER...," HE WRITES JEFFERSON, "WITHOUT KNOWING AMIDST THESE ONE'S EYES EARS MOUTH NOSE IS FILLED WITH DUST ETERNAL HOT FAINTING WINDS, LICE BUGS MOSQUITOES SPIDERS FLIES-POX ITCH LEPROSY, FEVERS ft ALMOST UNIVERSAL BLINDNESS." LEDYARD FALLS ILL, AND IN EARLY JANUARY 1789, HE DIES-ALONE AND HOMELESS, ONLY 37AND HIS BODY IS HASTILY BURIED.

ONE DAY IN 1782 A SOLDIER SEEKING LODGING APPEARS AT THE DOOR OF LEDYARD'S MOTHER, WHO LETS OUT ROOMS IN HER LONG ISLAND HOME. SHE THINKS HE LOOKS FAMILIAR BUT CAN'T PLACE HIM. FINALLY, THE SOLDIER DROPS HIS PRETENSE TO REVEAL THAT HE IS HER LONG-LOST SON. LEDYARD "FELL WEEPING UPON HIS MOTHER'S NECK," HIS COUSIN LATER WRITES.

LEDYARD PUBLISHES JOURNAL OF CAPTAIN COOK'S LAST VOYAGE, THE FIRST U.S. COPYRIGHT-PROTECTED WORK, IN 1783. THE BOOK MAKES HIM A MINOR CELEBRITY.

LEDYARD "HAS GENIUS, AN EDUCATION BETTER THAN THE COMMON, AND A TALENT FOR USEFUL AND INTERESTING OBSERVATION," AN ENTHRALLED JEFFERSON TELLS THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.

INSTEAD OF TREKKING ACROSS AMERICA LEDYARD PLUNGES INTO A TWO-YEAR JOURNEY ON FOOT THROUGH SIBERIA AND AMERICA WITH JEFFERSON'S SUPPORT. ALONG THE WAY HE DRINKS AND TALKS TOO MUCH. HE ANGERS EMPRESS CATHERINE THE GREAT. "SPEAK TO ME NO MORE OF THIS LEDYARD," SHE SNAPS. HE IS ARRESTED AND DEPORTED.

LONDON, 1788: LEDYARD BEFRIENDS BRITISH NATURALIST AND EXPLORER JOSEPH BANKS, WHOSE COLLEAGUE DESCRIBES LEDYARD AS "APPEAR[ING] TO BE FORMED BY NATURE FOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF HARDIHOOD AND PERIL." HIS NEW PATRONS HAVE A MISSION: TRAVEL UP THE NILE TO FIND ITS SOURCE. THEY ASK LEDYARD WHEN HE CAN DEPART. "TOMORROW MORNING," HE REPLIES.

TODAY IN HANOVER THE LEDYARD LEGACY INCLUDES A CANOE CLUB, A BRIDGE, AND A BANK. EVERY YEAR STUDENTS PADDLE THE TRIP TO THE SEA IN MEMORY OF THE MAN ROBERT FROST, THE CLASS OF 1896 DROPOUT, CALLED "THE PATRON SAINT OF FRESHMEN WHO RUN AWAY."

IN EGYPT THE SEARCH FOR LEDYARD'S GRAVE CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BILL GIFFORD WROTE LEDYARD: IN SEARCH OF THE FIRST AMERICAN EXPLORER IN 2007. HE TRAVELED ACROSS SIBERIA IN PURSUIT OF HIS SUBJECT AND WAS NOT DEPORTED. MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW OF LEDYARD'S LIFE IS IN LETTERS TO HIS COUSIN AND CONFIDANT, ISAAC, MANY OF WHICH RESIDE IN RAUNER LIBRARY LEDYARD DID MUCH OF HIS WRITING AT NIGHT WITH A PIPE AND A GLASS OF BURGUNDY-AND SANS PANTS. THIS "UNCONSTRAINED SITUATION," HE INFORMED HIS RELATIVE, "IS CERTAINLY A PROOF THAT I WRITE WITHOUT DISGUISE."