The conversations reported in this book were either recorded on tape or written down at the time they occurred. The events were chronicled in real time, in contemporary notes or on video. No details, events, discoveries, or conversations have been reconstructed after the fact or imagined. To avoid confusion and unnecessary complexity, some quotations from interviews conducted on separate occasions have been combined in the same conversation.
Sources are listed in the approximate order they appear in each chapter.
Chapters with no sources listed are based on the author’s personal experience only.
Author interviews and correspondence with Ron Blom and Bob Crippen, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, August and September 1997.
Author interview with David Stuart, Harvard University, 1997.
Author interview with Gordon Willey, Harvard University, 1997.
Author interviews and correspondence with Steve Elkins, 1997.
The Fifth Letter of Hernan Cortes to the Emperor Charles V, translated from the original Spanish by Don Pascual de Gayangos. Originally published by the Hakluyt Society. New York: Lenox Hill Publishers (Burt Franklin), reprinted 1970. Retrieved from the website of the Library of the University of California.
Christopher Begley and Ellen Cox, “Reading and Writing the White City Legend: Allegories Past and Future.” Southwest Philosophy Review, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2007.
John L. Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, Vols. 1 and 2. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.
Eduard Conzemius, “Los Indios Payas de Honduras: Estudio Geográfico, Histórico, Etnográfico y Linguístico,” Journal de la Société des Américanistes, Vol. 19, 1927. Retrieved from persee.fr.
William Duncan Strong, “1936 Strong Honduras Expedition,” Vols. 1 and 2. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Unpublished journals.
William Duncan Strong, “Honduras Expedition Journal 1933.” Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Unpublished journal.
Ralph Solecki and Charles Wagley, “William Duncan Strong, 1899–1962.” American Anthropologist, Vol. 65, No. 5, 1963. Retrieved pdf from Wiley Online Library.
Christopher S. Stewart, Jungleland. New York: HarperCollins, 2013 (e-book edition).
Lawrence M. Small, “A Passionate Collector.” Washington, DC: Smithsonian magazine, November 2000.
“George Heye Dies; Museum Founder.” New York Times, January 21, 1957.
Leona Raphael, “Explorer Seeks Fabled Lost City; Spurns Weaker Sex Companionship.” Calgary Daily Herald, June 16, 1934.
“Frederick Mitchell-Hedges Dies; British Explorer and Author, 76.” New York Times, June 13, 1959.
J. Eric S. Thompson, Maya Archaeologist. London: Robert Hale, 1963.
“Seek Cradle of Race in American Jungle.” New York Times, January 24, 1931.
“Hold-Up of Explorer in England Proves Hoax.” New York Times, January 17, 1927.
“‘City of Monkey God’ Is Believed Located.” New York Times, July 12, 1940.
“Honduran Jungles Yield Indian Data.” New York Times, August 2, 1940.
“TV Producer a Suicide.” New York Times, June 28, 1954.
Christopher S. Stewart, Jungleland, op. cit.
National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. Fifty-two unpublished accession catalog cards and photographs from the Theodore Morde Third Honduran Expedition.
Theodore Morde, “In the Lost City of Ancient America’s Monkey God.” Milwaukee Sentinel, September 22, 1940.
“Seek Long Lost City of Monkey God.” Sunday Morning Star, United Press, April 7, 1940.
“Theodore Ambrose Morde, 1911–1954.” Unpublished, bound volume of original documents, letters, articles, photographs, and typescripts by or relating to Theodore Morde. In the possession of the Morde family.
Theodore Morde and Lawrence Brown, unpublished journals of the Third Honduran Expedition (3 vols.), 1940. In the possession of the Morde family.
E-mail from Christopher Begley, November 4, 2015, confirming Lancetillal as Morde’s presumed city.
Correspondence with Derek Parent, 2015, 2016.
Author interviews and correspondence with Steve Elkins, 1997, 2010–2016.
Author interviews with Bruce Heinicke, 2012.
Steve Elkins interview with George Hasemann, 1994.
Author correspondence with the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State, 2015, 2016.
Bhupendra Jasani, “Remote Monitoring from Space: The Resolution Revolution.” In Verification Yearbook, 2000. London: Vertic, 2000. Retrieved from www.vertic.org/media/Archived_Publications/Yearbooks/2000/VY00_Jasani.pdf.
Steve Elkins interview with Sam Glassmire, 1997.
Sam Glassmire, The Bush. Privately published book, 2002.
Sam Glassmire, “He Found a Lost City.” Denver Post Sunday Empire Magazine, November 27 and December 4, 1960.
Sam Glassmire, hand-drawn map, dated February 2, 1960.
“Obituary for Glassmire.” Albuquerque Journal, December 1, 2002.
Thomas H. Maugh II, “Ubar, Fabled Lost City, Found by L.A. Team.” Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1992.
Philip Sherwell, “Welcome to Honduras, the Most Dangerous Country on the Planet.” Telegraph, November 16, 2013.
Rich Cohen, The Fish That Ate the Whale, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.
Boston Fruit Company, Boston Fruit Company Records, 1891–1901. Baker Library, Harvard Business School. Retrieved from Online Archival Search Information System.
United Fruit Company, “Andrew W. Preston Biography.” Retrieved from unitedfruit.org.
William Finnegan, “An Old-Fashioned Coup.” New Yorker, November 30, 2009.
“The Loot of Lima Treasure Story.” Retrieved from aqvisions.com.
Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, and John F. Weishampel, “Lasers in the Jungle.” Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 4, July/August 2010.
Arlen F. Chase et al., “Geospatial Revolution and Remote Sensing LiDAR in Mesoamerican Archaeology.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, No. 32, June 25, 2012. Retrieved from pnas.org.
Arlen F. Chase et al., “Airborne LiDAR, Archaeology, and the Ancient Maya Landscape at Caracol, Belize.” Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 38, No. 2, February 2011.
Juan Carlos Fernández Díaz, “Lifting the Canopy Veil.” Imaging Notes, Vol. 26, No. 2, Spring 2011.
Author interviews and correspondence with Bruce Heinicke, 2012, 2013.
Author interview with Mabel Heinicke, 2013.
Author interview with Ramesh Shrestha, 2013.
Author interview with William Carter, 2013.
Author interviews with Michael Sartori, 2012, 2013.
Author interviews with Steve Elkins, 2012–2016.
Author interview with President Porfirio Lobo and Minister Áfrico Madrid, 2013.
Author interviews with Bill Benenson, 2012, 2013, 2016.
Author interviews with Juan Carlos Fernández, 2012, 2013, 2016.
Author interview with Tom Weinberg, 2016.
Author interviews and correspondence with Bruce Heinicke, 2012, 2013.
Author interviews with Chuck Gross, 2012, 2013.
Author interviews with Juan Carlos Fernández, 2012, 2015.
Author interview with Ramesh Shrestha, 2013.
Author interview with William Carter, 2013.
Author interviews with Michael Sartori, 2012, 2013.
Ramesh L. Shrestha and William E. Carter, “In Search of the ‘Lost City’ by Airborne Laser Swath Mapping in Honduras, Final Report.” Houston: GSE Research Center, University of Houston, July 18, 2012. (Unpublished report.)
Author interview with Áfrico Madrid, 2013.
“The Government of Honduras and UTL Scientific, LLC Announce Completion of First-Ever LiDAR Imaging Survey of La Mosquitia Region of Honduras.” Press release, UTL Scientific, May 15, 2012.
“UH Research Team Uses Airborne LiDAR to Unveil Possible Honduran Archaeological Ruins.” Press release, University of Houston, June 5, 2012.
Author interview with Rosemary Joyce, 2012.
“Mythical Ciudad Blanca,” May 20, 2012. Retrieved from hondurasculturepolitics.blogspot.com. One of the unnamed authors of this blog post is Rosemary Joyce.
Rosemary Joyce, “Good Science, Big Hype, Bad Archaeology,” June 7, 2012. Retrieved from the Berkeley Blog, blogs.berkeley.edu.
Author interviews with Chris Fisher, 2013, 2015, 2016.
Author interview with Alicia González, 2013.
Interview with Trond Larsen, 2016.
Letter from Harrison Ford to President Hernández, April 22, 2016.
“Letter from International Scholars: Archaeological Finds in Honduras.” Posted March 6, 2015. Retrieved from realhonduranarchaeology.wordpress.com.
“Who Signed the Letter from International Scholars?” Retrieved from realhonduranarchaeology.wordpress.com.
The list of signatories is: Christopher Begley, PhD, Transylvania University; Eva Martinez, PhD, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; Rosemary Joyce, PhD, University of California–Berkeley; John Hoopes, PhD, University of Kansas; Warwick Bray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Latin American Archaeology, University College London; Mark Bonta, PhD, Pennsylvania State University; Julia Hendon, PhD, Gettysburg College; Pastor Gomez, PhD, Honduran archaeologist and historian; Alexander Geurds, PhD, University of Leiden and University of Colorado–Boulder; Carmen Julia Fajardo, Licda, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; Gloria Lara Pinto, PhD, Universidad Nacional autónoma de honduras; Jorge G. Marcos, PhD, Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos y Antropológicos, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Geoff McCafferty, PhD, University of Calgary; Adam Benfer, MA, University of Calgary, PhD candidate; Ricardo Agurcia, MA, Asociación Copán; Karen Holmberg, PhD, New York University; Roberto Herrera, MA, Hunter College, City University of New York, PhD candidate, University of New Mexico; Christopher Fung, PhD, University of Massachusetts–Boston; Brent Metz, PhD, University of Kansas; Jeb Card, PhD, Miami University; Ronald Webb, PhD, Temple University; Karen O’Day, PhD, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire; Antoinette Egitto, PhD, Haskell Indian Nations University; Grant Berning, BA, University of Kansas, MA candidate; Roos Vlaskamp, MA, Leiden University, PhD candidate; Silvia Gonzalez, MA, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras.
Charles C. Poling, “A Lost City Found?” American Archaeology, Vol. 19, No. 2, Summer 2015. (Some of the quoted passages came from correspondence with Poling and the editors of American Archaeology that were not published in the final article.)
Becca Clemens, “Transy Professor Gets Grant to Search for ‘Lost City’ in Honduras.” Lexington Herald Leader, July 5, 2011. Retrieved from www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article44114496.html.
Chris Kenning, “Kentucky Professor a Real-Life Indiana Jones.” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 10, 2016.
Sarah Larimer, “The Very Real Search for an Ancient City that Probably Doesn’t Exist.” Washington Post, January 11, 2016.
Chris Begley, “The Pech and Archaeology in the Mosquitia.” Posted March 15, 2015. Retrieved from realhonduranarchaeology.wordpress.com.
Alan Yuhas, “Archaeologists Condemn National Geographic over Claims of Honduran ‘Lost Cities.’” Guardian, March 11, 2015.
“Media FAQ: Under the LiDAR Expedition.” February 2015. Retrieved from resilientworld.com.
Author interviews with Virgilio Paredes, 2015, 2016.
Timothy Berg, “Digging 3,000 Years into the Past.” Retrieved from old.planeta.com.
Author interview with James Brady, 2015.
James E. Brady, George Hasemann, and John H. Fogarty, “Buried Secrets, Luminous Find.” Americas, Vol. 47, No. 4, July–August 1955.
John Noble Wilford, “Age of Burials In Honduras Stuns Scholars.” New York Times, January 26, 1995.
Joel Skidmore, “Copan’s Founder.” Retrieved from mesoweb.com.
William L. Fash, Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1991.
Ellen E. Bell, Marcello A. Canuto, and Robert J. Sharer, eds., Understanding Early Classic Copan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2004.
B. L. Turner and Jeremy A. Sabloff, “Classic Period Collapse of the Central Maya Lowlands: Insights about Human–Environment Relationships for Sustainability.” PNAS, Vol. 109, No. 35, August 2012. Retrieved from pnas.org/content/109/35/13908.
Marilyn A. Masson, “Maya Collapse Cycles,” PNAS, Vol. 109, No. 45, November 2012. Retrieved from pnas.org/content/109/45/18237.
Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, second edition. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008.
Zach Zorich, “The Man under the Jaguar Mountain.” Archaeology, Vol. 62, No. 5, September/October 2009.
David Stuart, “The Arrival of Strangers.” Extract of a paper presented at Princeton University, October 1996, revised February 1998. Retrieved from mesoweb.com.
Fray Diego Durán, Book of the Gods and Rites and the Ancient Calendar, translated and edited by Fernando Horcasitas and Doris Heyden. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.
M.R., “Palace Coop.” Economist, March 14, 2014.
Jared Diamond, Collapse. New York: Penguin, 2011 (e-book edition).
Evon Z. Vogt, Fieldwork among the Maya. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.
Author interview with John Hoopes, 2016.
Author interviews with Christopher Begley, 2012, 2015, 2016.
Christopher Taylor Begley, “Elite Power Strategies and External Connections in Ancient Eastern Honduras.” Unpublished dissertation, University of Chicago, 1999.
Oscar Neil Cruz, Informe Exploración en la Mosquitia. Tegucigalpa: IHAH Archives, February 2015. Unpublished report.
Christopher T. Fisher et al., “Identifying Ancient Settlement Patterns through LiDAR in the Mosquitia Region of Honduras.” PLOS/one, Vol 11, No. 8, August 2016. Retrieved from journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0159890.
Dealbook, “Blankfein Says He’s Just Doing ‘God’s Work.’” New York Times, November 9, 2009.
David Grann, The Lost City of Z. New York: Doubleday, 2009.
Author interviews with Chris Fisher, 2015, 2016.
Author interview with Oscar Neil Cruz, 2015.
George R. Rossman, “Studies on Rocks from the UTL Archeology Site in Honduras.” Unpublished report, December 19, 2015.
Author interview with Chris Fisher, 2016.
Author interview with John Hoopes, 2016.
Author correspondence with Rosemary Joyce, 2016.
Anne Chapman, Masters of Animals: Oral Traditions of the Tolupan Indians, Honduras. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach, 1992.
David E. Stuart, Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2014.
Noble David Cook, Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492–1650. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Bartolomé de las Casas, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. London: Printed for R. Hewson at the Crown in Cornhill, 1689. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg. Also sourced is the original Spanish-language version, retrieved from Project Gutenberg.
William M. Denevan, ed., The Native Population of the Americas in 1492, second edition. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.
David Henige, Numbers from Nowhere: The American Indian Contact Population Debate. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
Alfred W. Crosby Jr., The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, 30th anniversary edition. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.
Richard Preston, The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story. New York: Random House, 2002.
Hugh Thomas, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Linda Newson, The Cost of Conquest: Indian Decline in Honduras under the Spanish Rule. Dellplain Latin American Studies No. 20. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986.
Ann F. Ramenofsky, Vectors of Death: The Archaeology of European Contact. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.
G. Poinar Jr. and R. Poinar, “Evidence of Vector-Borne Disease of Early Cretaceous Reptiles.” Vector Borne Zoonotic Disease, Vol. 4, No. 4, Winter 2004. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15682513.
F. F. Tuon, V. A. Neto, and V. S. Amato, “Leishmania: Origin, Evolution and Future since the Precambrian.” FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology, Vol. 54, No. 2, November 2008. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18631183.
F. E. G. Cox, ed., The Wellcome Trust Illustrated History of Tropical Diseases. London: Trustees of the Wellcome Trust, 1996.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Leishmaniasis.” Retrieved from cdc.gov.
Elizabeth Martinson et al., “Pathoecology of Chiribaya Parasitism.” Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 98. Rio de Janeiro, January 2003. Retrieved from scielo.br.
Maria Antonietta Costa et al., “Ancient Leishmaniasis in a Highland Desert of Northern Chile.” PLOS/one, Vol. 4, No. 9, September 2009. Retrieved from journals.plos.org.
Alun Salt, “Ancient Skulls Haunted by Their Past.” September 28, 2009. Retrieved from alunsalt.com.
Author interview with James Kus, 2016.
Daniel W. Gade, Nature and Culture in the Andes. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.
Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character, Vol. 102, No. 720, April 2, 1928. (Biography of William Leishman.)
Author interviews with Dr. Theodore Nash, 2015, 2016.
Author interview with Dr. Elise O’Connell, 2016.
Author interviews with Dave Yoder, 2015, 2016.
Author interviews with Dr. David Sacks, 2015.
Benenson Productions, taped interview with Dr. David Sacks, 2015.
Author interview with Dr. Michael Grigg, 2016.
Author interview and correspondence with Juan Carlos Fernández, 2016.
Gabriela Gorbea, “Looters, Tourism, and Racism: Controversy Surrounds ‘Discovery’ of Lost City in Honduras.” Vice.com, March 31, 2016. Retrieved from news.vice.com/article/honduras-rainforest-controversy-white-city-lost-civilization.
MASTA, “Comunicado Publico,” retrieved from www.mastamiskitu.org/files/COMUNICADO_PUEBLO_MISKITU-CASO_CIUDAD_BLANCA.pdf. (Translation by author.)
Communication with John Hoopes, 2016.
Author interview with President Juan Orlando Hernández, 2016.
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999 (e-book edition).
Adrián Recinos and Delia Goetz, translators. The Annals of the Cakchiquels. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953.
R. Molina, L. Gradoni, and J. Alvar, “HIV and the Transmission of Leishmania.” Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Vol. 97, Supp. 1, May 2003. Retrieved from www.who.int/leishmaniasis/burden/hiv_coinfection/ATMP3.pdf.
World Health Organization, “Leishmaniasis and HIV Coinfection.” Retrieved from the World Health Organization website, who.int.
Author interview with Dr. Kristy Bradley, 2016.
Carmen F. Clarke et al., “Emergence of Autochthonous Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Northeastern Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma.” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol. 88, No. 1, January 2013. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3541728/.
Christine A. Petersen and Stephen C. Barr, “Canine Leishmaniasis in North America: Emerging or Newly Recognized?” Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, Vol. 39, No. 6, November 2009. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2824922/.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “Preparing for Pandemics.” July 10, 2016. Retrieved from paidpost.nytimes.com/gates-foundation/preparing-for-pandemics.html.
Camila González et al. “Climate Change and Risk of Leishmaniasis in North America: Predictions from Ecological Niche Models of Vector and Reservoir Hosts.” PLOS/Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2010. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2799657/.
Benenson Productions, taped interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, 2015.