Birth of Martin
Johnson, Pioneer Wildlife Photographer
Oct. 9, 1884
Remember
Marlin Perkins in Mutual of Omaha’s 1960s TV show “Wild Kingdom,” and how he
left all the rhino-wrestling to his buddy Jim? To say nothing of Steve Irwin’s
popular “Crocodile Hunter” forty years later. This post celebrates intrepid
forerunner Martin Johnson, who broke trail for the likes of Marlin, Jim, and
Steve.
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| Martin and Osa Johnson |
Martin
Elmer was born on October 9, 1884, to John and Lucinda Johnson, in Rockford, IL,
where John, a Swedish immigrant, worked as foreman at a watch factory. Within a
year of Martin’s birth, the Johnsons moved to Lincoln, KS, where Martin’s
father then ran a jewelry store. They moved again in 1896, away from Lincoln which was
crippled with drought, to Independence, KS, where John met with new success in selling jewelry and books.
Although
his father taught him how to repair clocks and watches and details of the
jewelry business, Martin’s mind was always on birds in the nearby woods and turtles
basking on the river rocks. He constantly rebelled against both school and
store. He frequently ran away from home, riding the rails and meeting hobos. When
his father’s store expanded to include camera supplies, the boy became obsessed
with photography as a means of escape to freedom from the workaday grind.
Young
Johnson, upon expulsion from high school for photographic breaches in etiquette
and protocol, embarked as an itinerant photographer. He met his future wife,
Osa Helen Leighty, in 1902 when she was only eight. At the time, she was
offended by the gawky teenager, ten years her elder, but neither did she quite forget
him. She had taken her 3-year-old brother to the makeshift studio of this
traveling artist, and was dismayed when the young man, who was developing his
skill and his eye along with his images, insisted on mussing up the toddler’s
hair for the expensive photograph, delighting little Vaughn but ruining Osa’s intent
on a formal portrait.
When
he came back to town – Chanute, KS – in 1910, his adventures drew Osa, and they
eloped after a three-week acquaintance. In the intervening eight years, he had had
a lifetime of adventure. He had worked on a boat to England, then stowed away
on his return. He had sailed the Pacific with Jack London on that disastrous
trip aboard the Snark (making the
acquaintance of South Seas cannibals and headhunters), proving himself far
better at ship operation and maintenance than at his job as cook.
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| With native friends in Borneo in 1935 |
The
young couple worked at movie theaters and displayed his South Seas photographs
on the vaudeville circuit for a while, but finally bit the bullet in 1917 when
they invested everything they had in photography equipment and headed back to
South Seas. They spent nine months visiting and filming wildlife and natives of
the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, including the fierce Big Nambas
tribe of Malekula. Although warned against taking a white woman among these
people (indeed, the local British garrison warned against anybody approaching
them), both Martin and Osa forged ahead anyway, and Osa survived a baptism of
fire that would have made most others, men or women, quail in terror. Her gritty courage impressed both natives and
British.
They
returned to Malekula in 1919. They completely wowwed the Big Nambas when, with equipment
and a generator, they showed the tribe the film they had made from footage on
the earlier trip, Among the Cannibal
Isles of the South Seas. The film technology displayed to the natives imbued
the Johnsons with powerful medicine. From this second trip, which included a
voyage by boat along the eastern coast of Africa, they produced two more
feature films, Jungle Adventures
(1921) and Headhunters of the South Seas
(1922).
Martin
and Osa’s attention now turned toward Africa. They ultimately made five
expeditions there, between 1921 and 1934, ground-breaking, multi-year projects
with immensely complex planning and execution. They worked in Uganda, the
Serengeti Plains, and the Belgian Congo.
In
between their multi-year safaris, they conducted national tours, lecturing,
exhibiting their still photography and artifacts, and producing over fifty
films and seven books about the wildlife and habitats of Africa and the South
Seas. Their films were hugely popular throughout the United States.
Osa
was the ultimate partner to Martin, coordinating the expeditions and running
the camps, and guarding against wildlife attacks while Martin shot footage. She
was a crack shot, providing game for the table as well as protection to the
camp and crew. She remained cool-headed during attacks by lions, rhinos, and
elephants. She quickly picked up a multitude of native languages, and filmed
as well as developed footage with her husband, all with an indomitable,
positive attitude which matched Martin’s adventuresome spirit.
About
his wife Martin once stated, "For bravery and steadiness and endurance,
Osa is the equal of any man I ever saw. She is a woman through and through.
There is nothing 'mannish' about her. Yet as a comrade in the wilderness she is
better than any man I ever saw."
In
1932, both Johnsons learned to fly, which expedited their expeditions considerably.
They purchased two Sikorsky amphibious planes, Martin’s S-39-CS named “Spirit
of Africa,” which sported giraffe spots, and Osa’s S-38-BS named “Osa’s Ark,” striped
like a zebra. They were now able to collect aerial footage, the first ever of
migrating herds on the African grasslands.
Sadly,
while on their lecture circuit, the Johnsons were involved in a deadly plane crash in California on January 12,
1937. The commercial Boeing airliner, fighting foul
weather, failed to reach the runway on approach. Martin died of his injuries
the next day, one of five deaths, at age 52. Osa was also severely injured, but
continued their schedule of lectures in a wheelchair once she was released from
the hospital.
Osa
continued their work after Martin’s untimely death. She wrote several memoirs,
led more expeditions to Africa, wrote children’s books, produced more films,
including one based on her memoir , and continued on the lecture circuit. At age 58, she
died in 1953 in the midst of preparing to lead another African safari.
I read I
Married Adventure a couple of years ago, and enjoyed the rich adventure thoroughly.
SOURCES
The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari
Museum http://www.safarimuseum.com/
Santa
Clarita Valley Historical Society, SCVHistory.com http://www.scvhs.org/
Women
Film Pioneers Project at Columbia University
Kansapedia: Kansas Historical Society
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/martin-and-osa-johnson/12102
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/martin-and-osa-johnson/12102
Wikipedia – Martin and Osa Johnson
IMAGES
Find
A Grave http://www.findagrave.com
The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari
Museum http://www.safarimuseum.com/
Richard Ker, North Borneo History http://www.northborneohistory.com
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