A Machu Picchu in Vermont?
Exploring A Possible Mountaintop Discovery in Northeastern North America
Hiram Bingham, the Third!
Fresh home from first exploring Eagle Mountain in Milton, Vermont, I looked up Bingham.
Actually, I didn’t know yet exactly who he was. I was looking up what he did. For Hiram Bingham revealed famed Machu Picchu to the world back in 1911.
Why would I wonder who found Machu Picchu?
Well…
We’re inclined to believe it takes bushwhacking through the jungles of Southern Peru to discover amazing, undiscovered ancient wonders on mountain tops. But what if such a wonder sits here in our midst in North America, undiscovered?
A Machu Picchu in Vermont?
The remains of the past are often hidden in plain sight all around us. We don’t see them. Our minds tend to disregard the unusual, and cultural blindness renders much invisible.
What I’ve seen on Eagle Mountain in northern Vermont is big both physically and, potentially, in terms of its impacts on history and culture. It is rather amazing something this huge has remained unseen for so long.
Although, Vermont does have a history of ignoring its past — for over a century, the idea no Native Americans ever lived in Vermont prevailed statewide, despite historical documentation to the contrary.
This falsehood was even taught in Vermont schools into the 1970's, reinforced by the racist idea — without historical basis — that the area had been some kind of “happy hunting ground” shared by many tribes, who merely passed through. These days, you can still find folks in their 40s-50s who grew up and were taught this. And some still believe it.
