In conjunction with his upcoming book, Here Is Where: In Search of America's Great Forgotten History, we're following historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as
he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out
little-known historic sites in all 50 states. Bookmark all of his posts here.
From Chicago I flew to Hawaii, and before popping over to Honolulu to pursue a story that connects Abraham Lincoln to Oahu, I set out to find a little-known grave in Maui, just south of Hana. Buried here is one of the most famous (and infamous, to some) Americans--and yet his final resting place could hardly be more remote.
The far-flung burial spot receives only a trickle of visitors, and seasonal flooding and mud slides can make the site totally inaccessible. Fortunately only a light rain was falling the morning I went there, and the drive along the Hana Highway was one of the most exhilarating I've ever taken. Never before have I seen such diverse landscape on a single road, from lush, dense forests one moment to dry and rocky terrain the next. The (barely) two-lane highway curves so sharply that I often felt as if I were driving through the twisting exit ramp of an endless underground parking garage. Countless myna birds casually hopped between the double yellow dividing lines, seemingly oblivious to the constant stream of cars rushing past. (The occasional clump of smashed feathers in the middle of the road however were proof that some had been a bit too cavalier.)
From Chicago I flew to Hawaii, and before popping over to Honolulu to pursue a story that connects Abraham Lincoln to Oahu, I set out to find a little-known grave in Maui, just south of Hana. Buried here is one of the most famous (and infamous, to some) Americans--and yet his final resting place could hardly be more remote.The far-flung burial spot receives only a trickle of visitors, and seasonal flooding and mud slides can make the site totally inaccessible. Fortunately only a light rain was falling the morning I went there, and the drive along the Hana Highway was one of the most exhilarating I've ever taken. Never before have I seen such diverse landscape on a single road, from lush, dense forests one moment to dry and rocky terrain the next. The (barely) two-lane highway curves so sharply that I often felt as if I were driving through the twisting exit ramp of an endless underground parking garage. Countless myna birds casually hopped between the double yellow dividing lines, seemingly oblivious to the constant stream of cars rushing past. (The occasional clump of smashed feathers in the middle of the road however were proof that some had been a bit too cavalier.)
Tucked away behind the Palapala Ho'omau Church (at mile marker 41), is a beautiful old chapel guarded by banyan trees, and the grave I was
hoping to find. I walked up and read the marker: "Charles A.
Lindbergh." Lindbergh was a 25-year-old airmail carrier when he was
catapulted into stardom on May 21, 1927, after piloting the first solo,
nonstop flight across the Atlantic. Six prominent aviators had died attempting the feat before Lindbergh's successful 33-hour haul in the Spirit of St. Louis.Five years later Lindbergh's infant son was kidnapped and murdered. The capture, trial, and execution of the suspected killer, Bruno Hauptmann, was the O.J. Simpson media circus of its day. The hunt for Hauptmann was led by New Jersey Police Superintendent H. Norman Schwarzkopf, father of the future general who would command all U.S. and Coalition troops in the 1991 Gulf War.
Lindbergh later became an ardent spokesman for the "America First" isolationist movement. He proclaimed admiration for the Nazi Party and accused Jews and President Roosevelt of being hell bent on war. Once Japan attacked the U.S. and announced an alliance with Germany, Lindbergh redeemed himself in the eyes of many by flying 50 combat missions in the Pacific as a civilian. After the war he became an aviation consultant to Pan American Airlines and the military. Lindbergh died in 1974 in Hawaii, where he and his wife of 45 years, Anne Morrow, had moved to in 1970.
Lindbergh left specific instructions that he should be placed in a simple wooden casket with his head resting on the pillow he sat on during the Spirit of St. Louis flight. The idyllic gravesite overlooking the Pacific was recommended by his friend Sam Pryor, a colleague at Pan American, who lived nearby in Maui with his pet gibbons apes, Kippy, Keiki, Kami, and George.
The plot was big enough for two, but before Anne died in
2001 she requested to have her ashes scattered in the Atlantic,
thousands of miles away. There is speculation she decided against Maui
because her husband had been unfaithful to her, although she too had
supposedly been involved with someone else. Whether she was aware that
Charles had serious, long-term relationships with several other women
in Europe and fathered at least seven children between them is unknown.
(Anne herself had six children with Charles.) DNA testing didn't
confirm the fact until 2003.Regardless of the reasons, the legendary Charles Augustus Lindbergh is buried alone. No wife. No children. No family whatsoever. His eternal neighbors are Sam Pryor's beloved apes.
All photos and text © Andrew Carroll.
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great picture...really nice place..looks like heaven
Actually there are plenty of folk buried in the church yard besides Charles Lindbergh
David's comment (above) is absolutely correct, but it is still a very small grave yard, Lindbergh is somewhat removed from the rest, and the apes are Lindbergh's closest neighbors.