Lindbergh Landing

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Well hey there everybody, we'd like to invite you to visit South Dakota through the

spk_0 eyes of local glue.

spk_0 She'll take you on until lots of things to see are new.

spk_0 So enjoy your virtual visit through the eyes of local glue.

spk_0 Hi there and welcome back to the local Lou podcast.

spk_0 Last time we got to explore a little the history of renner field by reading one side of a historical marker.

spk_0 And today we are headed to the other side, Lindbergh Landing.

spk_0 Now there is some complexity to this history and a lot of dynamics and layers that we're

spk_0 going to come into play because you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.

spk_0 Now sure that is a line from the Dark Knight movie but I think it does fit well here.

spk_0 There are a lot of pieces to the Lindbergh puzzle that are going to leave you with some

spk_0 questions so let's go ahead and start by heading to renner South Dakota.

spk_0 The unincorporated village north of Sioux Falls to read this historical marker so we can

spk_0 understand how Lindbergh landed in South Dakota history.

spk_0 Historical marker Lindbergh Landing.

spk_0 Colonel Charles A Lindbergh was the first to fly nonstop from New York to Paris.

spk_0 The 33.5 hour solo flight on May 20 through 21st 1927 in a single engine mono plane

spk_0 was a phenomenal aeronautical achievement which fascinated the world.

spk_0 Lindbergh's aircraft to the spirit of St. Louis was flown without a radio in only minimal

spk_0 navigational equipment but with courage and skill.

spk_0 The Guggenheim Fun in the US Department of Commerce then sponsored

spk_0 Lindbergh in a nationwide air tort to stimulate interest in commercial aviation and demonstrate

spk_0 the safety and punctuality of professional flying.

spk_0 On August 27th 1927 Lindbergh took off from Fargo North Dakota for Sioux Falls

spk_0 and route he dropped flyover messages when circling Aberdeen, Redfield, Huron,

spk_0 and Mitchell. He landed here at Redner Field precisely at 12 o'clock noon as scheduled.

spk_0 The cheers of over 30,000 persons mounted into a steady roar as the sleek,

spk_0 silvery plane landed in taxi to a stop.

spk_0 Colonel Lindbergh concluded a brief address by expressing his hope that this field

spk_0 or one that may be better suited will be developed into a first class airport for your city.

spk_0 The expressed hope was fulfilled four months later by the founding of Dakota Airlines at this

spk_0 site on December 27th 1927. Historical marker Lindbergh landing located in Redner, South Dakota.

spk_0 So as we arrive back at Redner it's really easy to forget that this quiet village once played

spk_0 host to a moment of this big of significance. It's really cool that this historical marker stands as

spk_0 this silent guardian of the past. It's weathered surface hinting at stories from a hundred years ago

spk_0 that are pretty cool. So inscribed on this marker is a tale that intertwines kind of local history

spk_0 with this larger than life figure that was Charles Lindbergh. So here Lindbergh's connection to

spk_0 South Dakota becomes more evident. A connection that adds another layer to his multifaceted legacy.

spk_0 Known wildly for his a pioneer in transatlantic flight Lindbergh's journey through the Midwest was

spk_0 part of a larger narrative of aviation history. 1927 Lindbergh landed his famous spirit of St. Louis

spk_0 here during this national tour that the historical marker was telling us about. But it's only

spk_0 months after this historic New York to Paris flight. I mean this guy was beyond famous and he's

spk_0 stopping in a soup also of Dakota. Like are you kidding me? So the historical marker is telling us that

spk_0 this tour was basically aimed to promote aviation and inspire the nation because they had the

spk_0 nation's attention and so it's like okay great you saw us do this whole New York in Paris

spk_0 thing. Did you know we can do this on a smaller and bigger scale. We can start right here. This

spk_0 field let's make it in their port. Lindbergh's runner stop it was thrilled for the locals and it

spk_0 was a taste of this new aviation era that brought the whole entire world closer to South Dakota.

spk_0 So as we're gonna explore more into this Lindbergh's life complexities are gonna unfold and you know

spk_0 he was hailed hero a beacon of innovation. This is his shining moment. This is his white night like

spk_0 dueed on horse like on a pedestal the whole shebang right away looking this up in newspapers.

spk_0 It was really neat because you can see he was on quite the tour and we were but a stop on that map

spk_0 but this stop was so important for us here in South Dakota. 30,000 people came to see him and it's

spk_0 stunning to see pictures because it literally looks like a concert where there are just so many

spk_0 people gathered around this stage and you see him standing there talking and it's just hard to wrap

spk_0 your head around how many people came to see him. This was a big deal. So looking at the program

spk_0 from the event it was a fast and furious stop. Jam packed to optimize time and photo opportunities

spk_0 and again this was a very big deal here in South Dakota but also this is a nationwide tour so there's

spk_0 going to be tons of other towns that have similar stories but you know to have the most famous man

spk_0 in the world stopping by to say hello. People are going to line up for that. Okay I think I am

spk_0 traveling at warp speed here. Let's toss in some facts to catch everybody up if you are not super

spk_0 familiar with Charles Lindbergh if he's not on your radar or if he just means the spirit of St. Louis

spk_0 Charles Lindbergh was born in February 4th in 1902 and he was actually born into Detroit,

spk_0 Michigan but he spends a lot of his childhood in Little Falls, Minnesota and his life would be pretty

spk_0 unremarkable if he just kind of popped along and did his thing but once he reaches adulthood he

spk_0 farms for a while and then he attends the University of Wisconsin for a bit before dropping out but

spk_0 that's when destiny kind of starts to find him or he starts to find it. I don't know how all that

spk_0 works but Charles selects Nebraska's aircraft corporation flight school in Lincoln and unfortunately the

spk_0 company is sold before Lindbergh actually completes his training but he does fly his first solo flight

spk_0 and I'm assuming his passion just takes off from there. 1923 Charles' father is going to buy him his

spk_0 first plane. Keep in mind he does not have a pilot license yet but he is going to get that 1925

spk_0 when he graduates first in his class from the U.S. Air Service flying school in Kelly Field.

spk_0 He is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps after he moves to St. Louis.

spk_0 In 1926 he hears about the opportunity to earn $25,000 by flying solo from New York to Paris.

spk_0 May 20th 1927 he takes off. Lerg leaves from Long Island at 6.52 in the morning.

spk_0 May 21st 1927 he lands after 33 hours 29 minutes and 30 seconds. Lindbergh lands in Paris

spk_0 successfully becoming the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. Constantly

spk_0 Elles Lindbergh becomes the most famous man in the world and of course now $25,000 richer.

spk_0 So that's sort of where a historical marker picks up right? It tells us about his tour, showboding and

spk_0 this flex of being the man the myth legend. And now as Paul Harvey would say the rest of the story.

spk_0 And I don't know if you guys ever listened to Paul Harvey on the radio but I did and that was

spk_0 always my favorite part. Anyhow the rest of this story is where the wheels come off but you know I've

spk_0 seen videos online of people landing a plane without landing gear so it's possible. But there's

spk_0 just a lot of things going on with Lindbergh that change how history remembers him. So what are we

spk_0 gonna do here? Compart, mentalize the good and the bad. I don't have an answer. I do know that

spk_0 Shrek was right that people are onions. There's just so many layers and I did do a poll on Instagram.

spk_0 How do you remember Charles Lindbergh? And we got 33 votes for aviation trailblazer. Nine votes for

spk_0 baby and 27 votes for lived long enough to become the villain. Now I only did this poll on Instagram.

spk_0 I didn't do it on Facebook or Spotify or anything but so it's a small sample but I still I'm still

spk_0 fascinated by this only got nine votes for baby. Okay so besides the fact that I'm shook that only

spk_0 nine people voted for baby. We already covered the aviation trailblazer thing so let's talk baby.

spk_0 Lindbergh ends 1927 by touring the US with the spirit of Saint Louis. He makes 82 stops in 48 states

spk_0 and then he rings in 1928 by being Time Magazine's first man of the year. In Bergmaris and Maro in 1929 and June

spk_0 22nd of 1930 they welcome their first child Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. March 1st 1932

spk_0 Charles Lindbergh Jr. the Lindbergh's two-year-old son is kidnapped from the family's hope well New Jersey

spk_0 and the babies remains and that being found a few weeks later this is considered the crime of the

spk_0 century at the time and it's gonna lead to Congress making kidnapping a federal offense. This was

spk_0 huge huge news every second of this story from the kidnapping until the I mean honestly beyond

spk_0 capturing and trial and beyond that this was just all people could talk about. So again in 1935

spk_0 that's when Bruno Richard Hopman is convicted of the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby

spk_0 and you know there's layers to that too there's a lot of unknowns in this story and we'll kind of

spk_0 get to one of the theories later. The Lindbergh family ultimately in December of 1935 they kind of

spk_0 flee or move to England hoping to kind of get away from this spotlight of infamy and they're

spk_0 gonna return four years later as World War II is starting so another layer there let's talk about

spk_0 the fact that Lindbergh from like watches to heart pumps he wasn't just a pilot he was also a

spk_0 really scientific mind and an inventor he actually ends up working with Henry Ford to convert his

spk_0 car assembly line into an assembly line for bombers for the war effort and Lindbergh isn't gonna

spk_0 let his pilot training go to waste during wartime he's gonna fly about 50 combat missions and he

spk_0 was also an author though his father was a published author as was his wife and some of his children

spk_0 as well so I guess in that family being a published author isn't quite as big of a deal as it would

spk_0 be for let's say my family so um for this aviation pioneer to kind of take a no-stive in my eyes

spk_0 and you know there's some books that explore this topic but again we're never gonna have the

spk_0 actual insight of Lindbergh himself but only we could ask him a couple clarifying questions I

spk_0 think we would be able to frame his life in a more accurate way to really see what his beliefs

spk_0 were so one book that I thought was very interesting I mean I do think that there is uh you know

spk_0 of course bias in it and sometimes when books pass off opinions as facts and you know it's you

spk_0 know how to read a book you know how I'm I'm hoping that we're all able to not just believe

spk_0 everything we read and think about things and try to like figure them out for ourselves or place

spk_0 what we read in that book along with other research and so on and so forth but the book the immortalist

spk_0 Charles Lindbergh doctor Alexis Carroll and their daring quest to live forever by David and

spk_0 Friedman it was a really interesting read I read this good summary of the book it said for all

spk_0 the attention lavish to Lindbergh one story has remained untold until now his macabre scientific

spk_0 collaboration with doctor Alexis Carroll the artist of couples one brilliant noble prize winning

spk_0 surgeon turned social engineer and the other afield dirt farmer turned hero of the skies

spk_0 forces in 1930 driven by a shared and secret dream to conquer death and attain immortality

spk_0 Park Frankenstein and part the professor and the madman in all true the immortalist is the

spk_0 remarkable story of how two men of prodigious achievement and equally large character flaws

spk_0 challenged nature's oldest rule with consequences personal professional and political that neither man

spk_0 anticipated so again while reading this riveting summary of the book it's just a glimpse at this

spk_0 connection where we only have pieces of this puzzle and not the whole thing so you know just like

spk_0 anything I encourage I encourage you if this story interests you to look more into it and see if

spk_0 you get a clearer view on Lindbergh's thought process I'm not quite sure where he falls really

spk_0 so it's one of those where these four years that his family spends in Europe was his time in

spk_0 Europe after the death of his child the birth of this fascination with eugenics and eugenics itself

spk_0 is the Charles Darwin inspired idea that ends up evolving into a science experiment turned racist

spk_0 doctrine by Nazis and it's possible that his intent was purely just about bloodline and immortality

spk_0 I don't know but we do know beginning in the night's Charles Lindbergh had multiple children with

spk_0 different women in Germany I think it's three different women and he kept their existence a secret

spk_0 for the rest of his life there is a theory in which his fascination with eugenics is the root

spk_0 cause for the Lindbergh baby kidnapping now that idea is absolutely scandalous it is unimaginable

spk_0 and it is highly unlikely but it is possible according to the New York Times article that I'm going

spk_0 to attach here it's going to be the first link in the show notes for you to check out and read for

spk_0 yourself because it is quite a rabbit hole to go down but this article is great it talks about

spk_0 the kidnapping and has great pictures and again it's another layer to this onion that we're never

spk_0 going to fully understand about who Charles Lindbergh really was and what he believed inside of his

spk_0 mind and what he stood for this aviation superstar known for the first solo flight across the

spk_0 Atlantic lived a full life and I would argue that success had some hidden costs for him Charles

spk_0 Lindbergh is going to die in Hawaii on August 26 1974 and it's still hard to imagine the most

spk_0 famous man in the world touching down right here in renter south Dakota August 27th 1927 at the peak

spk_0 of his fame to speak in front of 30,000 people and I'm so glad that we have a historical marker for

spk_0 people to remember that remarkable day now all of that being said that was our little glimpse into

spk_0 Charles Lindbergh can you believe that we have more renter history to explore you guys were coming

spk_0 back to renter for something that is so interesting and I can't wait to share it with you don't

spk_0 forget to check out patreon if you want to financially support the show all the funds there go

spk_0 towards costs for operating the show and for memberships to historical societies etc but if you

spk_0 don't want to do that hey rate review like share all those things are super helpful to help spread

spk_0 the word and get more people to hear local Lou thank you so much for stopping by and I will catch you

spk_0 on the local Lou podcast

Lindbergh Landing

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