This is Sleepy History. Sleepy History is a production of Slumber Studios. To listen, add free... Get access to bonus episodes and support the ongoing production of this show. Check out our premium feed. This is The Sleepy History of El Dorado, narrated by Arif Hadzik, written by Joe Steer. Have you ever wondered if the stories were true about a gilded city hidden away somewhere in the Americas, ruled by a chief…
who sparkled with gold dust. We've all heard the fantastical tales about the lost city of El Dorado and the riches that are hidden there. waiting for a lucky explorer to stumble across them. What if these stories actually have a grain of truth in them? And if El Dorado does exist, what are historians and researchers doing today to locate it? We'll search for answers to these questions and more tonight. So just relax and let your mind drift as we explore the sleepy history of El Dorado.
Between the late 15th and the 17th centuries, Europe saw a period of discovery and exploration. Advancements in shipmaking and compass navigation greatly widened the scope of sea travel. For many Europeans, It was an exciting time to be alive, a time when the world map was still being written. Explorers voyaged across the ocean, in search of places that were previously unknown to them. They returned home with all kinds of curiosities – colorful textiles,
and hand-painted porcelain, fruits and vegetables, and an array of spices. They enthralled the public with tales of their travels. describing magnificent civilizations very different from their own. Unfortunately, they frequently left the trail of destruction behind them, in the places they visited. The quest for new horizons for European explorers often spelled devastation for the people who already lived in these lands.
and sometimes for the land itself, as resources were plundered. There had been particular fascination with what today is South America since… Christopher Columbus landed there in 1498. Back then, it was known as the New World to Europeans. like most other land found in the Western Hemisphere. The Italian Columbus had sailed under the banner of the Spanish, and paved the way for European exploration. After him came conquistadors from the Portuguese and Spanish empires.
And later came the British, Germans, and others. Explorers went in search of fame and fortune, having heard the rumors of great riches abroad. Stories had grown tangible from the 1520s, with Spain's conquest of the Aztecs and later, the Incas. The Spaniards had found a treasure trove of riches – exotic spices, fine artifacts, precious metals, and gemstones. Their findings gave credence to another rumor that a city of gold was hidden in South America. The legend of El Dorado began with the tribe.
who lived high up in the Andes Mountains. In the region of what today is the country of Colombia, the Muisqua people had some unique customs. Conquistadors were intrigued by reports of a ceremony which was said to take place at Lake Guatavita. When a new chieftain was appointed, he was covered in gold dust. Gold representing the energy of the Supreme Being. Various accounts were written about the ceremony from visiting Europeans who described what they saw.
In one, the chief boards a ship and floats across the lake amidst a cloud of sweet incense. Those at Lakeside Light torches and play music, though they fall into silence once a banner is raised. A plethora of riches is dropped into the water. and the chief returns to the sound of music. At some point in time, the area around the lake became known to the Spanish as El Dorado. or the Golden. The name was sometimes also used to describe the chieftain himself. Other names for the ruler included
El Hombre Dorado, the Golden Man, or El Rey Dorado, the Golden King. Later, some called him the Gilded One. as the chief developed a near-mythical reputation. Reports of the tribe would eventually fizzle out, and it was rumored that they'd been conquered in the late 1400s. though this didn't stop the stories from spreading. In fact, the rumors became grander and more elaborate. What began as a truth about a tribal ritual morphed over time into myth and legend. Stories of the Golden Chieftain,
were conflated with other rumors, including what's known as the Seven Cities of Cibola. Since arriving on the continent in the 16th century, Travelers had heard tell of these seven Aztec cities. El Dorado became known as one of the seven, a lost city of limitless riches. Another lost city was known as Manoa, thought to be somewhere in Brazil or Guyana. This was said to be a remote region.
likely between the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. It was also home to a sacred lake, known as Lake Parime or Parima. Manoa became known as a possible location for El Dorado, as reports of the Muisqua people and their gilded chief were entwined with a legend… of the seven lost cities. So, while some explorers focused on Lake Guatavita, others went in search of Manoa and
Lake Parime. The first European who claimed to visit Manoa was a member of the crew of a Spanish expedition. Juan Martinez had been on his deathbed when he shared the secrets of his adventures in South America. He'd worked on the ship of Diego de Hortas and was the munitions captain. in charge of weaponry. But he'd made the mistake of allowing the gunpowder to catch fire and had been sentenced to death as a result.
According to Martinez, his friends helped him escape, and he sailed on a canoe down the Orinoco River. He met a group of indigenous people who had never seen a European. They led him, blindfolded, to their stunning homeland. Martinez was taken to the great city of Manoa, where he lived for many months in the palace of an emperor. He was treated very kindly and entertained in splendor.
and given permission to leave when he grew homesick. We can't know for sure whether the story was true, but it was certainly similar… to an older story – The Adventures of Juan Martín de Albujar, which was popular at the time. It tells the tale of a veteran explorer who traveled over from Spain with Hernán Cortés. At some point, it said he was separated from his party.
becoming lost in the jungle for sixteen years. Juan Martín would later claim to have seen many cities of immense riches. He'd brought back souvenirs… gold, and other artifacts, but sadly, he said that they'd been stolen on the coast. The story was most likely a work of fiction. especially as it was embellished and exaggerated over time. Yet still, it proved enticing to those treasure seekers across the ocean.
In the 1530s and early 40s, there were several expeditions from Germany and Spain. Though none discovered anything more than the nature and wildlife near the Amazon basin. The Spanish Quesada brothers made two expeditions, one in 1537 and 1541. It's said that they brought an army of 800 men to search for gold along the Orinoco River. They found nothing in the water.
But they did see locals dressed in an array of fine gold jewelry. They even followed some across the jungle in the hopes of being led home to a city of great riches. The brothers' efforts proved unsuccessful, but one had more luck in his next expedition. It was 1545 when Gonzalo Quesada arrived with his men at Lake Guatavita. This was where the Muisqua were said to hold their rituals, the sacred lake of the gilded chieftain.
and where all kinds of riches, jewels, and gemstones had reportedly been dropped into the water. Gonzalo's men sought to drain the lake, and… arduous task, with only buckets to gather water. They weren't successful in draining it completely, but they lowered it enough that the mission proved fruitful. They found hundreds of gold pieces around the lake's edge, the equivalent in weight to about 3,000 pesos.
Around $100,000 in modern-day money, it was enough to make Gonzalo a very happy man. Gonzalo believed… that he'd succeeded in his quest. He'd found the lost treasures that he'd spent his life seeking. At the same time, It was assumed that there were even greater treasures beyond human reach on the floor of the lake. 35 years later, in 1580…
His efforts were continued by another Spanish explorer. Antonio de Sepúlveda had his men carve out a channel, which allowed more water to drain out around the lake. More gold was revealed along the water's edge – another 12,000 pesos, or about $400,000 today. had to stop, however, when the channel collapsed and De Sepulveda passed away while still searching for more gold. Soon after, In 1584, Antonio de Berrio became an unlikely treasure hunter. Sixty years old and an experienced soldier,
Tiberio was at the age where he could have retired. Indeed, he might have had he not met his wife, the niece of the explorer Gonzalo Quesada, the man who had been first to find gold in Guatavita, asked that his son-in-law continue his efforts. As a result… Tiberio would spend the next 16 years trekking across what is today Venezuela and Colombia. He led three expeditions, some of which were several years long, between 1584 and 1590. He also made a fourth in 1595.
but this was as a hostage rather than as a leader. De Barrio was held captive by Sir Walter Raleigh, an English adventurer and favorite. of Queen Elizabeth. Raleigh was enthralled with tales of El Dorado. He'd even learned Spanish for the sole purpose of reading accounts that mentioned the city. Raleigh became convinced of the city's existence. Why else would the Spanish have mounted so many expeditions and spent a small fortune in their quest to find it?
He was sure that El Dorado was the city of Manoa and that the sacred lake was Lake Parime. Raleigh arrived in Trinidad with a small army of men and soon after, captured the Spanish colony. Tensions had been high between the Spanish and the English empires, and by 1595, the countries were at war. Antonio de Berrio was taken prisoner and quizzed extensively about El Dorado. Raleigh took him up the Orinoco River,
where the Spaniard acted as a guide for the English. For several months, de Berrio led the way to remote regions that he himself had previously explored. Ships were modified into large rowboats so that the party could traverse the shallower waters. They traveled on the river, past jungles and savannas, followed closely by a Spanish expedition. Eventually… The Spaniards mounted a surprise assault, but the Englishmen won and the Spanish retreated. Raleigh kept the Spaniards' boat as a trophy.
and presented it to a tribe as an offering of peace. Many of the indigenous people resented the Spanish colonists. As a result, The English formed friendships with these groups through their mutual dislike. One of the tribes that Raleigh encountered was ruled by a chieftain called Topiowari. He told of a tribe that lived in the mountains, one that enjoyed great wealth and riches. The Englishmen decided that they were an offshoot of the Inca,
and likely the people of Manoa or El Dorado. He set out to find the tribe with the chief's son, who led the men along the Karani River. Scouts were sent to look for mines, and they returned with various rocks. It was hoped that when the rocks were analyzed later, they might be revealed to be precious gold ore. They'd traveled 400 miles, or 640 kilometers, by the time Raleigh decided to head back. He hadn't found Manoa or…
El Dorado, nor any other lost lakes or gold-filled cities. What he had found, however, were some stunning landscapes. the likes of which the English had never seen before. Raleigh described mountains with tops like tables and waterfalls that were taller than any church spire. Perhaps, this gave him some consolation as he sailed back to England after releasing Deberio. He also had the company of Topi Awari's son,
who had decided to join Raleigh and visit England. Arriving in court in 1595, Raleigh received a lukewarm reception. His quest, after all, had been unsuccessful. He hadn't found Manoa or Lake Parime. and he'd discovered little that hadn't already been known. Considering how much the Crown had invested in his mission, The booty he brought home was definitely disappointing, especially when the rocks found by scouts along the river were analyzed by experts and proven to be worthless.
Having promised Queen Elizabeth that he'd find a gold-rich empire, Raleigh found himself in a precarious position. The court favorite had many enemies. Some even accused him of hiding the treasure for himself. His response was to publish The Discovery of Guyana. a year after he'd returned home. It was a fanciful account of what he'd witnessed on his travels, a book that contained countless exaggerations.
Its full title was, The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guyana with Relation to the Great and Golden City of Manoa. He gushed about the gold mines of Venezuela, but kept it brief and gave no specifics. Raleigh was a master of self-promotion and propaganda, an expert at leading readers to draw their own conclusions. What he said… led people to assume he'd found treasure, allowing him the appearance of success instead of failure. The book contributed to the myth of El Dorado.
and was popular in England, France, and the Netherlands. It inspired more Europeans to travel to South America in search of a land rich with gold mines. Raleigh's lieutenant, a man named Lawrence Chemis, went back to Guyana in 1597. He was urged to foster good relationships with the locals and to continue the search for El Dorado. Kemmes searched along the Essequibo River through a region that he'd visited on his travels with Raleigh.
For some time, he'd been convinced that Esikibo was Lake Parime and was sure there would be treasure somewhere in the water. Along the way… He made copious notes, which would prove revealing to Europeans when published. He wrote about the geology, geography, and plant life, and mapped… the location of indigenous tribes. Although he came home without any gold, he assured Raleigh that there was wealth around the river.
Kemmes was certain that he'd been close to El Dorado and thought the city would likely be on the banks of the river. Raleigh and Kemmes weren't… to return until decades later, in 1617. Queen Elizabeth had died in 1603 and the new king, James I. had imprisoned the explorer for plotting against him. After 13 years in the Tower of London, Raleigh was released on a number of conditions.
The first was that he return to South America and continue his search for gold and riches. The second was that he avoid entanglements with the Spanish. as the war was now over and a peace treaty was in place. It was this second stipulation that would prove his undoing. After Raleigh became ill, and allowed chemists to lead the search. There are differing accounts of what happened on the trip, but ultimately, there was a battle between the English and Spanish.
Men had been killed, and a Spanish settlement had been pillaged. Raleigh had broken the terms of the truce. The king had little choice but to appease the angry Spanish and had Raleigh executed in 1618. Though Raleigh's time was over, El Dorado lived on and continued to inspire travel across the ocean. There would be many more attempts over the next few centuries… to find the treasures which, so far, remained undiscovered. In 1609, Robert and Michael Harcourt arrived from England
with a company of adventurers. They claimed a patch of land between the Amazon and Essequibo, with Michael staying behind to cultivate an English colony. Two years later, another Englishman reached the continent, sent on a mission by the then Prince of Wales. Sir Thomas Rowe had poured through maps of the area, and thought he could find his way to Lake Parime. He sailed his massive ship, the Lion's Claw, some 200 miles up the Amazon River.
He did another 100 miles, crossing rapids in canoes, before admitting defeat and turning back. Next came two monks, Akana and Fritz. who made a number of trips between 1637 and 1638. Traveling through regions in northeast Brazil, they found no evidence of lost cities. or their riches. Their mission had failed, but they remained hopeful and published accounts that encouraged further exploration.
It wouldn't be until a century later that another adventurer set out for El Dorado. By then, Guyana had become a Dutch colony. and it was the Dutch governor who funded the search. A German surgeon named Nicolas Horstmann led the expedition in 1739. Taking two Dutch soldiers and four indigenous guides, he went along the Essekibo River. In 1741, One of the indigenous guides returned home and informed the governor that he'd crossed the Rio Branco. Gossip was rife in the Dutch settlement.
Many said that Horstman had found Lake Parime and that he'd planted the Dutch flag on its sacred shores. What he'd actually found was another lake, known to locals. as Amuku in southwest Guyana. Around the same time, a governor from Venezuela heard tell of Lake Parime, from one of the indigenous people. Don Manuel Centurion was captivated by the stories and gathered a party that numbered in the hundreds.
It's said that the indigenous people had pointed out clouds that glowed white in the southern sky. They believed the glow to be a reflection of Lake Parime. and the precious rocks where silver could be mined. Because of this, the Venezuelan believed he knew the way and set off to find the fabled lake. Sadly, the trip seems to have ended in disaster, resulting in the loss of several hundred lives.
Charles-Marie de la Condamine visited the region in 1743. He wrote that while the indigenous tribes had indeed found flakes of gold, this had been greatly exaggerated into a mythical golden city. As Europe underwent its so-called enlightenment, Between the late 1600s and the early 1800s, there was a shift towards science over faith. Men like De La Condamine applied logic and reason, investigating claims of El Dorado using scientific methods. The German polymath Alexander von Humboldt
was a man who epitomized the ideals of the movement. He was a scientist, a naturalist, a geographer and explorer who spent five years traveling through the Americas. Between 1799 and 1804, he visited many regions including Venezuela. He traveled by canoe along the Orinoco River and encountered animals he didn't recognize, like electric eels. He recorded notes about plants and wildlife, the river, and its tributaries. And he wrote about the indigenous tribes that he came into contact with.
He also visited the fabled Lake Parime, or what was marked as its location on maps at the time. After extensive scientific study, surveys, and observation, he felt he had disproved the lake's existence. Humboldt noted patterns of seasonal flooding, which resulted in rivers being brought together. New bodies of water were formed temporarily. One of these temporary bodies of water…
had likely been mistaken for Lake Parime. He did also visit the very real lake, Guatavita, where De Sepúlveda had discovered the 4,000 pesos. He dramatically recalculated the Spaniards' findings, claiming that the lake provided 300 million pesos. His findings were corroborated by others – Charles Waterton in 1812 and Robert Schomburg in 1840. Both investigated the existence of Lake Parime and found no evidence of the lake or lost city. Of course,
There were some who continued to believe, even despite the risks and evidence to the contrary. In 1898, a group of Britons formed a company… with the explicit purpose of draining Lake Guatavita. They were able to do so using the latest equipment, draining water through a tunnel at the center of the lake. Their luck ran out, though, when the muddy lakebed dried out, encasing any riches in a concrete-like substance.
The company would ultimately file for bankruptcy, having only been able to salvage around 500 pounds. They did manage to auction off some artifacts in London. and gifted some pieces to the British Museum. Lake Guatavita would thankfully be refilled, and in 1965… it gained protected status. Private drainage is now illegal, and the area is better known as a tourist destination where hikers walk scenic waterfront trails.
General consensus in the 21st century is that Manoa or El Dorado is a work of fiction. What began with reports of an actual tribal ritual… morphed over time into a work of imagination. European explorers were captivated by the story. Many perhaps believed simply… because they wanted it to be true. After all, it's not so far-fetched a story in a region so rich in natural resources.
At one point in time, the world's richest gold mine was located in Venezuela, a few miles from the Orinoco. And from 2016… The Orinoko Mining Arc has been designated an area rich in minerals. Resources are stored there in thousands of tons, including gold, diamonds, copper, and more. All things considered, it's not hard to see why explorers might have believed in a mythical gold city. Aside from this,
There is some evidence which supports the existence of what could be Lake Parime. In 1977, Brazilian geologists found what they believed to be an extinct lake. 250 miles or 400 kilometers in diameter, it was located in the region of northern Brazil. The water had drained away after an earthquake in 1690 and disappeared into the Rio Branco. In the same region of Joraima, Brazil,
There are carvings of images and symbols on the rocks. On Pedra Pintada, or the Painted Rock, they're dated between 9000 and 12000 years old. What's interesting about these etchings is that they're 10 meters above the ground, on the sheer rock face, above what today is grassland. It's most likely… that there was once a lake beneath the cliffside, and the carvings were made by people standing in canoes. The existence of Lake Parime cannot be disproven.
even today in the 21st century. Since 2007, Jose Miguel Perez Gomez has led a team of researchers to investigate its existence. The Venezuelan archaeologist conducted a thorough investigation. including making several expeditions into southeast Venezuela. His team looked at everything from the oral traditions of indigenous people, to the historical accounts that had inspired so many treasure seekers. From studies relating to archaeology and geology, to data sourced
from the most modern technology. Using a wide range of remote sensing equipment, they were able to search for the lake from space. They managed to reconstruct where the ancient lake had been and spot the point where it had drained away. Satellite images revealed… an elongated lake, far longer than it was wide. Most intriguing of all is that it bore great similarities to the Lake Parimeh,
drawn by Walter Raleigh when he visited the region in the 16th century. We might never know if Lake Parime existed. or whether there ever really had been a city of gold. Today, El Dorado has gone from myth to metaphor. being used to describe any place of great fortune. Sometimes, it's used like the famous Holy Grail… to represent something that one might spend their life seeking. To some, this might be riches, fame, and status. To others,
It might mean love, happiness, or fulfillment. In his poem, El Dorado, Edgar Allan Poe writes of a night… who is tired after a long and fruitless search for the missing city. Gaily bedite, a gallant night. In sunshine… and in shadow, had journeyed long, singing a song in search of El Dorado. But he grew old this night. so bold, and o'er his heart a shadow, fell as he found no spot of ground that looked like El Dorado.
As his strength failed him at length, he met a pilgrim's shadow. Shadow, said he, where can it be? this land of El Dorado, over the mountains of the moon, down the valley of the shadow. Ride. Boldly ride, the shade replied, if you seek for El Dorado. The caveat here… is that like the Holy Grail, the thing that one desires might actually not exist. But for some, the promise of treasure… And a long-lost city kept their eyes on the horizon, always seeking that which would never be found.