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Papers of Frederick R. Burnham (1861-1947) in the Hoover Institution Archives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Alistair Tough
Alistair Tough*
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
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Extract

Indian fighter, explorer, scout, soldier and hero: during Frederick Burnham's life he filled all of these roles. Consequently a myth grew up around him cultivated by various “real-life adventure story books” in which he featured, and his own autobiography in which he stressed the more adventurous aspects of his life. The adventurous aspects of his career are, indeed, not without significance. For example, it was Burnham who killed the Mlimo during the Ndebele War of 1897 and this action may well have had an important effect on the morale of Ndebele fighters. Nevertheless, Burnham's career as a mineral prospector, mining engineer, and business manager is as significant as his more publicized activities. In some instances the latter were, in fact, a consequence of his employment in the former.

Born in the United States, Burnham was brought up in California. He received a limited formal education but in the course of his early working life in the western United States he acquired a knowledge of mining, particularly gold mining. From 1893 to 1897 he was in present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia. It was he who led the Northern Territories (BSA) Exploration Co. expedition which established for the outside world that major copper deposits existed in Central Africa.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 12 , 1985 , pp. 385 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1985

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References

NOTES

1. Britt, Albert, The Boy's Own Book of Adventures, 1923Google Scholar; Davis, Richard Harding, Real Soldiers of Fortune, 1907Google Scholar;Lang, Andrew, The Red True Story Book, 1921Google Scholar; and West, James E. and Lamb, Peter O., He Who Sees in the Dark, 1932.Google Scholar There may well be other works containing references to Burnham in a similar vein.

2. Burnham, Frederick R., Scouting on Two Continents, 1928.Google Scholar Burnham wrote a further volume, Taking Chances, which was privately printed and distributed to friends in 1944.

3. Baxter, T.W. and Burke, E.E., Guide to the Historical Manuscripts in the National Archives of Rhodesia (Salisbury, 1970), 67.Google Scholar

4. Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives, New Haven, Connecticut 06520. Archives, Hoover Institution on War, Peace and Revolution, Stanford, California 94305.

5. A collection of writings about Burnham and working papers for his two books are open for research use.

6. Folder “Lummis, Charles F.,” Folder 10, Box 3.