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© Copyright 2002, Jim Loy
Sir Henry Morton Stanley was born John Rowlands, in Wales, in 1841. He soon became an orphan when both of his parents died. He was unwanted by his relatives and was sent to live in a workhouse, where he was often brutally beaten, but where he received a good education. He signed on as a cabin boy and sailed to America. There he was adopted and became Henry Morton Stanley. He fought for the South at the battle of Shiloh, where he was captured. Rather than die in prison in Chicago (where living conditions were mostly fatal), he changed sides and joined the Northern Navy.
After the war, he served as newspaper corespondent in the government's negotiations with the Indians. He continued reporting for newspapers as he travelled in Europe (where he reported on the civil war in Spain), Asia, and Africa (where he reported on the opening of the Suez Canal).
Dr. Livingstone was a medical doctor, a missionary, and a great explorer. He had promised to find the source of the Nile; and he thought he had found it in the Lualaba River near Uganda. In 1866, Livingstone disappeared. And Stanley received a telegram from the New York Herald, instructing that he "Find Livingstone." From Zanzibar, Stanley's expedition trekked into the heart of central Africa. His people were attacked by hostile tribes, and many died of disease. Then he was told of a white man living in Ujiji, on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. In November 1871, Stanley found Livingstone there and said the famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." Livingstone had been repeatedly attempting to search out the source of the Nile, despite ill health and many other hardships. He was in Ujiji, recovering from his illness. Stanley gave him money and food, and eventually returned to civilization to report the success of his mission. In 1873, Livingstone died, and was brought back to civilization by his native friends. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Despite nearly universal recognition of Stanley as a great hero, some people said that he was a fake and had never found Livingstone. In 1874, Stanley set out for central Africa, to try to finish the explorations that Livingstone had begun. He discovered the true southern source of the Nile, which other people later verified. He discovered that the Lualaba River was instead the source of the Congo, by travelling down it nearly to the Atlantic; many of his companions did not survive. Some place names have been changed over the years, but his name is still found several times on maps of Africa. Stanley was perhaps the greatest explorer of Africa, ever.
He tried to get England to claim the Congo region, in the interests of trade, religion, and anti-slavery. England was not interested; so he and Belgium founded the Congo Free State. He had other African adventures before he settled down to life in England, occasionally suffering from malaria and other diseases. He wrote books, served in the House of Commons, and was given many honors and degrees, including knighthood from Queen Victoria. Stanley died, May 3, 1904.