Historical Urban Legends: Bogus or Golden.
If there is anything that we love here at Dave’s Corner of the Universe more than movies and pop culture it is history. My degree is in History and I have a passion for it. But well sometimes stories take on a life of their own as time passes and it goes form history to urban legend. So with the success of my Hollywood Urban Legends: Golden or Bogus post here are Historical Urban Legends: Golden or Bogus.
I will give you a historical legend then if it is true we will deem it Golden if not then it gets tagged as Bogus.
Legend #1: The American Revolution was fought using what we would now call asymmetrical warfare, meaning the rebels used gruella tactics against a traditional and stronger opponent.
hey I thought we were supposed to be hiding behind tress and stuff.
Verdict: Bogus.
The truth: The story most people are taught in school about how the American Revolution was fought is completely wrong. This is so deeply engraved in our national psyche that I have even seen history majors who have been shown the facts reject them because it goes against everything we been taught in elementary school.
Now there are some historical facts that gave rise to this legend. Both General Washington and Ethan Allen did conduct harassment raids in the beginning of the war. And Francis Marion AKA the “Swamp Fox” did lead a successful guerrilla campaign in Georgia. But the revolutionaries didn’t really start winning until they started using traditional tactics and formations and fought their enemy in the standard European style. Using chain of command, and standardized weapons and uniforms.
In fact the American Revolution was just one theater in a larger global war between the English and the French. The Americans not only benefited from training, weapons, food and tactical support by the French navy, there was also regiments of French regular army in the fray on fighting the English on American soil. This conflict would bankrupt the French and eventually would lead to their own revolution.
Legend #2 Ponce de’ Leon was killed searching for the fountain of youth.
Do I look old to you?
Verdict: Bogus.
The truth: the story that the conquistador went to Florida looking for the fountain of youth was never told until after his death, and then it was spread by a political rival, more than likely to smear de’ Leon’s name. He was looking for what all good conquistadors were looking for gold and new lands for Spain. There seems to be one mention in his memoirs of him being told about the fountain of youth by an old woman (If she knew anything about it wouldn’t she be young looking) but no indication this launched an expedition.
There is also a theory that what he was really looking for was actually the Bahamian Love Vine, a real plant attributed with aphrodisiac properties. Because his advanced age was creating problems in the bedroom. Basically he was looking for the sixteenth century equivalent of Viagra. While that is a cool theory there is no reason to believe it any more than the fountain of youth legend.
Legend #3: The famed picture of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima was staged.
Verdict: Bogus.
The truth: That perfect shot caught of the marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi is a one in a million shot. The famous photo and later statue was taken of the second flag raising. Some people thought that because this is a photo of the second and larger flag being hoisted on the mountain it was all staged, but it is a moment where a camera man catches soldiers doing their duty and was not staged as a publicity shot. Ironically this myth was strengthened by photographer Joe Rosenthal himself. He also took a much lesser known one a few days later with the troops, where he posed Marines around the flag, sometimes referred to as the ‘gung ho’ photo. So when he was asked if it was stage, he thought he was being asked about the other picture and replied “sure”.
The posed “Gun Ho’ Photo.
Legend #4: Pocahontas put her head on Captain John Smith’s head when her father was having him bludgeoned to death, and saved him because of their eternal love.
The American Princess.
Verdict: Bogus.
The Truth: The truth is never ever get you history form Disney. First of all Pocahontas was like twelve when Smith met her. And though they did become friends, she was never left alone with the white people without attendants accompanying her. Secondly Smiths first account said that he was not captured and nearly killed by Chief Powhatan but only interviewed by him. The whole I was a prisoner thing comes years later. Also Smith told the exact same story later on but it was when he was in Hungry and that he was captured by the Turks and their leader’s daughter saved him because she fell in love with hm. Apparently it was his go to story to get people to buy him drinks.
Also Pocahontas did not marry John Smith, she married John Rolf whose great claim to fame is he was the first European to cultivate tobacco and then sell it back to Europe.
I am literally the reason that millions of people will die. But you still love me right?
Legend #5: Teddy Roosevelt was shot giving a speech but insisted that before he let anyone take him to the hospital he would finish his speech.
I will beat you like a Bull Moose Party candidate if you shoot me when I am talking.
Verdict: Golden (What you thought they would all be fake?)
The Truth: John Schrank kept having dreams that President McKinley was coming to him and telling him that teddy Roosevelt had him killed and that he needed to avenge him. Schrank did what any self-respecting paranoid delusional schizophrenic would do and went off to kill Roosevelt.
What happened was like out of a movie. Though aiming at his head a person in the crowd bumped Schrank and he fired a .38 round into Teddy’s chest. The bullet went through his fifty page speech and glasses case. This slowed the bullet down to where it didn’t do any serious damage an lodged against a rib. After security took care of the would-be assassin teddy continued with his speech. Supposedly all fifty pages, even if they were kind of bloody and had a hole in it, because he spoke for ninety minutes.
Dave's Corner of the Universe 
Very informative stuff.
thank you.
These are great stories Dave! Thank you for clearing up the legends.
I love researching them, thanks for liking them.
A ninety minute speech? Good lord, that would make me want to shoot him. This was good stuff.
yea but after that I would be afraid what he would do to me if I tried to sneak off.
He was a bad ass.
Of the Utmost level.
I knew some of these (like T.R. being absolutely insanely butch), but there was a lot of stuff I didn’t know in here, too, very interesting, thanks for writing it up!
By the way, not that I’m in any way claiming any historicity in the Disney films whatsoever, but Pocahontas does in fact not marry John Smith in them, and in the sequel ends up together with John Rolfe. So at least that’s something, eh?
As a parent, have watch way to much children TV with them. And after posted that I do remember that in the sequel, which I have to give props to Disney because they did go for accuracy on that over the obvious they all lived happily ever ending.
Yup, I remember thinking that as well. Can’t say I remember the film well — I’m young enough to remember the original in detail, but too old to have more than caught a single half-remembered viewing of the sequel.
Awesome! This was really interesting, thanks.
Thank you.
Fascinating. I love this. Being from Lexington, MA myself, I can attest to always being told that we won the war with guerrilla warfare!
I was a history major in College when I first heard that.
Now that is not saying there weren’t some guerrilla warfare battles battles. Lexington being one. The Georgia Campaign among others but that isn’t how they won the war. . .
Great caption under Rolf and P! Fun debunking. This post makes me want to start fall by rereading all my Sarah Vowell books. I love her historical romps!
This is just off the cuff but if any of you out there hap[pen to know Sarah Vowell personally, please ask her if she is interested in dating an Oregon Goat farmer.
Fabulous post!
Thank you.
I knew a lot of them but I did not know number 1. I thought the American guerrilla tactics were how America won the war. I did not even realize I was holding in to that one from elementary school.:)
We all do it is how we were taught.
Wonderful post, the last 2 especially made me laugh. 😀 My high school was named for Roosevelt, so I love Teddy trivia.
He was this larger than life person when the country need that.
I’m just glad we had an eye-witness. PS: Good idea to squelch that Fountain of Youth story so you can keep it all to yourself.
Yeah a lot of history turns out to be petty trivialities.
Reblogged this on jeneric9 and commented:
Dave does it again.
Now, I’d thought that Washington had been trying to avoid direct, European-style battles with the British,due to the under-supplied nature of his army, and that’s why he’d been using guerrilla tactics in the first place? Although, I hadn’t known about the regular French army regiments. I suppose they wouldn’t have wanted to adopt such “cowardly” tactics.
The way I understand it things changed as the war progressed. The part about harassing attacks by Washington was true at the beginning.But by the end when the colonist started consistently winning battles, they had become a highly drilled fighting force based on the European model. Now this wasn’t true every where, the Georgia Campaign of the Swamp Fox was pretty much guerrilla warfare.