Furlong, Charles Wellington, 1874-1967

Dates

• Existence: 1874 - 1967

Biography

Charles Wellington Furlong was born on December 13, 1874. He graduated from the Massachusetts Normal Art School in 1895, and became an instructor in drawing and painting at Cornell University. In 1904, Furlong explored North Africa where he discovered the wreck of the U.S. frigate "Philadelphia." His next expedition in 1907, brought him to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuegeo, where he lived among the tribes of Onas and Yahgans, the southernmost people of the world. He published his first book "Gateway to the Sahara," in 1909. In 1910, he set out for South America, exploring French Guiana, Surinam and Venezuela. During World War I, Furlong served as a war correspondent in north Africa as well as an intelligence officer and aide to President Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference. His next book, "Let 'Er Buck" was published in 1921. Continuing his career in the military, Furlong attended the Army War College from 1923-1924, before serving with the Tacna-Arica Plebiscitary Commission settling boundary disputes between Peru and Chile from 1925-1926. He remained in South America, hunting treasure in Bolivia, before traveling to East and Central Africa in 1930. During World War II, Furlong served in the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department as consultant on the Middle East. Furlong and Vilhjalmur Stefansson began a long friendship in 1908, when they both became members of the Explorers Club. Stefansson was interested in Furlong's work in the Sub-Antartic, and in 1960, Furlong's Fuegian collection became part of the Stefansson Collection at Dartmouth College. Furlong was able to devote time to arranging and annotating his photographs and in 1962, was appointed Consultant to the Stefansson Collection. He died On October 9, 1967.

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