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[Bingham, Hiram], attrib.

[Original photograph of Albert Bumstead surveying the Andes during one of the Peruvian Expeditions under Hiram Bingham.]

Peru, 1912–1915. Silver print, 11” x 18.25” plus margins. CONDITION: Good, a few minor losses and tears at edges, pinholes in three corners, minor blemishes to image.

A striking, large-format photograph picturing mapmaker Albert Bumstead with his assistant, professor Osgood Hardy, during one of the Hiram Bingham-led expeditions to Machu Picchu—one of the major archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. 

Taken on a hilltop in the Andes, this photograph shows Bumstead, chief cartographer of the expedition, standing on the left next to a surveying transit, with Hardy seated at right. The two men are similarly dressed, each sporting high-laced boots, wide-brimmed hats, and circular glasses. Two pack mules appear just behind them. The hilltop overlooks a steep river valley, with snow-capped mountains visible in the distance. The location is likely the vicinity of the Urubamba or Apurimac valleys (Machu Picchu lies on the Urubamba River). While uncredited, the photo was likely taken by Hiram Bingham, who took many of the expedition’s most enduring images, including at least one other known shot of Bumstead published in Bingham’s Report of the Peruvian Expedition, 1912. A pencil inscription on the verso reads: “Albert Hoit Bumstead w/ his assistant Machu Picchu Peru.” Bumstead and Hardy were both members of the second and third of Bingham’s three expeditions to Peru, visiting the area in 1912 and 1914–15. The image, which is undated, could be from either visit. 

Hiram Bingham undertook the first of three expeditions to Peru in 1911 under the auspices of Yale University (where Bingham taught history) and the National Geographic Society. Though he intended to find the lost Inca site of Vilcabamaba, while searching in the Urubamaba Valley, he was led by a local guide to the mountaintop citadel of Machu Picchu. Bingham was not the first explorer to encounter the site—it may have been visited by German Augusto Berns in 1867, and Peruvian Agustín Lizárraga definitively reached it 1902. Bingham immediately recognized the significance of the ruins and, upon his return to the U.S., began to gather support to lead another expedition to investigate the ruins more extensively

In 1912, Bingham returned to Machu Picchu with a much larger, well-equipped team of scientists and technicians, including Bumstead and Hardy. Over several months, the team cleared the overgrown site to reveal temples, palaces, homes, and an elaborate terrace system, in the process removing thousands of artifacts and human remains for further study at Yale. Artifacts were taken from nearby sites as well. A 1912 circular issued to expedition members instructed them to be vigilant in looking for “remains of man, bones, sherds, artifacts, etc.” Albert Bumstead, formerly of the U.S. Geological Survey, led the effort to map the area, documenting the location of Machu Picchu and mapping the surrounding Urubamba (or “Sacred) Valley, determining its location relative to the nearby Apurimac Valley, and conducting an extensive survey of the Huatanay Valley east of Cusco. 

In 1914–15, Bingham led a final expedition to Machu Picchu, which continued the work of 1912, and oversaw further clearing of the site and the removal of more artifacts. Bumstead and Hardy expanded on their initial work of mapping the broader region, using more refined methods. With a knack for invention, Bumstead built on surveying innovations from 1912, pioneering novel techniques for accurately determining coordinates and elevations in the remote region.

The Bingham expeditions, particularly that of 1912, helped bring international recognition and established Machu Picchu as the best-known Inca site. Although Bingham later abandoned exploring for aviation and politics, he published numerous popular works about the expeditions in subsequent years, including Inca Land (1922) and Lost City of the Incas (1948). Several members of the party, including Bumstead and Hardy, wrote their own reports. In 1913, National Geographic Magazine published “In the Wonderland of Peru,” authored by Bingham, which fixed the site’s place in the public imagination. The thousands of artifacts and human remains gathered during the expeditions were shipped to Yale for study and incorporated into the university’s collection, despite the government of Peru arguing they had only been loaned. Following a 100-year standoff, Yale finally returned the last of the 40,000 plus artifacts to Peru in 2012.

Albert Bumstead (1875–1940) began his career at the United States Geological Survey. Following his success as chief cartographer to the 1912 and 1914–15 Bingham expeditions to Machu Picchu, Bumstead served as chief cartographer at the National Geographic Society, a position which he held from 1915 until his death. Over the course of his career, Bumstead devised new surveying techniques and instruments, including a “Bumstead tripod” and the “Bumstead sun compass,” the latter proving critical to the success of polar explorer Richard E. Byrd’s 1929 flight over the South Pole. In recognition of this contribution, Byrd named Mount Bumstead in Antarctica after him. 

Osgood Hardy (1889–1955) was a professor at Occidental College and head of its history and government departments. Hardy published The Incas (1918), a monograph which appeared in the educational magazine, The Mentor. His other writings on the subject include two papers: “Indians of the Department of Cuzco” in the American Anthropologist (1919), and “Cuzco and Apurimac” in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (1914).  

The archives of the 1911–15 Bingham expeditions, including journals, maps, and reports authored by Bumstead and Hardy, are held at Yale University in the Yale Peruvian Expedition papers. We acquired the photo offered here from a Bumstead descendant.

A fascinating photograph capturing a moment in the pioneering effort to map Machu Picchu and its surroundings. 

REFERENCES: Gregory, Herbert. “A Geologic Reconnaissance of the Cuzco Valley, Peru,” The American Journal of Science, Fourth Series, Vol XLI, No. 241 (January 1916); Barber, Russel. “Bingham Discovers Machu Picchu” at EBSCO online; “Albert Bumstead, Cartographer, 64; Chief Expert of the National Geographical Society for 25 Years Dies…,” The New York Times, January 10, 1940, p. 27; “Yale Peruvian Expedition Papers” at Archives at Yale online.

Item #9634

Price: $750.00

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