Hiram Bingham: To Machu Picchu, 1911

The Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911 set out to find the last capital of the Incas. In Cusco, Bingham questioned local planters about the places named by the chronicler Calancha, particularly along the Urubamba River. One old prospector mentioned interesting ruins at Machu Picchu, but the leading citizens gave his words little weight. Bingham went on down the valley.

Location precision: Bingham's questioning in Cusco has no recorded address; the pin marks the Plaza de Armas, the city's historic centre.

Bingham stopped at Ollantaytambo in 1911 on his journey along the Urubamba River. The town was already ancient: in the mid-15th century the emperor Pachacuti rebuilt it with sumptuous constructions and extensive terracing and irrigation across the valley. From here the expedition followed the river on toward the ruins it was looking for.

Location precision: Bingham's stop is recorded only for the town; the pin marks Ollantaytambo itself, not a particular building.

Visitor guidance: The Inca terraces and the town of Ollantaytambo can be visited as a stop on the way to Machu Picchu.

Going down the Urubamba, Bingham asked local people to show him Inca ruins, especially any place with a white rock over a spring. At Mandor Pampa he put the question to the farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu. The conversation changed the expedition: the next morning Arteaga led Bingham toward them.

Location precision: The account names Mandor Pampa but not the spot of Arteaga's inn, and no reliable coordinates were found for it, so the stop has no pin.

On 24 July Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up to the ruins. Two Quechua farmers, Richarte and Alvarez, were already working the old terraces there, and Richarte's 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main buildings. Thick vegetation hid most of the site. Bingham found Agustín Lizárraga's name and the date 1902 in charcoal in the Temple of the Three Windows, then took the place for the Lost City of the Incas. Modern research shows a royal estate.

Visitor guidance: Machu Picchu is open to visitors.

The expedition went on up the Vilcabamba River. At a site local villagers called Rosaspata, Bingham realised he was standing at the palace of Vitcos. He measured the royal residence at 245 feet long by 43 feet wide. Nearby lies the White Rock, a giant carved stone said to have been an Inca oracle. After a cursory survey he moved on, still hunting the last Inca city, and he had correctly named the palace.

Bingham found Inca ruins at Espíritu Pampa buried in jungle. The site was so overgrown that he noted only a few buildings, and he was running out of supplies, so he stayed only briefly. From those quick notes he concluded that Machu Picchu was the true last capital, an opinion that went largely unchallenged for 50 years. In 1964 Gene Savoy argued that Espíritu Pampa was Vilcabamba after all.

Location precision: The ruins lie in remote jungle; the pin from the Vilcabamba article marks the site area, and Bingham saw only part of it.