Percy Fawcett and the Search for Z
In January 1925, Percy Fawcett left for Brazil on what would become one of the most famous missing-person journeys in modern history. He was fifty-seven, tough far beyond his years, and already known as one of the last great explorers shaped by the old imperial age. He believed that somewhere in the Amazon there stood the remains of an ancient city, which he called Z.
Fawcett was not chasing gold in the usual sense, though his story grew out of earlier legends like El Dorado. He believed the jungle hid evidence of a large and advanced society, one that would overturn the common belief that the Amazon had always been too harsh for civilization. To many people, this sounded like fantasy. To him, it was a scientific possibility supported by clues he had gathered over many years.
He chose to travel with only two companions, his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimell. Fawcett believed large expeditions failed because they were slow, noisy, and too hard to feed. A small group, he thought, could move quietly and survive where others had been swallowed by the forest.
His departure captured the public imagination because the Amazon already had a grim reputation. It was seen as a place of fever, hunger, venom, and disappearance, a landscape that had defeated soldiers, treasure hunters, missionaries, and scientists. Fawcett understood the danger better than most, but he was convinced that caution alone would never solve the mystery.
He also guarded his plans carefully. He shared little about his exact route, partly to protect his discovery and partly to keep reckless followers from rushing after him. That secrecy would later make his disappearance even harder to unravel, and it would turn his final expedition into a puzzle that lasted for generations.
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