By Denea Buckingham
On Sunday, July 29, 1883 a baby was born in an open sailboat in the middle of the Potomac River. That little boy was Horace Dade Ashton. Over the next 93 years he traveled to the farthest reaches of the globe as the world’s first adventure photographer.
Horace’s life unfolded like a historical romance and included a circuit of eight thousand miles in the Arctic, travel for an entire week on the Trans-Siberian railroad, nine expeditions across South America, and several explorations in Africa. His encounter with personalities in all parts of the globe go from a discussion on religion with the legendary Rasputin of Russia to the primitive hunters of the Amazon Basin, to American Chiefs of State and Sovereigns of Europe, to the Wright brothers in North Carolina on the historic day of their first flight.
Today we wish Horace Dade Ashton a happy 133rd birthday, long may he live in the hearts and minds of adventurers and explorers through The Spirit of Villarosa.