The United States of Vespucci

Pointing the Way

Amerigo Vespucci Range

Patagonia

Argentina

October 1st, 1969

Actually, there's no such thing as the Amerigo Vespucci Range, and I was 5 years old in 1969, and I've never been to Patagonia or Argentina (though I have visited other Spanish speaking countries, like Canada). It just sounded neater than saying I was on Hannegan Peak in North Cascade National Park on 08/25/2005, which is exactly where and when this picture was taken.

Following are some interesting facts about Amerigo Vespucci taken from Wikipedia. (Anyone from around the world can contribute to Wikipedia and edit the entries, so you can rest assured and be confident that you are getting the most reliable, historically accurate information possible):

Amerigo, for whom the Americas were named, was born in 1454 in Florence, Italy, the son of Michael and Linda Vespucci. Amerigo was an ordinary and highly unimpressive child while growing up in Tuscany. He had no more ambition than a barnacle stuck on the pilings of the Ponte Vecchio. He cared not whether his hair was parted on the left or the right. He ate only mozzarella. He feared squirrels and opera in the park. His closest friends were his three cats: Luigi, Raphaelo and Leaning Tower (Leaning Tower, a manx, had only three legs, but he was a prodigious mouser).

At the age of 13 his parents sent him to explorer school where he learned how to be an explorer. Later, he became a ship captain, contracted scurvy, befriended some pirates, married a mute siren, invented shuffleboard, then discovered America. (That same year he discovered hair growing out of the mole on his neck). He wanted to name the New World "Vespucci," but luckily cooler heads prevailed and "America" (the English version of "Amerigo") was chosen instead.

When Amerigo discovered the New World and first saw the native peoples, he lapsed into song. Here is that moment captured in a restored photograph: