Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-04
U. S. Army Retroces
Balboa S Pacific Route
els Find 2.2o0-Foot Peak
Believed Site of Discovery
By THOMAs R. HENRY

0StsSVSo SttS VI 0bSSONVAN
BY THOMAS r. HENRY
PANAMA CITY. - On Christmas
morning 442 years ago young Spanish
adventurer climbed to the summit Of
great south sea-" For the first time,
that is. a European looked on the
Pacific Ocean.
For nearly month Vasco Nunez de
Balboa. with company of 100 Spanish
soldiers. about 1000 friendly Indians,
and pack of bloodhounds had strug-
gled through nearly impenetrable
jungle. crossed formidable mountain
range, forded swift and perilous rivers
on their way to the hitherto legendary
sea.
These Spanish soldiers were tough
men. One of the toughest-supposed
a private in the ranks at the time
was Francisco Pizarro, later to cross
the isthmus again by much the same
route and conquer the ancient, totter-
ing empire of the Incas. Supposedly
they wore full body armor, and marched
and slept in it. This is bit hard to
believe-at least for LIST 1t. James w.
Mcdonald of the United States 33d
Infantry who has lust led reinforced
platoon Of American rifiemen over the
same hard road.
Tested in Jungle
Could the present-day American sol-
dier Withstand the hardships of the
unknown jungle-the dense vegetation,
the humid heat, the ever-present "red
bugs" the Threatening venomous
serpents-as well as his Spanish coun-
terpart of nearly 500 years ago2 This
was the question 1t McDonald's men.
q part of Maj. Gen. Lionel G. McGarr
Caribbean Army Command which is
breaking new trails In the art and
tactics of jungle warfare In these
Panama mountains, were supposed to
answer. The march was made as part
Of the jungle warfare training.
They covered the SO miles in two
weeks, compared to Balboa's Is days.
Each man carried between 60 and 80
pounds Twenty Indian porters carried
cases of c rations. The soldiers had
been toughened for the ordeal by carry
ing regulation, packs augmented by 20
pounds of sand on 15-mile hikes for
the previous two weeks. They had, Of
NOuAoCt AiO bAOOAAAOuAI0o w OWVCP UA1C
jungle in front of them. Food was
dropped to them from helicopters at
various points along the way, which
would have seemed quite luxurious to
Balboa's armored Spaniards.
Little Changed
But the country through which they
marched has changed little in the past
five centuries. 1t still is essentially
unmapped. The jungle is as dense as
ever and still inhabited by the same
Indian tribes. The soldiers, however,
passed barely through the edge of the
country of the allegedly quite hostile
Darien Indians.
A major accomplishment was to lo-
all probability, Balboa himself first
looked on the Pacific. It is an unnamed
mountain 1900 feet high. 1t. Nc
Donald named it Mount 1900.
The expedition had been planned
tentatively for some time when it was
brought to a head by former King
Leopold of Belgium last Spring. One
of Leopolds objects in visiting Panama
was to retrace Balboa's route. Before
preparations could be completed and
proper authorization obtained for the
army trek, however, the former king
started out with his own party. I'm
forseen difficulties prevented him from
completing the march.
Every possible step was taken to make
the infantry march a valid retracing
of the road Of Balboa. Unfortunately
the Spanish explorer left no day by day
records. DR.. Juan Rubio, of the Uni
versity Of Panama, supposedly the fore
most living authority on Balboa, was
called into consultation.
villages Site Located
It is known that the Spanish expedi-
ton started from an Indian village
called Acla on the Atlantic side of the
iSthmus. There is no trace of this viii
lage left, but DR.. Rubio was able to de-
duce its approximate location. The
general direction in which the Span
iards moved from Acla is known. The
distance of each days march, which
necessarily must have varied consider
ably according to the nature Of the
terrain, also could be deduced.
From this point on, however, 1t.
Mcdonald had to put himself in Bal
boa's shoes" Reaching point where
it was likely the Spaniards had biv-
ouacked for q night, he would look over
the country ahead and ask: What
would have done If had been Bal
boa? This question usually was not
very difficult to answer. There were
not many choices.
When the party came, for example,
to the range OF mountains which front
the Pacific, they certainly were within
a few miles Of the position reached by
the Spaniard. There were three possible
peaks from which he might have seen
the Pacific. One was 1900 feet high.
The altitude Of the others was nearly
5000 feet and 1t would have been ex-
tremely difficult to have scaled either Of
them-rnost certainly so for man IN
armor.
It was reasonable to assume, 1t.
Mcdonald thought, that such an ex-
perienced campaigner as Balboa would
have chosen the easiest peak to climb.
When American soldiers made the
ascent the Pacific lay below them. DR..
Rubio agreed they probably had found
Balboa's mountain.
Travelled I'm Canoes
The party moved from the Atlantic
through the country of the friendly
Cuna Indians until they reached the
swift-fiowing Morti River which they
descended in the type of native boats
known as piraguas, essentially hol-