Editing Roy Chapman Andrews

{{Short description|American explorer, naturalist, and writer (1884–1960)}}
{{redirect|Roy Andrews|the American footballer|LeRoy Andrews}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Roy Chapman Andrews
| image              = Roy Chapman Andrews 50488r.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1884|01|26}}
| birth_place        = [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1960|03|11|1884|01|26}}
| death_place        = [[Carmel-by-the-Sea, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = Oakwood Cemetery, [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nationality        = American
| known_for          = [[Paleontology|Paleontological]] [[field work]]
| employer           = [[American Museum of Natural History]]
| education          = [[Beloit College]]<br>[[Columbia University]]
| occupation         = Explorer, adventurer, [[Natural history|naturalist]]
| years_active       = 1909–1960
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* [[Yvette Borup Andrews|Yvette Borup]], 
* Wilhelmina Christmas
}}
| awards             = [[Hubbard Medal]] <small>(1931)</small><br>[[Charles P. Daly Medal]] <small>(1935)</small><br>[[Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography|Vega Medal]] <small>(1937)</small><br>[[List of People on the Cover of Time Magazine: 1920s|Cover of Time Magazine]], October 29, 1923
}}

'''Roy Chapman Andrews''' (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer, and [[Natural history|naturalist]] who became the director of the [[American Museum of Natural History]].<ref name=obit/> He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed China of the early 20th century into the [[Gobi Desert]] and [[Mongolia]]. The expeditions made important discoveries and brought the first-known [[fossil]] [[dinosaur]] [[Dinosaur egg|eggs]] to the museum. Chapman's popular writing about his adventures made him famous.

==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Andrews was born on January 26, 1884, in [[Beloit, Wisconsin]]. As a child, he explored forests, fields, and waters nearby, developing [[marksmanship]] skills. He taught himself [[taxidermy]] and used funds from this hobby to pay tuition to [[Beloit College]]. After graduating, Andrews applied for work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  He so much wanted to work there that after being told that there were no openings at his level, Andrews accepted a job as a janitor in the taxidermy department and began collecting specimens for the museum. During the next few years, he worked and studied simultaneously, earning a [[Master's degree|Master of Arts]] [[academic degree|degree]] in [[mammalogy]] from [[Columbia University]]. Andrews joined [[The Explorers Club]] in New York during 1908, four years after its founding.

===Career===
[[image:Roy Chapman Andrews, 1913.jpg|thumb|left|Roy Chapman Andrews, 1913]]
From 1909 to 1910, Andrews sailed on the {{USS|Albatross|1882|6}} to the [[East Indies]], collecting snakes and lizards and observing [[marine mammal]]s. 
In 1913, he sailed aboard the schooner [[Adventuress (schooner)|''Adventuress'']] with owner John Borden to the Arctic. They were hoping to obtain a bowhead whale specimen for the American Museum of Natural History. On this expedition, he filmed some of the best footage of seals ever seen, though did not succeed in acquiring a whale specimen.

He married [[Yvette Borup Andrews|Yvette Borup]] in 1914. From 1916 to 1917, Andrews and his wife led the Asiatic Zoological Expedition of the museum through much of western and southern [[Yunnan]], as well as other [[provinces of China]]. The book ''Camps and Trails in China''<ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12296 |title=Camps and Trails in China|accessdate=29 August 2024}}</ref> records their experiences.

In 1920, Andrews began planning for expeditions to [[Mongolia]] and drove a fleet of [[Dodge]] cars westward from [[Peking]]. In 1922, the party discovered a fossil of ''[[Paraceratherium]]'' (then named "''[[Baluchitherium]]''"), a gigantic hornless [[rhinocerotoid]], which was sent back to the museum, arriving on December 19. The fossil species ''[[Andrewsarchus]]'' was named after him.

Andrews, along with [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]], was a proponent of the [[Out of Asia theory]] of humanity's origins and led several expeditions to Asia from 1922 to 1928 known as the "Central Asiatic Expeditions" to search for the earliest human remains in Asia. The expeditions did not find human remains. However, Andrews and his team made many other finds, including dinosaur bones and fossil [[mammals]] and the first nests full of dinosaur eggs ever discovered. Andrews' account of these expeditions can be found in his book ''The New Conquest of Central Asia''.<ref>Horns, tusks, and flippers: the evolution of hoofed mammals, Donald R. Prothero, Robert M. Schoch p. 119, also see Men and dinosaurs: the search in field and laboratory, Edwin Harris Colbert</ref>

[[File:TIMEMagazine29Oct1923.jpg|thumb|''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' cover, 29 October 1923]]
In his preface to Andrews's 1926 book, ''On the Trail of the Ancient Man'', [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] predicted that the birthplace of modern humans would be found in Asia and stated that he had predicted this decades earlier, even before the Asiatic expeditions.<ref>Chris Beard, Hunt for the Dawn Monkey, p. 307</ref>
[[File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17540841703).jpg|left|thumb|Mrs. Yvette Borup Andrews, first wife of Roy Chapman Andrews, feeding [[Tibet]]an Bear cub in 1917]]
On July 13, 1923, the party was the first in the world to discover [[dinosaur]] [[egg (biology)|eggs]]. Initially thought to be eggs of a [[ceratopsian]], ''Protoceratops'', they were determined in 1995 actually to belong to the [[theropod]] ''Oviraptor''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gso.uri.edu/maritimes/Back_Issues/00%20Summer/Text(htm)/protoceratops.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517175319/http://www.gso.uri.edu/maritimes/Back_Issues/00%20Summer/Text(htm)/protoceratops.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2023-05-17|title=protoceratops}}</ref>  During that same expedition, [[Walter W. Granger]] discovered a skull from the [[Cretaceous]] [[Period (geology)|period]]. In 1925, the museum sent a letter back informing the party that the skull was that of a mammal, and therefore even more rare and valuable; more were uncovered. Expeditions in the area stopped during 1926 and 1927. In 1928, the expedition's finds were seized by Chinese authorities but were eventually returned. The 1929 expedition was cancelled. In 1930, Andrews made one final trip and discovered some [[mastodon]] fossils. A cinematographer, [[James B. Shackelford]], made filmed records of many of Andrews' expeditions. (Sixty years after Andrews' initial expedition, the American Museum of Natural History sent a new expedition to Mongolia on the invitation of its government to continue exploration.) Later that year, Andrews returned to the United States and divorced his wife, with whom he had two sons. He married his second wife, Wilhelmina Christmas, in 1935.

In 1927, the [[Boy Scouts of America]] made Andrews an ''Honorary Scout'', a new category of Scout created that year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...".<ref name="time29aug1927">{{cite magazine |date=August 29, 1927 |title=Around the World |magazine=[[Time (Magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723029,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220054952/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723029,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 20, 2008 |access-date= 2007-10-24 }}</ref> That same year, Andrews was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Roy+C.+Andrews&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

Andrews was President of The Explorers Club from 1931 to 1934. In 1934, he became the director of the Natural History museum. In his 1935 book ''[[The Business of Exploring]]'', he wrote "I was born to be an explorer...There was never any decision to make. I couldn't do anything else and be happy." In 1942, Andrews retired to [[North Colebrook, Connecticut]]. He and Wilhelmina lived on a country estate of 160 acres, "PondOWoods". He wrote most of his autobiographical books of life and adventures here.  Around 1958, Andrews moved to [[Carmel Valley, California]].    
He died on March 11, 1960, of heart failure at [[Peninsula Community Hospital]] in [[Carmel, California]].<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews Dies. Explorer and Naturalist Was 76. He Discovered Dinosaur Eggs in Asia in 1920s. Headed Natural History Museum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/03/12/archives/dr-roy-chapman-andrews-dies-explorer-and-naturalist-was-76-he.html |quote=Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews, explorer and naturalist, died here tonight of a heart attack at Peninsula Community Hospital. He was 76 years old. |newspaper=[[Associated Press]] in [[The New York Times]] |date= March 12, 1960 |access-date=2014-02-18 }}</ref> He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in his hometown of Beloit.
{{clearleft}}

==Association with character "Indiana Jones"==
[[File:Roy chapman andrews on kublai khan.jpg|thumb|Roy Chapman Andrews on his horse Kublai Khan in Mongolia about 1920]]

[[Douglas Preston]] of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] wrote: "Andrews is allegedly the person that the movie character of [[Indiana Jones (character)|Indiana Jones]] was patterned after. However, neither [[George Lucas]] nor the other creators of the films have confirmed this.  Other candidates have been suggested, including [[Colonel Percy Fawcett]].  The 120-page transcript of the story conferences for the movie does not mention Andrews."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sendspace.com/file/cnoe3r|title=IMG_5930.JPG (2.23MB) - SendSpace.com|website=www.sendspace.com}}</ref>

An analysis by the Smithsonian Channel concludes that the linkage was indirect, with Andrews (and other explorers) serving as the model for heroes in adventure films of the 1940s and 1950s, who in turn inspired Lucas and his fellow writers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/show_crystal_skull_real.do |title=Smithsonian Channel: Telling America's Stories |access-date=2013-01-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202095443/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/show_crystal_skull_real.do |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Dinosaurs in the Attic: An Excursion Into the American Museum of Natural History|first=Douglas J.|last=Preston|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1993|isbn=0-312-10456-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CaBxisxbAfwC&pg=PA98 pp. 97–98]</ref>

==Bibliography==
[[File:Across Mongolian Plains.pdf|thumb|1921 cover of ''Across Mongolian Plains: A Naturalist's Account of China's Great Northwest'' by Andrews]]

Books listed on Worldcat:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org&q=Roy+Chapman+Andrews&submit=Search|title=Results for 'Roy Chapman Andrews' [WorldCat.org]|website=worldcat.org}}</ref>
*''Monographs of the Pacific Cetacea'' (1914–16)
*''Whale Hunting With Gun and Camera'' (1916)
*''Camps and Trails in China'' (1918)
*''Across Mongolian Plains'' (1921)
*''On The Trail of Ancient Man'' (1926)
*''Ends of the Earth'' (1929)
*''The New Conquest of Central Asia'' (1932)
*''This Business of Exploring'' (1935)
*''Exploring with Andrews'' (1938)
*''This Amazing Planet'' (1939)
*''Under a Lucky Star'' (1943)
*''Meet your Ancestors, A Biography of Primitive Man'' (1945)
*''An Explorer Comes Home'' (1947)
*''My Favorite Stories of the Great Outdoors'' (1950)
*''Quest in the Desert'' (1950)
*''Heart of Asia: True Tales of the Far East'' (1951)
*''Nature's Way: How Nature Takes Care of Her Own'' (1951)
*''All About Dinosaurs'' (1953)
*''All About Whales'' (1954)
*''Beyond Adventure: The Lives of Three Explorers'' (1954)
*''Quest of the Snow Leopard'' (1955)
*''All About Strange Beasts of the Past'' (1956)
*''In the Days of the Dinosaurs'' (1959)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Charles Gallenkamp: ''Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions''. (New York: Viking, 2001).
* Jules Archer: ''From Whales to Dinosaurs: the Story of Roy Chapman Andrews''. (New York: St. Martin's Pr., 1976).
* [[Alonzo W. Pond]]: ''Andrews: Gobi Explorer''. (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1972).
* Fitzhugh Green: ''Roy Chapman Andrews, Dragon Hunter''. (London and New York: Putnam's Sons, 1939).

==External links==
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.roychapmanandrewssociety.org/ Roy Chapman Andrews Society official website]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=4301| name=Roy Chapman Andrews}}
* {{Librivox author |id=13614}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Andrews, Roy Chapman|name=Roy Chapman Andrews|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Roy Chapman Andrews |sopt=t}}
* {{Find a Grave|6862589}}
* 1929 ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=wt4DAAAAMBAJ&dq=mongolia&pg=RA1-PA82 article] about Andrews expedition to Mongolia
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1530 ''This Business of Exploring'' Manuscript] at Dartmouth College Library
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Roy Chapman}}
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:American paleontologists]]
[[Category:20th-century American explorers]]
[[Category:Beloit College alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Beloit, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:People associated with the American Museum of Natural History]]
[[Category:People from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]