Templado and Gedón

Summary

• Templado (left) and Gedón (Armagedón) Hartmann (right), Río San Juan, Coiba Island on January 21, 1956. Templado and Gedón were members of Wetmore's scientific expedition in the region. Templado is standing on the seat in the boat, holding an oar. Gedón is seated in the boat, wearing a backpack. Gedón has a firearm propped between his legs. The boat is near a muddy shore, in shallow water, with a bank in the background. There are fallen palm fronds strewn about.
• The image was taken by Smithsonian Secretary and ornithologist Alexander Wetmore while on a scientific expedition in Panama and to Coiba Island and is contained in a photo album prepared by Wetmore.
• When Wetmore made his trips to Panama, he always requested Ratibor Hartmann to be his assistant. Ratibor Hartmann was the eldest son of Alois Hartmann, who had helped on medical and naturalists' expeditions because of his knowledge of the area and Panamanian archeology to explore the jungles of the Western Highlands of Chiriquí. Ratibor took over from his father leading expeditions from the Gorgas Memorial Institute, where he worked, and several United States academic institutions in the field. Ratibor and his brother Gedón (Armagedón) Hartmann accompanied Wetmore on many of his expeditions.
• From 1919 to 1991, Coiba Island was a penal colony. Fear of the prison and its inmates deterred visitors from the island. As such, about 80% of the natural areas on the island remain undisturbed. The island is also host to many endemic species. Both of these factors made the island ideal for Wetmore's scientific expedition. The officers and convicts pictured in Wetmore's images from the expedition were part of the penal colony. Some even worked as laborers for the expedition. Today, the island is no longer a penal colony. Instead, it is one of 38 islands composing Coiba National Park, a World Heritage Site.

Subject

• Templado
• Hartmann, Armagedón

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Image contained in a photo album prepared by Alexander Wetmore of his trip to Panama and Coiba Island. Wetmore Neg. # 6073. For more images of Templado, see negative numbers SIA2009-4280, SIA2009-4286, SIA2009-4289, and SIA2009-4290. For more images of Gedón, see negative numbers SIA2009-4260, SIA2009-4261, SIA2009-4271, SIA2009-4272, and SIA2009-4285.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Alexander Wetmore Papers, Record Unit 7006, Box: 183, Folder Album: Panama and Coiba, 1956

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

January 21, 1956

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Scientific expeditions
• Boats and boating
• Animals
• Birds
• Field work
• Firearms
• School field trips
• Islands
• Natural areas
• Field trips
• Ornithology--Field work
• Ornithology
• Panamanians

Place

• Coiba Island
• Rio San Juan
• Veraguas
• Panama
• Coiba Island (Panama)
• Montijo District

Form/Genre

• Photographic print
• Group, candid

ID Number

SIA2009-4268 or Wetmore 6073

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and White; Size: 4.75w x 4.5h; Type of Image: Group, Candid; Medium: Photographic print

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