BORN 1886 • DIED –
Hugo Blanchard was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1886 and raised solely by his grandmother, Dolores. Due to his diminutive size as a youngster, Hugo was the victim of cruel childhood bullying from neighborhood kids. However, by the time he reached high school, Hugo had grown dramatically and put on an impressive amount of muscle. Following a particularly vicious confrontation with his former tormentors during his senior year, Hugo was never bullied again.
Dolores always believed her grandson would do great things with his life and encouraged him daily to stand up for himself and take pride in his accomplishments. After serving in the Great War, where he learned a great many skills as a scout and tracker, Hugo returned to Grand Rapids to see his quickly ailing grandmother.
After Dolores passed in early 1920, Hugo drifted from job to job until discovering an advertisement in a newspaper seeking participants for an archaeological expedition to Peru, South America. After packing a few sentimental belongings, including a picture of his dear grandmother and a survival knife taken from a dead German soldier while serving in Belgium, Hugo headed south to find his fate.
Peru: Episode VII • Peru: Episode VI • Peru: Episode V • Peru: Episode IV • Peru: Episode III • Peru: Episode II • Peru: Episode I
