Lindbergh fever hits St. Thomas

Editor’s note: This is part one of a thee-part series about the arrival of aviator Charles Lindbergh in the Virgin Islands. The series will continue Friday and Saturday.

The 1928 visit of international aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh to St. Thomas not only generated thrills and excitement, it produced a sense of inclusion in a major world event and launched social and economic benefits to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lindbergh was regarded as a folk hero in the territory in general and on St. Thomas in particular.

Though not a member of the ethnic majority of the Virgin Islands,  Lindbergh exemplified through his historic solo flight across the Atlantic the principle of overcoming adversity, which endeared him to Virgin Islanders.

At age 25 in 1927, Charles Augustus Lindbergh became world famous when he won the Orteig prize for the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

On May 20 at 7:52 a.m. his airplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, burdened with 450 gallons of gasoline, took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y. He flew over Cape Cod and Nova Scotia then headed for the open Atlantic.

On May 21 at 10:22 p.m., Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris. The 3,500 mile flight from New York to Paris had taken Lindbergh 33 hours and 30 minutes.

Myron Henrick, Ambassador to France, said that when the flier landed at Le Bourget Field, the waiting crowd of over 100,000 people rushed toward the Spirit of St. Louis.

He was dubbed “The Eagle.” Upon his return to New York, Lindbergh was given what was described as “the largest ticker parade ever” and the President of the United States awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross.

All over the world, including in the Virgin Islands, people were electrified and inspired by Lindbergh’s accomplishment.

The Virgin Islands media of the time, especially the St. Thomas Mail Notes (The Daily News was not founded until 1930) closely followed Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic solo flight and all that followed.

The newspaper reported that when interviewed in Paris on the day following his landing, Lindbergh described his flight as one during which he did not see a single ship in the Atlantic:

“He encountered rain, snow and hail for the first thousand miles off New Foundland. He rose and descended frequently to find the best conditions, sometimes to only ten feet above the waves and sometimes ten thousand feet. Subsequently fine weather was encountered during the night time,” the newspaper reported.

The private sector immediately wanted to capitalize on Lindbergh’s fame.

“An offer of half a million dollars for his services for screen purposes and stage appearances for one year was cabled to Capt. Charles Lindbergh by John J. McQuirk, President of the Stanley Company of America and also president of the first National Film Corporation,” an Associated Press story in the newspaper reported.

On its June 14, 1928, front page, the Mail Notes featured the welcome given by President Calvin Coolidge to the aviation hero when he returned home. Among other things, the President was quoted as saying that Lindbergh, as a conqueror of the air, as a strengthener of ties binding the United States to sister nations across the seas, had brought unbounded fame to America.

“It is the same old story of valor and victory by a son of the people that shines through every page of American history,” President Coolidge said, adding that in a day and a half, Lindbergh had crossed an ocean over which Columbus traveled for 60 days.

V.I. included at last minute

Basking in the limelight generated by his pioneering flight and the publication of his bestseller memoir, “We”, Lindbergh, now promoted to colonel, began a “good will tour” of Latin America and the Caribbean starting in New York on Dec. 13, 1927, and lasting until Feb. 8, 1928. He flew 7,800 miles in the Spirit of St. Louis, visiting visit Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas,

News of the tour spread like wildfire among the countries of the Caribbean. Everyone wanted to get into the act. The appointed Governor of the Virgin Islands, Waldo Evans, was no exception. In a radiogram on Dec. 29, 1927, sent through the  Navy Department, Gov. Evans extended an invitation to Col. Lindbergh.

On Thursday, Jan. 5, 1928, a radiogram was received by Gov. Evans from the Navy Department in response to the invitation.

 “Colonel Lindbergh apparently has not understood from State Department’s communication that he is definitely invited to visit the Virgin Islands. However, he has indicated his willingness to accept an invitation when received.  Suggest you communicate invitation direct to Colonel Lindbergh at Canal Zone,” the Navy Department stated.

Evans sent a radiogram to Colonel Lindbergh who was in Panama the very next day:

“Colonel Lindbergh. The Governor and people of the Virgin Islands extend to you a cordial invitation to visit St. Thomas on your return to the United States. While here to be the guest of the Governor.”

In the radiogram, Evans also described the facility Lindbergh could use:

“Landing place about 1200 x 600 feet available on east edge of city lying in east and west direction with prevailing wind from east.”

What he was describing is what we now know as the Lindbergh Bay area and what is the current-day King Airport site.

The Governor closed by requesting an expected date of arrival as well as any suggestions he may have had. He also assured Lindbergh that U.S. Marines would be on hand at the landing field to protect the plane.

On January 8, Evans received Lindbergh’s acceptance. “Colonel Lindbergh desires to inform you he will be able to remain only two days — arrival and next day — departing on third day. Will inform you of date of arrival more accurately later.”

That promptly launched a whirlwind of preparations — and maneuvering.

The governor swung into action. He appointed a committee to arrange a reception for Lindbergh and he met with members of the Colonial Council. In that era, Virgin Islands government did not have a Legislature.

Civic associations began jockeying for inclusion in the official program and did not hesitate to publicize their suggestions.

“The Masqueraders have informed us that His Excellency the Governor will be making it a holiday on the arrival of Colonel Lindbergh, they would like to turn out also,” The Bulletin reported on January 11, 1928.

Governor Evans proclaimed that Feb. 1 — the day after Colonel Lindbergh’s arrival — “a public holiday within the Municipality of St. Thomas and St. John in order that the people of the Virgin Islands may unite in a Public Reception to be rendered to this hero and conqueror of the air.”

In the weeks that followed excitement about the visit grew to a fever pitch, and The Bulletin was not immune from quipping about “Lindy Sightings”:

“The men on the scaffold above the public library are not looking for Lindy, they are repair men,” the newspaper announced on its front page.

All eyes on Lindy

Reports reaching St. Thomas in the middle of January indicated that the enthusiasm was unprecedented at every place Lindbergh landed as he made his way toward St. Thomas.

On his stop in Belize, Lindbergh made another first. The Spirit of St. Louis was the first airplane to come down on the soil of that country.

At a reception held for the flier at Government House, Lt. Colonel Cran of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Reception Committee of Belize told the gathering that no one but Lindbergh could have landed a plane in the narrow spaces of the Belize polo field.

 “Colonel Lindbergh,” said Cran, “is the personification of romance and a Viking of the air. The people are grateful that he has put this little colony on the map.”

Completing the fifth leg of his Latin American tour, the aviator landed safely at Managua, Nicaragua. His flight path toward the capital had taken him within 20 to 30 miles of where U.S. Marines were engaged in battle with rebels.

When he reached his next stop, the reception was tremendous. The headline in the January 16 edition of The Bulletin proclaimed:  “Costa Rica gives Lindy great reception.”

“Thousands of persons were pouring into this city to be on hand when Lindbergh arrives. Trains from the interior were packed with enthusiasts, every available taxi has been reserved for the trip to La Sabana field where Lindbergh will land,” the newspaper reported.

The same day the report appeared in The Bulletin, it was announced that Colonel Lindbergh had decided to extend his tour.

“He will fly to Venezuela, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Santo Domingo,” stated the message, which added that Lindbergh would be departing for Colon in the Canal Zone, now Panama, as previously scheduled.

On January 11, he spent the day as the guest of 27,000 Americans in the Canal Zone and in newspaper interviews dispelled rumors that he had had a serious accident.

“I am having the ‘Spirit of St.  Louis’ thoroughly checked, not overhauled, at Colon in the morning,” Lindbergh stated.

At the Canal Zone, the hero was able to add one more trophy to his growing collection. He received a Golden Eagle that supposedly had been taken from the grave of an Indian chief. This remarkable “talisman” was said to have originated in the Chirique mountains and depicted an eagle with wings and tail outspread and talons clenched.

On his way to Venezuela, the flier made a stop in Colombia from where came word on Jan. 30 that he had been given a hero’s welcome by 15,000 people. Then it was on to Venezuela, the final stop before St. Thomas.

However, the flight to Venezuela was far from uneventful.

“After having been lost in a fog off the Venezuela coast for more than an hour yesterday, Colonel Charles A Lindbergh reached land and brought his plane down safely”, reported the Associated Press.

Sugar Estate
vs. Mosquito Bay

As Lindbergh made his way over Central and South America, the Virgin Islands top priority was finding the best landing strip for the Spirit of St. Louis.

Until the week before the scheduled arrival of Colonel Lindbergh to St. Thomas there was indecision about whether the landing field at Sugar Estate or the landing field on the Golf Course at Mosquito Bay, now Lindbergh Bay, was the most suitable and safest for the event.

The first choice, Sugar Estate, had to be surveyed and the Aviation Company of Puerto Rico was selected to conduct the survey. On Jan. 10, the company sent a radiogram to Governor Evans requesting permission to fly a trimotor biplane to St. Thomas on Jan 14 and subsequently pick up passengers on the island and depart the next day.

The Governor indicated his consent and described the place for landing as the field opposite the Sugar Estate road, which was being prepared for use as a temporary aviation field courtesy of A.H. Lockhart.

A press release from the governor on the expected day of the landing of the flight from Puerto Rico warned the public not to stampede the area.

“While there will be a Marine guard at the filed to prevent persons from entering the field before the plane has landed, persons are warned not to attempt to enter the field while the plane is descending.”

On January 14, a tri-motored plane, the “Santa Maria” was sent as promised to test the Sugar Estate landing field.

However, as reported in the St. Thomas Mail Notes things did not go as planned.

“After soaring over the city, the plane dropped a letter saying ‘field inadequate. Impossible to land. Returning to Puerto Rico.’ ”

The newspaper’s editorial the same date said that the evaluation by the Puerto Rican plane was biased.

The governor got into action to counteract the bad report.

“This is not in accord with opinion of ex-flier here,” Gov. Evans notified Colonel Lindbergh. “Will continue preparations for your reception and suggest upon your arrival if in your opinion field inadequate you continue to San Juan eighty miles to westward.  Request proposed itinerary earliest possible date.”

On January 16, the governor issued a press release citing a copy of a radiogram he had received from a Lieutenant Baker, U.S. Navy,  San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Please interview without delay manager and pilot of airplane Santa Maria and advise why in their opinion landing field is inadequate,” the correspondence read.

The Governor contacted the pilot of the Santa Maria as Lieutenant Baker had proposed. The news from the pilot who had conducted the test flight was not uplifting:

“The field designated as No.1 is impossible owing to high hills surrounding same on three sides.  Prevailing wind is directly across field necessitating take-off across wind and an immediate turn downwind of about 150 degrees to avoid mountains The Santa Maria pilot also informed the governor that field No. 2 located on the Golf Course at Mosquito Bay would be safer, given the removal of some obstructions. 

Evans immediately gave orders for the field at the golf course to be prepared.

The difficulties being encountered on St. Thomas to find an adequate landing venue for the aviation pioneer did not go unnoticed on St.  Croix, which proposed asking Lindbergh make that island his landing choice.

The Colonial Council decided to do just that, based on the claim that the meadow of Estate Mannings Bay on St. Croix had been offered for the purpose and could be made ready in a couple of hours.

Meanwhile on St. Thomas, the Evans Administration was working strenuously to get the Mosquito Bay Golf Course ready for Lindbergh’s January 31 landing. A press release dated January 20 informed the public of the success of the project:

 “The preparation of the Golf Course, designated as flying field No. 2, has been completed, and His Excellency, the Governor believes that Colonel Lindbergh will find this field more suitable than the field at Sugar Estate,” the governor announced.

However, at that point, just days before Lindbergh’s arrival, the site still was untested.

The test came on January 22, when a monoplane owned by A.S. Fairchild flew with four passengers from San Juan and landed safely on the Golf Course.

“The plane circled once and gradually descended midway between the well and a small nearby mound, touching course No. 2 about three yards within the road. It stopped about the middle of the field,” the St. Thomas Mail Notes reported the following day.

Colonel Lindbergh was informed of the successful test landing and St. Thomas was ready for the landing of the Spirit of St. Louis.

Reception program

The governor met with the appointed Reception Committee in the Colonial Council Chamber Administration Building on the morning of January 10.

In broad outline, the group determined that the governor, accompanied by the members of the Colonial Council and the Reception Committee, would formally greet Lindbergh at a reception stand to be erected on the landing field. The day following the aviation hero’s arrival was to be proclaimed a public holiday.

“At 10:00 a.m. on that day, a public reception will be accorded Colonel Lindbergh at Emancipation Park. At this reception, His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Chairman of the Colonial Council will deliver addresses of welcome and congratulations. Bishop Weiss will offer a prayer for Colonel Lindbergh’s safe return home. He will conduct the combined choirs of the city in rendition of appropriate music during the ceremony,” The Bulletin reported.

On the third day, Colonel Lindbergh was scheduled to depart for Puerto Rico around midday.

There would be a number of signals which the public was asked to pay close attention to on the scheduled day of the touchdown of the “Spirit of St. Louis.”

The plan called for one shot to be fired from the fort in St. Thomas as soon as Lindbergh was over the island. Upon his plane being sighted, two gun signals would be fired and all church bells would then ring. All ships in the harbor were invited to blow their horns at the same time.

As a safety precaution, the planning committee determined that the landing site would be guarded by Navy forces to prevent accidents and to prevent pedestrians or cars from becoming a menace to Lindbergh’s safely landing his plane.

More committees form

It appears that everyone was  ready to volunteer their services in an effort to make the visit of the aviation pioneer to St. Thomas a resounding success.

Given the existing attitude, it was relatively easy to find people willing to serve on committees to assist the main Reception Committee by performing subsidiary but necessary functions. Their slogans were as follows:

•    Committee in charge of procuring gift for Colonel Lindbergh: “St. Thomas expects her sons and daughters to give their Mite.”

•    Committee in charge of decoration: “Let everybody decorate.”

•    Committee on music: “As music cheers the soul let the air be filled therewith.”

•    Committee in charge of sports: “Sports — and sports galore.”

The main task of the Gift Committee. which consisted of William Laub, A.S. Fairchild and Joseph Reynolds, was to raise money for a suitable gift for the aviation pioneer.

A press release on January 11 urged people to make contributions towards the purchase of the gift “no matter how small.”

The committee asked the local newspapers to act as collectors of the sum needed and appointed A.H. Lockhart as treasurer.

“All contributions may be brought to our paper, any time within the next week,” The Bulletin announced and reminded people that “this opportunity will be the only one in which the individual citizen will have the privilege of enjoying and joining in the tribute that Colonel Lindbergh can take away with him and always have.”

For the next week, The Bulletin continued to promote the need for donations to the gift fund:

“Show your admiration for Lindy in a practical way. Come to The Bulletin and give what you can afford. Don’t wait for collectors, as there are none. Give cheerfully and give now!” urged The Bulletin in its Jan. 23 edition.

Members of the Decoration Committee being duly appointed, started to plan for the event. The St. Thomas Mail Notes, in a humorous piece, informed its readers that on the evening of Jan. 11, the members were quite enthusiastic and wanted to show that St. Thomians were not slackers. However, according to the newspaper, a funny thing occurred on the way to the meeting.

“They forgot that the Chief Guardian of the City’s Peace — Director Nolan — was behind them and, until they reached this office, chatted and planned loud enough to have caused their arrest,” the paper quipped.

Despite a few setbacks, the Decoration Committee was in full force by the middle of January. A part of its effort was concentrated on encouraging the businesses on St. Thomas to decorate their establishments for the impending visit.

Letters were sent to the directors of the banks and other institutions requesting that they decorate in “Lindy Fashion.”

The St. Thomas Mail Notes invited those who wanted a lantern for the torchlight procession to be held for the hero to come to the paper’s office and sign up.

Soon the Lindy watch was in full swing. Several poems were published in various newspapers of the Virgin Islands touting the heroism of Colonel Lindbergh and welcoming him to the territory. Typical of the many tributes dedicated to the aviation pioneer was this poem by Edwin W. Pope:



Our American Eagle

And now he spreads his mighty wings

This kind of bird that skyward springs,

And to the rising sun flies he;

O emblem of nation free!

Undaunted by the tempest’s might,

He cleaves the shadows of the night;

And spreads across the raging sea

The tidings of a world to be.

He did what no one e’er had tried:

The bands of brotherhood he’s tied;

And to the Heavens he’s proclaimed

The mottoes that his forbears framed.

So in the heart of prosperity

The name of Lindbergh e’er shall be;

The need of our hero bold

Shall shine on History’s page of gold.



The youths were also excited about the impending visit. A poem by 12-year-old Arthur Benjamin was published in the Jan. 17 edition of the St. Thomas Mail Notes :



Lindy

In yonder bluish sky,

Is a man who can fly

Without wings,

He is far away from here,

But wait and have no fear,

He will come.

Oh, is it a scheme?

No, hear his great machine

There he is.

His machine’ll swing around,

And swiftly he’ll come down wait and see.

Now my friend  listen to this,

It is the “Spirit of St. Louis”

Yes, that’s him.

He once flew many miles in his plane

Now, can you really guess his name?

Yes, “Lindy.”

Cleanup and beautification

The week before the arrival of Colonel Lindbergh brought a significant number of suggestions from the St. Thomas Mail Notes’ Editorial Board:

“The cleaning and painting up of the city has begun as part of the annual tourist advertisement. Since we are decorating with flags and flowers for Lindbergh’s visit, suppose we look at the economical side of the matter and likewise decorate and preserve our homes and business places with a coat of paint,” stated an editorial.

Another editorial proposed that Colonel Lindbergh should be presented with the Freedom of the City upon his arrival.

Yet a third editorial proposed that the Colonial Council make the aviator a citizen of the Virgin Islands. The newspaper suggested:

“Any community that enjoys the least bit of freedom under a democratic government has the right to confer special honors on any individual it chooses, provided such honors do not infringe on the governing powers of the parent state.”

On Jan. 25, The Colonial Council for St. Thomas and St. John passed a resolution conferring the Freedom of the City of St. Thomas to Colonel Lindbergh. The document in part resolved that the impeding visit of “so prominent a hero is an event of transcendental importance to the island.”

Some entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to make money from the big event:

A full-page advertisement in the January 12 edition of the Mail Notes informed the public:

“Your chance to fly Puerto Rican airplane. Escort of Colonel Lindbergh will take passengers on pleasure trips.”

Everything apparently being in order, St. Thomas held its breath for the arrival of Charles Augustus Lindbergh.

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