Frederick Russell Burnham

1862-1947

Frederick Russell Burnham was an American scout, adventurer, and soldier, notable for his extensive travels and service in various conflicts across North America and Africa, particularly in Rhodesia and the Boer War. His adventurous life began early and was shaped by experiences with Native American tribes and his later engagements with African populations.

Early Life and American Frontier Experience

Born in 1862, Burnham was the son of Presbyterian missionaries working with the Sue. During the Dakota War of 1862, his mother, Rebecca, hid him as a baby in a cornfield to escape attacking Sue, who were described as committing unspeakable acts, including scalping and torturing a neighbouring family.

Growing up in sparsely settled Minnesota, a harsh environment where freezing to death in winter was not unheard of, Burnham's early life was marked by his father Edwin's strict Puritanism, which forbade most forms of entertainment. His childhood reading of adventure novels, particularly one about boys in the Orange Free State, South Africa, instilled in him a resolve to become a scout, trek to South Africa, and see the world.

Following his father's death in California when Frederick was 12, he opted to stay behind to work and pay off a family debt, riding for 16 hours a day on a delivery job and engaging in freelance hunting. During this period, his horse was stolen by the infamous bandit Tiburcio Vasquez, who later laughed about it when confronted by Burnham. At 15, disillusioned with the Materialism and "intolerant religiosity" of Iowa, Burnham embarked on a period of "glorious wandering" across the American West.

In Prescott, Arizona, at 18, he apprenticed under Oldtimer Holmes, who taught him Woodcraft, hunting, and tracking skills. He refined these with another mentor named Lee, becoming a "world-class scout" capable of surviving any climate, tracking men for 100 miles, finding water and food, and navigating by stars.

He abstained from alcohol and cigarettes to maintain his senses. At 21, he faced the savagery of Apaches in Globe, Arizona, who were known for their brutality, having committed acts such as torturing men, roasting a child alive, and braining a mother.

Captain Burbridge, Globe's defence leader, described Burnham as "half jackrabbit and half wolf". Burnham spent weeks scouting, pursuing, and fleeing Apaches. He also worked as a deputy, capable of single-handedly performing the duties of entire posses, and as a shotgun messenger for Wells Fargo, protecting gold shipments by hiding in the rear boot of coaches.

After years of gold prospecting, he found success, purchased an orange grove in California, and married Blanche Blick in 1884. However, the call of an untamed land and his lifelong vision of Africa persisted, leading him to sell his orange grove in 1892 and depart for Africa on 1 January 1893.

Arrival in Rhodesia and the First Matabele War (1893)

Burnham arrived in Durban, South Africa, in March 1893, finding it wonderful partly because "no natives except servants were allowed within the city limits". He travelled inland to Fort Salisbury in Mashonaland, expressing his infatuation with Africa, viewing it as "Grand in size and life is full of possibilities".

In July 1893, news reached him of King Lobengula's Matabele raiding party slaughtering approximately 400 defenceless Mashona, including women and children, using methods reminiscent of the Apaches. War seemed certain, and Burnham stated, "we are having exciting times and I enjoy it". With his personal savings lost due to a collapsing US economy, Burnham joined the British South Africa Company (BSAC) for military service. He was offered land, mineral claims, and a share of looted cattle as reward.

As one of about 20 scouts, Burnham participated in the First Matabele War against 20,000 Matabele warriors. He considered the Matabele "no Apaches," their traps primitive and movements sluggish. He killed several Matabele in skirmishes, taking souvenirs such as a pair of Matabele ears. He also prospected, finding "a thousand chances to make money".

At the Battle of Shangani on 24 October 1893, 3,000 to 5,000 Matabele warriors were decisively defeated by the superior firepower of the Maxim gun, resulting in 600 Matabele deaths for only one white and 60 Mashona casualties on the column's side. Burnham and another scout were instrumental in finding Lobengula's capital, Bulawayo, which Lobengula later ordered burned. On 1 November 1893, at the Battle of Bembesi, 6,000 Matabele, including elite regiments, were again decisively defeated, with 500 of 700 imbizo warriors killed in minutes.

Burnham was part of the pursuit column tracking Lobengula northwards. During this pursuit, he was accompanied by Jan Grod Barm, whom Burnham described as "one of the pluckiest Negroes I have ever seen" and "the coolest and bravest black of all my African experience". Jan saved Burnham's life on several occasions from Matabele bands. Burnham also joined Allan Wilson's patrol, sent to capture Lobengula against orders, which galloped into a massive Matabele encampment. After this patrol became surrounded, Burnham, along with William Gooding and Pete Ingram, undertook a near suicidal mission to reach the main column. They successfully evaded hundreds of pursuing Matabele by using a trick to confuse them with false trails.

Upon his return to Fort Victoria on New Year's Day, 1894, his wife noted he had "made a fine record and is more talked of... than any man in the column". Burnham was awarded medals and additional land and mineral concessions by the BSAC for his service. He became widely known as the "American scout".

The Second Matabele War (1896) and the Mlimo Incident

Following the Jameson Raid in January 1896, which depleted Rhodesia's police force, the Matabele launched a full-scale rebellion on 20 March 1896. This uprising was marked by beastial atrocities against settlers, including women and children.

Burnham viewed this as a betrayal; "the natives had been treated better under the White man than they ever knew" and had enjoyed "more liberty than they had ever known before".

Burnham arrived in Bulawayo, which was surrounded by 10,000 Matabele. He helped fortify the town, using broken glass as a defence and planning for extreme measures, including the killing of families by their assigned male protectors to prevent Matabele atrocities. His nearly two-year-old daughter, Nada, became severely ill from the siege conditions and died, causing Burnham uncomprehensible anger and a craving for vengeance. He vowed to fight on for Africa and the Empire.

On 6 June 1896, during the last major battle of the uprising at the Amuza River, Burnham killed three natives and then executed 25 wounded Matabele on the battlefield. This action was echoed by his wife, who wrote that she "could kill the black beasts myself". The Matabele subsequently fled to the Matopo Hills, terrified of the White man's vengeance.

In June 1896, the Mashona also rose in revolt, slaughtering 120 White women and children. A Native Commissioner proposed killing the Mlimo, the "mouthpiece of God," a priest who encouraged the Matabele to kill Whites and claimed his magic turned bullets to water.

Burnham, having recently scouted the Matopos with Robert Baden-Powell, enthusiastically endorsed Baden-Powell's ideas for teaching Woodcraft to boys, which contributed to the emblems of the Boy Scouts.

Burnham and Bonar Armstrong volunteered for the dangerous Mlimo mission. Burnham's motivation was his dying daughter, with the "picture of my wife vainly holding to her breast our dying Nada constantly before his enraged Vision". On 23 June, they entered the Mlimo's cave, and Burnham shot the 60-year-old Maaga priest right under his heart, thus avenging his daughter. The news of the Mlimo's death spread rapidly, believed to have demoralised the Matabele and contributed to the end of the rebellion.

Later Career and Final Years

After the Second Matabele War, Burnham initially advocated for the extermination of the Matabele, but later acknowledged Cecil Rhodes's negotiations in the Matopos as "nothing finer in all history" for saving them. He became wealthy in BSAC shares after meeting Rhodes in London, who tasked him with expeditions north of the Zambezi as part of the Cape to Cairo scheme. During these expeditions, he discovered coal (Wankie Coal Field), as well as gold and copper.

In New York, he met Theodore Roosevelt, initiating a lifelong friendship. Driven by "Klondike fever," Burnham joined the Yukon gold rush in 1898, declining an invitation to join Roosevelt's Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War.

When the Boer War broke out in late 1899, Burnham was recalled to Africa to serve as Field Marshal Frederick Roberts's chief of Scouts. He gained further worldwide fame for his exploits, solving scouting issues, escaping Boer captivity, and being promoted to Major.

He was injured and returned to England on the same ship as Winston Churchill, and later received the Distinguished Service Order from King Edward VII.

In his later life, Burnham continued scouting for resources in West and East Africa. He eventually struck oil near his California home, a site his son Rodrick insisted on exploring. This made him wealthy, and he finally settled in Hollywood.

He took one last trip revisiting Rhodesia and other locations from his career. Burnham was a staunch advocate for conservation, both of animals and the American people, supporting stricter immigration restrictions to ensure America remained American.

Frederick Russell Burnham died peacefully in 1947 at the age of 86. Mount Burnham in California was named in his honour, standing beside Mount Baden-Powell.

He remains known as "the American scout".