Basically, the Real Indiana Jones Was from Beloit
While Indiana Jones and his archeological exploits are certainly fictional, the inspiration for him wasn't. Adventure, thy name is Roy Chapman Andrews.
Okay. He didn't have a fedora and a whip. But he did have a cowboy hat and revolver.
Like many raised in the Badger State who thirst for adventure, Roy Chapman Andrews left Beloit for New York in 1906 with money saved up from his brief career as a taxidermist. He wanted so much to work at the American Museum of Natural History that he worked as a janitor in the taxidermy department until openings were available. He also went to Columbia University and earned a master in mammalogy. He also collected taxidermy samples on the weekend. Probably because he hated free time.
Once the museum took him on, he began an amazing thirty year career of archeology, paleontology, and international adventure. The press of the time knew just how captivating his stories were, and portrayed him as a swashbuckling scientist who conquered the Gobi Desert and discovered dinosaur eggs.
But just how incredible could this real life adventurer have been? During his career, Mr. Andrews survived encounters with armed bandits, led desert expeditions into previously unexplored territory, was the first to discover dinosaur eggs, battled venomous pythons and hungry arctic orcas, and was once mistakenly reported dead.
Andrews would later serve as president of the Explorer's Club, director of the Natural History Museum, and publish several books about his exploits. He claimed that he was "born to be an explorer," and while Spielberg and Lucas never said Chapman was the basis for their whip-cracking, pistol spinning, Nazi-punching archeologist, the comparison is a little too clear to ignore.
