Who was this explorer? What did he find? What happened to him? Why did Benjamin Franklin write a letter to American naval officers asking them to let him go if they encountered him?

1. “Do just once what
others say you can’t
do, and you will never
pay attention to their
limitations again.”
Captain James Cook

2. Travel back in time to Hawaii on 14
February 1779
The day the great explorer, Captain
Cook, is killed.
Roland’s Mission: Valentines Day

3. Cook is known for being the first
European to reach the east coast of
Australia and Hawaii. He also
extensively explored the Pacific
Northwest coast of North America,
searching for a Northwest Passage.
His ship circumnavigated the world on
his three major voyages.
Who Was Captain Cook?

4. Who Was Captain Cook?

5. On April 29, 1770, the British HMS
Endeavor became the first European
vessel to reach the east coast of
Australia after it landed at Botany Bay
near modern day Sydney.

6. Cook helped pioneer new methods for
preventing scurvy—a disease caused
by a lack of vitamin C—which was a big
problem for every long distance sea
voyage. Cook managed to keep all
three of his expeditions nearly scurvy-
free. This was partially because of his
obsession with procuring fresh food at
each of his stops.
Who Was Captain Cook?

7. Hawaiian Natives mistook him for a
god when he first arrived. He called
them the “Sandwich Islands” after his
patron the Earl of Sandwich.
Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay
celebrated Cook’s January 1779
landing with joyous celebrations
Who Was Captain Cook?

8. The explorer’s arrival coincided with an
annual festival honoring the Hawaiian
fertility god Lono. Since the natives had
never seen white men or sailing ships
like Cook’s, they assumed he was their
deity and lavished him with feasts and
gifts. When one of Cook’s sailors died
from a stroke, the natives realized the
Europeans weren’t immortals.
Who Was Captain Cook?

9. While docked for repairs in Hawaii in
February 1779, Cook became upset
after a group of natives stole a cutter
ship from one of his boats. He tried to
take King Kalani‘ōpu‘u hostage. He
didn’t get far before he was pelted by
stones and struck by a club. A Hawaiian
warrior used a knife—a gift from Cook—
and plunged it into his back. Cook fell
into the surf and was repeatedly
stabbed and bashed with rocks.

11. Cook was so well renowned in his time,
that during the American Revolution,
Benjamin Franklin had a letter sent to
American Naval captains that if they
encountered Cook’s vessel, they were
not to attack it and to treat him as a
‘friend to mankind’. Unfortunately, this
letter was written a month after Cook’s
death.
One of his sailors, William Bligh, survived the journey and went to a bit of infamy with the USS Bounty.

12. Despite the altercation, the islanders
held Cook in high esteem. They
prepared his body with their traditional
funeral rights for chiefs. They
disemboweled him, cooked the flesh
off, and cleaned his bones. Some of
the bones were returned to his crew
for burial at sea.
Who Was Captain Cook?

13. One of his crew went on to infamy
later:
Captain Bligh and the Bounty.
Who Was Captain Cook?

14. But what if Cook wasn’t killed that
day?
And continued his life of exploration?
Roland’s Mission: Valentines Day

16. Free audiobook short, a complete mission from
Ides of March. Click on box for Soundcloud

17. Click on Image for links

18. Print
Book
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slideshows on survival, history
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are available HERE

19. New York Times bestselling author, graduate of West Point and
former Green Beret. He’s had over 75 books published, including the
#1 bestselling series Green Berets, Time Patrol, Area 51, and Atlantis.
He’s sold over 5 million books. He was born in the Bronx and traveled
the world. He’s lived on an island off the east coast, an island off the
west coast, in the Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains and other
places, including time in East Asia studying martial arts.
He now lives peacefully with his wife and dogs.
www.bobmayer.com