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Paper.md
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Paper.md
@@ -9,18 +9,17 @@ author: Jacob Signorovitch
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\maketitle
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In Weston, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Brandeis University, an
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unusual structure rises among the trees; a forty foot stone tower, complete
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with spiral staircase and ramparts, weathered and stained with time, looking
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unusual structure rises among the trees; a forty foot stone tower, complete with
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spiral staircase and ramparts, weathered and stained with time, looking
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distinctly out of place within earshot of I-95. The story of how it came to be
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there involves Vikings, a baking soda magnate, the discovery of America, and,
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at the center of it all, the city of Norumbega. As one explores the area, the
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name comes up again and again: a map will tell you the structure's name is
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Norumbega Tower, and running alongside is Norumbega Road. Further south, one
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finds a Norumbega Park, and another road called Norumbega Court. This paper
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will explore how one man in the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford,
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brought together two seemingly disconnected ideas into a theory for the
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original discovery of America, what motivated him to do so, and what he left
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behind.
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there involves Vikings, a baking soda magnate, the discovery of America, and, at
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the center of it all, the city of Norumbega. As one explores the area, the name
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comes up again and again: a map will tell you the structure's name is Norumbega
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Tower, and running alongside is Norumbega Road. Further south, one finds a
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Norumbega Park, and another road called Norumbega Court. This paper will explore
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how one man in the late 19th century, Eben Norton Horsford, combined Norse saga
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and a mythical Native American city into a theory for the original discovery of
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America, what motivated him to do so, and what he left behind.
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The myth of Norumbega originated in the 16th century, during the Age of
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Exploration. It was variously a town, city, or country, somewhere along the
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@@ -30,25 +29,25 @@ Geography,[@KirsNor98, 34] the myth can be traced back to a conflation of two
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separate accounts. The first is that of Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine
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explorer under King Francis I of France.[@GreeneLife37, 4-7] He was one of the
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first Europeans to explore the area around Narragansett Bay in 1524[@KirsNor98,
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36, 39], far distant from where Norumbega would eventual be described. However,
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due to geographical ambiguity at the time, his account would later become "at
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the heart of the Norumbega legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] He recounted his
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experiences in a letter to the king, where he described a pleasant harbor
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inhabited by friendly and civil natives.[@KirsNor98, 39] They practiced "more
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systematic cultivation [of crops] than the other tribes," and were "very like
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the manner of the ancients."[@KirsNor98, 39] In the letter, Giovanni names the
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place *refugio*, "on account of its beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39] Civilized
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inhabitants became one of the core aspects of the myth, present throughout its
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evolution even as its exact location and size varied. The second account is
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that of Jean Alfonce de Saintonge, pilot on Jacques Cartier's exploration of
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the Penobscot Bay area [@KirsNor98, 41]. Sailing up the Penobscot River, which
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he called the *Norenbègue*, he described "a city called *Norombegue* with
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clever inhabitants [...] The people use many words which sound like Latin and
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worship the sun, and they are fair people and tall."[@KirsNor98, 41] These two
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accounts, Giovanni s *refugio* and Saintonge's *Norombegue*, eventually merged
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into a single myth, canonized by Gastaldi, of an advanced Native American city
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whose manners were closer to those of Europe than their neighbors.[@KirsNor98,
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41]
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36, 39], and recounted his experiences in a letter to the king. He described a
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pleasant harbor inhabited by friendly and civil natives.[@KirsNor98, 39] They
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practiced "more systematic cultivation [of crops] than the other tribes," and
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were "very like the manner of the ancients [i.e., antiquity]."[@KirsNor98, 39]
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In the latter, Giovanni names the place *refugio*, "on account of its
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beauty."[@KirsNor98, 39] Despite Narragansett Bay being quite far from where
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Norumbega would eventually be described, the Penobscot Bay region of modern day
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Maine, geographical ambiguity allowed his account to become "at the heart of the
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Norumbega legend."[@KirsNor98, 39] Specifically, the mention of a "more
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civilized" tribe of natives would become a core aspect of the mythical city in
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all future renditions. The second account is that of Jean Alfonce de Saintonge,
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pilot on Jacques Cartier's exploration of the Penobscot Bay area [@KirsNor98,
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41]. Sailing up the Penobscot River, which he called the *Norenbègue*, he
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described "a city called *Norombegue* with clever inhabitants [...] The people
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use many words which sound like Latin and worship the sun, and they are fair
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people and tall."[@KirsNor98, 41] These two accounts, Giovanni's *refugio* and
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Saintonge's *Norombegue*, eventually merged into a single myth, canonized by
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the cartographer Gastaldi, of an advanced Native American city whose manners
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were closer to those of Europe than their neighbors.[@KirsNor98, 41]
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Eben Norton Horsford was a chemist working in Cambridge, best known for his
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invention of modern baking powder.[@JackHors92, 343] In addition to his work,
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