1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,577 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:15,577 --> 00:00:20,103 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations but not necessarily 3 00:00:20,103 --> 00:00:27,392 the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:27,392 --> 00:00:32,199 Among the Asmott people of New Guinea, there exists a way of life that has remained unchanged 5 00:00:32,199 --> 00:00:36,444 since the Stone Age. 6 00:00:36,444 --> 00:00:45,095 In 1961, it drew the attention of a restless young man named Michael Rockefeller. 7 00:00:45,095 --> 00:00:50,542 For the primitive Asmott tribes, life is a continual interaction of ghosts, spirits, 8 00:00:50,542 --> 00:00:52,825 and magic. 9 00:00:52,825 --> 00:00:56,230 Tribal warfare is commonplace and expected. 10 00:00:56,230 --> 00:00:59,634 Life must be met with revenge. 11 00:00:59,634 --> 00:01:08,766 Among these fierce aboriginal men, Michael Rockefeller traveled to study and learn. 12 00:01:08,766 --> 00:01:21,542 In their midst, he disappeared and was never seen again. 13 00:01:21,542 --> 00:01:25,147 He was a young man from the University of New York, June 1960. 14 00:01:25,147 --> 00:01:33,357 For Governor and Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller, it was a special emotional moment. 15 00:01:33,357 --> 00:01:38,404 Their youngest son, Michael, had graduated with honors. 16 00:01:38,404 --> 00:01:43,490 Ahead of him lay a life filled with promise and great opportunity. 17 00:01:43,490 --> 00:01:48,377 At 22, Michael Rockefeller was the most outgoing and restless of the Governor's three sons 18 00:01:48,377 --> 00:01:50,059 and two daughters. 19 00:01:50,419 --> 00:01:53,623 Michael had traveled with his family and friends, and within six months, he was half a world 20 00:01:53,623 --> 00:01:58,590 away in the remote highlands of Dutch New Guinea. 21 00:01:58,590 --> 00:02:03,436 Michael had joined an anthropological expedition to study and record a Stone Age tribe called 22 00:02:03,436 --> 00:02:05,158 the Dany. 23 00:02:05,158 --> 00:02:15,491 Sensitive and enthusiastic, he took special pleasure in his work. 24 00:02:15,491 --> 00:02:21,820 For six months, Michael served as the expedition's sound man and still photographer. 25 00:02:21,820 --> 00:02:26,826 When his work was over, he was drawn to another part of New Guinea to a people called the 26 00:02:26,826 --> 00:02:34,876 Osmot. 27 00:02:34,876 --> 00:02:39,843 Along the coast and in the winding tidal rivers of southern New Guinea, the primitive Osmot 28 00:02:39,843 --> 00:02:46,131 tribes lived as they had since primeval times. 29 00:02:46,131 --> 00:02:50,937 Michael Rockefeller traveled throughout the region, fascinated by the Osmot culture and 30 00:02:50,937 --> 00:02:53,661 way of life. 31 00:02:53,661 --> 00:02:58,507 In his journal, Rockefeller wrote, the Osmot is equal to my wildest dreams. 32 00:02:58,507 --> 00:03:05,916 It is a land of great winding rivers, jungle and mud, literally nothing else. 33 00:03:05,916 --> 00:03:12,244 The people have lived for centuries on little besides the pulp of the sego palm and fish. 34 00:03:12,244 --> 00:03:17,171 Some remote areas are still headhunting. 35 00:03:17,171 --> 00:03:29,707 A keen observer and gifted photographer, Michael carefully documented Osmot life. 36 00:03:29,707 --> 00:03:46,809 In the Osmot people, Michael sensed the nobility that he admired and compassionately recorded. 37 00:03:46,809 --> 00:03:53,698 The word Osmot means tree people and indeed Osmot culture depends almost totally on trees 38 00:03:53,698 --> 00:04:00,026 for food, shelter, for their canoes and for their art. 39 00:04:00,026 --> 00:04:04,752 The Osmot even believed themselves to be descended from trees. 40 00:04:04,752 --> 00:04:09,838 Their mythology tells of a great magician who wandered their uninhabited land. 41 00:04:09,838 --> 00:04:14,204 Out of loneliness, he carved human figures from mangrove wood. 42 00:04:14,204 --> 00:04:18,049 He beat softly on a drum and brought the figures to life. 43 00:04:18,169 --> 00:04:24,818 Thus the Osmot came to be. 44 00:04:24,818 --> 00:04:28,903 The Osmots still believe that their spirits reside in trees. 45 00:04:28,903 --> 00:04:37,794 The felling of a mangrove tree begins an ancient ritual that intermingles art and violence. 46 00:04:37,794 --> 00:04:43,762 Before the cut mangrove trunk can enter the village, Osmot women pelt it with mud, exercising 47 00:04:43,762 --> 00:04:49,570 any evil spirits that may still live inside. 48 00:04:49,570 --> 00:05:02,146 Once the mangrove is cleansed of demons, the intricate carving begins. 49 00:05:02,146 --> 00:05:06,992 Shaped into the head of dead ancestors and kinsmen, the carving becomes a vital link 50 00:05:06,992 --> 00:05:10,917 between the material and spiritual worlds. 51 00:05:11,918 --> 00:05:16,044 For the Osmot, natural death does not exist. 52 00:05:16,044 --> 00:05:20,770 Only evil spirits and enemies account for the passing of life. 53 00:05:20,770 --> 00:05:29,461 The finished carving becomes a pledge to the dead that their spirits will be revenged. 54 00:05:29,461 --> 00:05:34,748 The beauty of Osmot art completely captivated Michael Rockefeller. 55 00:05:34,748 --> 00:05:36,910 In his journal, Rockefeller wrote, 56 00:05:36,910 --> 00:05:40,996 the key to my fascination with the Osmot is the wood carving. 57 00:05:40,996 --> 00:05:47,844 The sculpture which the people here produce is some of the most extraordinary work in the primitive world. 58 00:05:47,844 --> 00:05:59,580 Full of youthful enthusiasm, Michael Rockefeller began collecting Osmot art. 59 00:05:59,700 --> 00:06:05,267 As he journeyed from village to village, Michael observed the subtle details of Osmot life. 60 00:06:05,267 --> 00:06:09,512 He wrote, the rowers placed little effort behind their strokes, 61 00:06:09,512 --> 00:06:18,684 allowing the outflowing tide to carry the prowess easily along. 62 00:06:18,684 --> 00:06:28,417 For weeks, Michael traveled through Osmot territory, often accompanied by missionaries and anthropologists. 63 00:06:29,858 --> 00:06:34,384 Gradually, he began to amass a wide collection of carvings. 64 00:06:34,384 --> 00:06:42,154 He dreamed of an exhibit that would pay tribute to the Osmot's amazing creativity. 65 00:06:42,154 --> 00:06:51,126 On November 18, 1961, Michael Rockefeller embarked on a native catamaran for a village up the coast. 66 00:06:51,126 --> 00:06:57,334 With him was Dutch anthropologist Rene Wassing and two native guides. 67 00:06:57,334 --> 00:07:04,623 The purpose of the trip was to pick up carvings for which Michael already had bartered. 68 00:07:04,623 --> 00:07:09,269 The makeshift catamaran was powered by only a single outboard motor. 69 00:07:09,269 --> 00:07:13,915 Michael had been warned of dangerous unpredictable currents. 70 00:07:13,915 --> 00:07:25,570 At the mouth of the Islanden River, a massive tidal surge suddenly drowned the motor and capsized the boat. 71 00:07:25,570 --> 00:07:27,332 The natives swam for help. 72 00:07:27,332 --> 00:07:33,060 Rockefeller and Wassing clung to the boat, hopelessly adrift. 73 00:07:33,060 --> 00:07:39,148 After a night in the water, fearing the natives had failed, Michael decided to go for help himself. 74 00:07:39,148 --> 00:07:46,998 Using two empty gasoline cans for extra buoyancy, he swam for shore. 75 00:07:46,998 --> 00:07:54,167 Michael Rockefeller and Rene Wassing didn't know it, but their native guides had made it back to land. 76 00:07:54,247 --> 00:08:03,619 The closest village was only 11 miles away, yet in the thick jungle and deep mud of the Osmot Coast, the trek for help took nearly a day. 77 00:08:03,619 --> 00:08:16,355 When Dutch authorities finally learned of the accident, a full-scale search was launched immediately. 78 00:08:16,355 --> 00:08:23,685 Searchers combed over coastal rivers and seemingly endless spans of dense jungle shoreline. 79 00:08:23,765 --> 00:08:26,488 The region below was hostile and forbidding. 80 00:08:26,488 --> 00:08:31,335 The coastline was a muddy swamp with estuaries where crocodiles prowled. 81 00:08:31,335 --> 00:08:40,346 Beyond lay spongy tangles of sego palms and mangroves, alive with poisonous snakes, scorpions and swarms of mosquitoes. 82 00:08:40,346 --> 00:08:46,074 The Osmot had named their home the land of lapping death. 83 00:08:46,074 --> 00:08:48,397 Suddenly, a miracle. 84 00:08:48,397 --> 00:08:56,367 A flying boat had found Rene Wassing, still clinging to the capsized catamaran more than 20 miles out to sea. 85 00:08:56,367 --> 00:09:01,133 Stunned and exhausted, Wassing told reporters of the ordeal. 86 00:09:01,133 --> 00:09:06,179 He had tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Michael from attempting the swim to shore. 87 00:09:06,179 --> 00:09:09,944 Michael's last words were, I think I can make it. 88 00:09:09,944 --> 00:09:19,957 Now the massive search efforts concentrated on Michael. 89 00:09:19,957 --> 00:09:29,970 The news that his son was lost had taken three days to reach Governor Rockefeller. 90 00:09:29,970 --> 00:09:35,978 Stunned and disoriented, he tried his best to deal with an endless onslaught of questions. 91 00:09:35,978 --> 00:09:37,980 I'm headed out there. 92 00:09:37,980 --> 00:09:47,993 Hopefully they'll find him before we get there, but to be there when they do find him, so if there's anything I can do, I will. 93 00:09:47,993 --> 00:09:55,002 In New Guinea, the news was not good. No trace of Michael had yet been found. 94 00:09:55,002 --> 00:10:01,010 For the native Osmot, the spectacle of the search was awesome and overwhelming. 95 00:10:01,010 --> 00:10:04,014 They had never seen anything like it. 96 00:10:06,016 --> 00:10:09,020 Several more days of searching yielded nothing. 97 00:10:09,020 --> 00:10:16,029 A pale and haggard father had almost given up hope. 98 00:10:16,029 --> 00:10:24,040 Then, the first clue, the red gasoline can that Michael used for extra buoyancy was found at sea. 99 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:32,050 It was strong evidence that Michael had drowned, but at the same time it offered a faint glimmer of hope. 100 00:10:32,050 --> 00:10:41,061 5,000 natives began searching up and down the New Guinea coast, looking for any other trace of Michael. 101 00:10:41,061 --> 00:10:47,069 Nothing was found. 102 00:10:47,069 --> 00:10:53,077 After nearly two weeks, the search for Michael Rockefeller was ended. 103 00:10:53,077 --> 00:10:59,085 For an agonized father returning home, the official conclusion seemed unavoidable. 104 00:10:59,085 --> 00:11:04,091 Michael Rockefeller had drowned at sea. 105 00:11:04,091 --> 00:11:15,105 Yet it was not long before speculation began that perhaps somewhere in the jungle, Michael might still be alive. 106 00:11:15,105 --> 00:11:23,115 New York City, 1968 107 00:11:23,115 --> 00:11:31,126 Seven years after Michael Rockefeller's disappearance, one man was led to begin a personal search for the missing Rockefeller. 108 00:11:31,126 --> 00:11:39,136 Milt Maclin, a writer and magazine editor, was met in his office by a secretive man who would call himself only Donahue. 109 00:11:39,136 --> 00:11:52,153 Donahue told Maclin that several months before, on a tiny island called Kanapu, he had seen and talked with Michael Rockefeller. 110 00:11:52,153 --> 00:11:59,162 Intrigued with the story, Maclin made plans to go to New Guinea. 111 00:11:59,162 --> 00:12:09,175 Maclin's information from Donahue was sketchy, but he had decided to follow the difficult route. 112 00:12:09,175 --> 00:12:20,189 According to Donahue's story, Rockefeller was picked up by a native war party and taken by canoe on a thousand mile journey to the Trobriand Islands. 113 00:12:20,189 --> 00:12:35,208 As Maclin made his way through the jungle, he began to understand Michael's attraction to its primitive beauty. 114 00:12:35,208 --> 00:12:41,216 After several days' travel, Maclin reached a major village of the Trobriands. 115 00:12:41,216 --> 00:12:48,225 A local chief knew of Kanapu Island and described its general location. 116 00:12:48,225 --> 00:12:58,238 It was a long journey by native standards, but at last, Maclin's destination seemed within reach. 117 00:12:58,238 --> 00:13:05,247 By hired boat, Maclin sailed for Kanapu. 118 00:13:05,247 --> 00:13:12,256 Even on the best local charts, it was but a speck. 119 00:13:12,256 --> 00:13:22,269 Finally, the island appeared, like a vision from a storybook. 120 00:13:22,269 --> 00:13:36,287 After a long and tiring journey, Milt Maclin approached his destination with hopeful expectation. 121 00:13:36,287 --> 00:13:42,294 The island was a paradise, a beautiful tropical refuge. 122 00:13:42,294 --> 00:13:52,307 It was also an eerie place. There were few signs of life. 123 00:13:52,307 --> 00:14:01,319 A careful search led finally to a makeshift shelter. 124 00:14:01,319 --> 00:14:08,328 The hut was abandoned. There was no sign of Michael Rockefeller. 125 00:14:08,328 --> 00:14:18,341 Discouraged and disappointed, Milt Maclin gave up his Kanapu search. 126 00:14:18,341 --> 00:14:26,351 The fate of Michael Rockefeller remained a mystery. Yet, from Maclin, the unsuccessful search had raised many questions. 127 00:14:26,351 --> 00:14:34,361 Was the Donahue story simply a cruel hoax, or did it bear some element of truth? 128 00:14:34,361 --> 00:14:38,366 Milt Maclin's determined search did not end on Kanapu Island. 129 00:14:38,366 --> 00:14:46,377 For two more months, he traveled throughout New Guinea, looking for evidence that might prove conclusively what happened to Michael Rockefeller. 130 00:14:46,377 --> 00:14:56,390 Maclin traced down endless leads, but his final personal conclusion was based on information from a Dutch missionary, Father Cornelius van Kessel. 131 00:14:56,390 --> 00:15:04,400 Van Kessel had heard rumors from natives that Rockefeller was captured and killed near the Osmot village of Oates-Janep. 132 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:10,408 A war chief named Ajam was mentioned in the rumors as the man who might be responsible. 133 00:15:10,408 --> 00:15:18,418 Recently, the chief of Os-Janep was interviewed. He recalled the search for Michael Rockefeller. 134 00:15:18,418 --> 00:15:26,428 There were many airplanes and boats. We were afraid and blocked our river with trees. 135 00:15:26,428 --> 00:15:35,440 Our enemies in the other villages all say that we killed him. They want us to get into trouble. 136 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:45,453 I am the chief. If we killed him, I would know. 137 00:15:45,453 --> 00:15:50,459 The full and true story of Michael Rockefeller's disappearance may never be known. 138 00:15:50,459 --> 00:15:57,468 If the answer lies among the Osmot, a nearly impenetrable cultural curtain prevents a final solution. 139 00:15:57,468 --> 00:16:06,480 Yet in the life of the Osmot, the age-old writes that once preceded tribal violence can still be witnessed. 140 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:18,495 After the mangrove ancestor poles are carved, an elaborate ceremony begins in honor of the dead. 141 00:16:18,495 --> 00:16:29,509 In the minds of the Osmot, life, art, magic and death are inseparably interwoven, each continually affecting the other. 142 00:16:29,509 --> 00:16:36,518 Members of neighboring villages are ritually adopted by the celebrating tribe. 143 00:16:36,518 --> 00:16:42,526 Traditionally, however, they are the first to be killed when an intertribal feud arises. 144 00:16:42,526 --> 00:16:53,540 This is an accepted part in an ancient cycle of warfare and revenge. 145 00:16:53,540 --> 00:17:04,554 The ancestor ceremony climaxes when the poles are returned outside. 146 00:17:13,566 --> 00:17:21,576 In mock battle, the entire village dances around the symbolic poles. 147 00:17:21,576 --> 00:17:29,587 Only a generation ago, the ceremony would have led to a revenge attack on a rival tribe. 148 00:17:29,587 --> 00:17:37,597 But headhunting has been outlawed. An age-old way of Osmot life has been brought to an end. 149 00:17:42,603 --> 00:17:49,612 In his journal, Michael Rockefeller wrote, 150 00:17:49,612 --> 00:17:55,620 the Osmot is filled with a kind of tragedy. They were a ferocious headhunting people, 151 00:17:55,620 --> 00:18:00,626 but now many villages are beginning to doubt the worth of their own culture. 152 00:18:00,626 --> 00:18:07,635 They crave things Western, even though these doubtful symbols of another world hide a proud form 153 00:18:07,635 --> 00:18:12,642 and replace a far finer, if less concealing form of dress. 154 00:18:21,654 --> 00:18:27,661 Perhaps Michael Rockefeller's dedication to the Osmot was part of a larger personal quest 155 00:18:27,661 --> 00:18:33,669 for self-understanding and universal values which could guide him through life. 156 00:18:33,669 --> 00:18:38,675 I'd like to just say a word about Michael himself. 157 00:18:38,675 --> 00:18:51,692 Ever since he was little, he's been very aware of people, their feelings, their thoughts. 158 00:18:51,692 --> 00:19:00,704 He's a person who has always loved people and been loved by people. 159 00:19:00,704 --> 00:19:15,723 He had a tremendous enthusiasm and drive, loved life, has always loved beauty in people, 160 00:19:15,723 --> 00:19:20,729 beauty in nature and beauty in art, whether it's painting or sculpture. 161 00:19:20,729 --> 00:19:25,736 And has been quite an artist himself. 162 00:19:25,736 --> 00:19:31,744 I think it's fair to say that he was never happier than he has been. 163 00:19:31,744 --> 00:19:36,750 Out there, Michael had one of the most exciting experiences of his life. 164 00:19:41,756 --> 00:19:45,762 The mystery of Michael Rockefeller's disappearance may never be solved, 165 00:19:45,762 --> 00:19:51,769 but his passion and spirit will live on in his pictorial record of the Osmot. 166 00:19:56,776 --> 00:20:06,789 Before Michael Rockefeller traveled to New Guinea, he spoke of doing something romantic and adventurous 167 00:20:06,789 --> 00:20:11,795 at a time when frontiers in the real sense of the word were disappearing. 168 00:20:11,795 --> 00:20:19,805 Today, his tragic loss is underscored by the accelerating demise of the Osmot people and their culture. 169 00:20:25,813 --> 00:20:32,822 The Osmot is a place where the world is filled with the spirit of the Osmot. 170 00:20:32,822 --> 00:20:40,832 The Osmot is a place where the world is filled with the spirit of the Osmot. 171 00:20:40,832 --> 00:20:44,838 While in New Guinea, Michael Rockefeller wrote, 172 00:20:44,838 --> 00:20:49,844 the West thinks in terms of bringing advance and opportunity to such a place. 173 00:20:49,844 --> 00:20:55,852 In actuality, we bring a cultural bankruptcy which will last for many years. 174 00:20:58,856 --> 00:21:06,866 Tenuously, the Osmot still hold on, among the last representatives of the beginning of humanity. 175 00:21:19,883 --> 00:21:26,892 Coming up next, 20th Century with Mike Wallace reports on the California Night Stalker and other serial killers. 176 00:21:26,892 --> 00:21:31,898 Then, Weapons at War looks at the evolution of bombs, rockets and missiles. 177 00:21:31,898 --> 00:21:35,903 And log on at veterans.com, a new website brought to you by the History Channel. 178 00:21:35,903 --> 00:21:40,910 Veterans.com, a place where veterans, their families and others can connect, share stories, 179 00:21:40,910 --> 00:21:44,915 and pass on the legacies of all American veterans. 180 00:21:49,921 --> 00:21:51,924 Thank you.