Martin and Osa Johnson: For the Love of Adventure

Martin and Osa Johnson were ahead of their time in filming wildlife documentaries of far-flung places. Courtesy of Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum

Martin Johnson (1884–1937) was born for adventure. He was bored with school and his grades reflected his boredom. In high school, he was expelled after a relatively harmless prank. The prank was due in part to his closest companion: his camera.

Before his expulsion, Johnson could often be found wandering the halls of his Kansas high school, camera in hand. Students rarely took issue with having their photos taken, seeing that photography was somewhat of a phenomenon, especially for high schoolers.

He thought he had found a career in taking people’s photos; but after a brief period of making money, the purchase of new equipment emptied his pocketbook. He was back to square one. Before he closed up his short-lived business, he took the photo of a little boy who had been brought in by his older, 7-year-old sister, Osa Leighty.

Introduced to Kodak

Johnson’s father, John, owned a successful jewelry business—a business he hoped his son would one day run. When packages from around the country and overseas arrived, it was the younger Johnson’s job to unpack them. Seeing their contents, he was introduced to different cultures and languages. Among these shipments were packages from a specific source that captured the young Johnson’s full attention: Eastman Kodak.

His father’s business had the exclusive sales rights to Eastman Kodak in Independence, Kansas. He built a dark room for his business, though it was his son who was using it most often. As the packages came in, Martin became more and more familiar with and gained expertise in all things photographic. But Kansas was hardly the world capital of adventure. With his knowledge of photography, his expulsion from school, and his taste for adventure, he left home and moved to Chicago.

His adventures were relatively short-lived before he returned home, though he could relay a story of how he was a ship’s stowaway from London to New York. Adventure eventually came calling again, this time when Johnson had reached his early 20s. This adventure was with one of the country’s most famous people: Jack London.

Shortly after the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, Johnson joined London’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The plan was to take seven years aboard London’s yacht, Snark. Though the voyage ended after about two years, Johnson, who had served as the ship’s cook, was always ready with his camera. He had taken plenty of photos, developed them, and began presenting them in lectures. His lecture series brought him back to Kansas.

A Match for Nature

While conducting a lecture in Chanute, Kansas, a young 16-year-old girl was the musical entertainment for the event. Her name was Osa Leighty. A few months later on May 15, 1910, the two, having fallen in love, married, and thus began a marriage of adventure.

The Snark, Feb. 19, 1921. Public Domain

The two played the vaudeville circuit for a few years, conducting lectures about faraway lands. Saving up their money, the two made their first adventure together in 1917. They traveled to an area that Martin was rather familiar with due to his voyage with London: the South Seas.

It was the beginning of a historic 20-year relationship with the wild. They ventured to some of the world’s most exotic places, like Nairobi, Kenya, the Serengeti, Vanuatu, and Borneo. The two were not only in love, but they worked well together in their adventures. Martin lugged his photo and video camera equipment everywhere they went. Osa ensured that everywhere they went, it felt and smelled like home, from the clothes they wore to the food they ate.

An orphaned baby elephant was adopted by the Johnsons and named Pantaloons during their 1933 to 1934 Flying Safari. Courtesy of Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum

“I thought, as I have thought many, many times in the nine years we have gone about together, how lucky I was,” Martin wrote. “Osa had all the qualities that go to make an ideal traveling companion for an explorer—pluck, endurance, cheerfulness under discomfort.”

Martin’s Camera, Osa’s Aim

Osa, however, brought something else to the table, which proved invaluable for their adventures. She was a great shot; and armed with a rifle, Martin always felt safe while taking photos and video.

On one occasion while Martin was filming rhinoceroses, a bull began stalking toward them with “his head lowered and his two horns aimed straight at the camera.” According to the book “Four Years in Paradise,” Osa recalled, “I grabbed my .465 elephant gun. ‘See if you can turn him,’ Martin shouted. I shot over his back, screamed, shot at his horn. On he came. I knew Martin was making a good film of the rhino, and probably thought this was one of those familiar false alarms. I didn’t think so, however, and I was right. The rhino stopped, snorted and charged. At twenty-five feet I aimed and shot for the brain. The great brute fell.”

Martin and Osa Johnson were instrumental in introducing Americans to the wildlife of Africa and Asia, as well as the ethnography of these far-off places. Along with thousands of photos, they produced 10 documentary films, including “Jungle Adventures,” “Head Hunters of the South Seas,” “Trailing African Wild Animals,” “Simba: the King of Beasts,” “Wonders of the Congo,” and “Congorilla.” They also produced more than 70 lecture films, wrote more than 120 articles for major publications, and produced numerous photo books, like “Safari: A Saga of the African Blue,” “Camera Trails in Africa: A Photographer’s Safari in British East Africa,” and “Danger Trails in Africa.”

Osa Johnson, in a promotional shot for her children's book. Courtesy of Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum

Tragedy and Legacy

There was always the risk of danger in their work. But it was on a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles that would separate the two forever. During a storm on Jan. 12, 1937, their plane crashed into a mountainside. Five people died in the crash, Martin among them. Eleven others were injured. Osa suffered a severe leg injury, which confined her to a wheelchair for some time afterward. While rescuers pulled people from the wreckage, Osa’s cry was “Where is my husband?”

Osa Johnson recovered and continued hers and her husband’s legacy. She continued giving lectures and writing articles and books. She wrote “Osa Johnson’s Jungle Friends,” “Four Years in Paradise,” “Bride in the Solomons,” “Tarnish: The True Story of a Lion Cub,” and “Snowball: Adventures of a Young Gorilla.” Her autobiography, “I Married Adventure: The Lives of Martin and Osa Johnson,” was the number one selling nonfiction book of 1940.

Book cover of the 2019 edition of Osa Johnson's autobiography, "I Married Adventure: The Lives of Martin and Osa Johnson."

She had planned a return visit to East Africa, but died in her sleep of heart failure in 1953.

Martin and Osa Johnson’s influence is still felt today. The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas, continues to educate the public on the wildlife, times, and cultures the Johnsons witnessed. It is also home to their many films and 15,000 photographs taken while on their many adventures.

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