The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

Morde’s lies created much public interest in the Lost City. Elkins learns about the legend from a marine salvager named Steve Morgan. They put together an expedition to La Mosquitia where they think the city may be found, documented by a film crew for a German TV show. They hire a colorful fixer named Bruce Heinicke to handle logistics and manage the local bureaucracy and criminals. They make a long and difficult journey through the bush on foot and by canoe, finally ending the expedition with nothing. However, Elkins decides that finding the White City will be his life’s mission.

Elkins realizes he must be more systematic in his search for the White City, and “he accomplishe[s] this with a two-pronged attack: historical research and space-age technology” (45). A geologist named Sam Glassmire previously claimed to have found the White City, and he clearly found a notable site with a large quantity of important artifacts—yet no clear evidence exists that the expedition ever took place. Elkins names the valley that probably contains Glassmire’s site Target Four (T4).

Elkins also works with Ron Blom at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to search for target areas using space-age technology. Infrared and visual light satellite