November 16: Jimmie Angel Sees the World’s Tallest Waterfall (1933)
Prayer Idea
Pray for the Pemon people of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.
History Note
James Crawford “Jimmie” Angel was born in Missouri in 1899. As a young man, he was fascinated with the new invention of airplanes. Angel worked as a barnstormer, going from place to place giving daring flight performances. He was also a test pilot, a movie stunt pilot, and a flight instructor.
During the 1920s, Angel began flying into unexplored regions of Mexico and Central and South America. He worked for mineral exploration companies, government agencies, and scientific exploration teams.
La Gran Sabana (the Great Savannah) is a vast region in southeastern Venezuela, part grassland and part rainforest. Rising above the surface in this region are over one hundred tepuis, tabletop mountains that reach as high as 9,000 feet above sea level. These mountains teem with plant and animal life.
In 1933 Angel was an aviator and guide for the Santa Ana Mining Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma. On November 16, he was flying solo over La Gran Sabana and approached Auyántepui, the largest (though not the tallest) of the tepui in the area. In his journal, he later wrote: “I saw a waterfall that almost made me lose control of the plane. The cascade from the sky!”
Though the waterfall was likely known to the Indigenous Pemon people in the area, Jimmie Angel mapped its location and announced its existence to the outside world. By 1937 people were referring to it as Angel Falls in his honor.
Two years after his first sighting, Angel landed on top of Auyántepui. The wheels of his plane got stuck in the mud. He, his wife, and two other travel companions had to climb and walk for 11 days to get back to their base camp. The plane, El Rio Caroni, remained on top of Auyántepui until 1970, when members of the Venezuelan Air Force recovered it.
Ruth Robertson led an expedition to Angel Falls in 1949. Her team measured the first descent of the falls to be 2,648 feet. This section is the world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall. Combined with a second cataract, Angel Falls is a total of 3,212 feet high.
The majority of the Pemon people live in Venezuela, with smaller numbers in neighboring Brazil and Guyana. They traditionally supported themselves through agriculture, hunting, and fishing. After the announcement of Angel Falls, a growing number of tourists brought changes to their way of life. Political instability in Venezuela has also affected the Pemon.
After the recovery of Jimmie Angel’s plane, many of the original parts were used to build this restored airplane that was put on display at the airport in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela. Photo by Yosemite / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Learn More
Enjoy soaring views of Angel Falls and the surrounding landscape.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
