Sasha Siemel

Alexander “Sasha” Siemel (1890-1970) was an adventurer, hunter, guide, actor, writer, photographer, and lecturer. He spoke seven languages. He had more adventures in one year of his life than most men have in an entire lifetime. He is a legend among sportsmen, having killed more than 300 jaguars or “tigres” during his years in the Matto Grosso jungles of Brazil.

Biography

Born in Riga, Latvia, Sasha arrived in the United States in 1907 at the age of 17. Staying in the states for only two years he headed for Argentina where he was employed in a Buenos Aires printing shop. In 1914 Siemel traveled to the jungles of Brazil where he worked as a gunsmith and mechanic in the diamond mining camps of the Matto Grosso. Here he met a native who taught him to become a Tigrero, one who kills jaguars armed only with a spear. In the article “Interviewing the Tiger-Man”, Siemel stated, “… I learned the art from a poor native who had nothing but a home-made spear where I had my high-powered rifle. But I do think I was a good pupil and will admit that it calls for experience and judgment." [1] In the July 1937 Ye Slyvan Archer, he wrote an article that stated, “It is only logical and natural that I should (prefer the bow to the rifle). The spear is a primitive weapon, so is the bow. While I would not want to say that hunting big cats with a rifle can not be plenty dangerous and exciting under all circumstances, particularly so in our Matto Grosso jungles, where vision is extremely limited, it seems to me that the bow complements the spear. If I now had any use for a shield besides, I should feel perfectly equipped.”ref>2]

With his new “title” of Tigrero, he found employment with the ranches of the Pantanal, hunting jaguars that are attacking livestock. In 1925, Sasha killed his first jaguar using a zagya, a seven foot spear, making him the only white man to attain such a feat. This does not go unnoticed by the “civilized world” for long and by 1931 a novel “Green Hell” by Julian Duguid is printed. This book is a recounting of the 1929 trip across the Pantanal that Duguid and two other adventurers from England embarked on with Siemel as their guide. It is in this book that Sasha is given the name “Tiger Man” which is used as the title of Duguid’s 1932 biography of Siemel. Encouraged by Julian Duguid, Sasha began to lecture at explorer clubs throughout the world.

In 1937, while lecturing in Philadelphia, Sasha meets Edith Bray, a young photographer who later joins him in the Pantanal. Three years, at the age of 47, Sasha married Edith and the two remained in the Pantanal and began raising a family. During this time, Sasha became an actor, appearing in the 1937, fifteen episode, Frank Buck serial “Jungle Menace”, as Tiger Van Dorn. The serial was compiled into a feature film in 1946 and released under the title “Jungle Terror”.

Sasha, Edith and their children, Sandra, Dora, Sasha Jr. (Sashino), move to southeastern Pennsylvania after purchasing a farm in 1947. Bom Retiro, as they have named the farm, became the permanent residence for the rest of Sasha’s life. Here their second son, Carlie, was born in 1955, completing the Siemel family. From here he led a quiet life, lecturing and continuing to lead expeditions to South America.

As an author, Sasha had been writing article for various outdoor magazines including National Geographic. In 1949, Sasha and Edith co-wrote the book “Jungle Wife”, an accounting of family life in the jungle. He penned his autobiography “Tigrero”in 1953. It was to be made into a movie by director Samuel Fuller. Instead, Tigrero is the subject of 1994 documentary by Mika Kaurismäki. Tigrero: A Film That Was Never Made that featured Fuller and Jim Jarmusch visiting the proposed Amazon locations of the film. In 1954, Siemel’s second book, Jungle Fury was published.

Sasha was interviewed by journalist Charles Collingwood for the “Adventure” series produced by the American Museum of Natural History and broadcast on the CBS television network in 1953. The family returned to Brazil briefly in 1959 when Sashino was thirteen years old. His adventure is told in the 1965 book “Sashino”. In 1963,The Sasha Siemel Museum and Store opened in Perkiomenville, PA, formerly a century old story mill located on the Perkiomen Creek. The museum housed his collection of hunting trophies, works of art, curios, minerals, shells, coins, weapons, Indian utensils and many other items. “Among the most interesting of the displays are Sasha Siemel’s mementos of his many years of daring adventures and explorations as the only white man to hunt jaguars armed with a hand-made spear. Here are the trophies of many exciting hunts and the equipment used in hunting and capturing jaguars.” [3] Museum admission was 75 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. The museum closed in 1969 after his last trip to the Pantanal, guiding a group of geologists. Sasha Siemel died in 1970 at the age of 80.

Books

Death in the Silent Places, Peter Hathaway Capstick, 1981, 288p.

Sashino, Sasha Siemel, Jr., 1965, 165p.

Jungle Fury, Sasha Siemel, 1954

Tigrero!, Sasha Siemel, 1953, 266 p.

Jungle Wife, Sasha Siemel, Edith Bray Siemel, Gordon Schendel, 1949, 308p.

Tiger-Man, Julian Duguid, 1932

Green Hell, Julian Duguid, 1931

Magazine Articles

Action Caravan [v1 #1,May 1951] Don Marco Keeps the Peace, Sasha Siemel

American Bowman Review [Nov. 1945] and Sash Potted the Cat

Archery [July 1946] Hunting Jaguar in Matto Grosso, Edith Siemel

Archery [Aug. 1951] Siemels Return From Matto Grosso, Sasha Siemel

Argosy [April 28, 1934] Men of Daring: Sasha Siemel, Jungle Nomad!, Allen Stockie

Argosy [Nov. 1950] This One Almost Got Me, Sasha Siemel

Argosy [Feb. 1951] Cannibals On Our Trail, Sasha Siemel

Argosy [Dec. 1953] Bold Cat, Bold Hunter, Sasha Siemel

Blue Book Magazine [v 60 #1, November 1934] Spearing a Jaguar, Sasha Siemel Bowhunting [Apr.1959] Tigrero!

Colliers [v 119, June 28, 1947] Spear That Tiger, Sasha Siemel

Colliers [Aug. 16, 1947] At Home With the Jungle Giants

Field and Stream [May 1935] Hand Spearing Jaguars, Sasha Siemel

Life [March 24, 1952]

Life [Oct.26, 1953] The Death of Assassino, Sasha Siemel

National Geographic [1959, p.695] The Jungle Was My Home, Sasha Siemel

Outdoor Life [May 1933] White Spearman of the Jungle, Tracey Lewis

Outdoor Life [Feb. 1954] Interview with Edith Siemel

Outdoor Life [May 1967] Jaguar Man Returns: Sasha Siemel Hunts Again

People Today [Oct.12, 1951] Tarzan and Family

Reader’s Digest [Feb. 1954]

Rocks & Minerals [March, 2000] Collecting Tales From Brazil Part 2

Safari [July/Aug. 1995] Sasha Siemel and the Quest for Freedom, Edward O’Brien Jr.

Safari [July/Aug. 2002] The True Tigrero, Dexter K. Oliver

The Archer’s Magazine [ Nov. 1952] Recent Activities of the Siemel Family, Jane Morrow

The Feathered Shaft [June 1949] Tiger-Man, E. Johnston

The Feathered Shaft [Dec. 1947] Sasha Siemel Lectures Thrill Thousands

Time [Apr. 21, 1930] Tiger-Man

Time [Aug. 25, 1930] Catching Them

Time [Apr. 13, 1931] Matto Grosso Rigors

Time [Oct. 5, 1931] Hounds v. Big Game

Time [Jun.1, 1931] Tiger-Man

Time [Dec. 21, 1931] Menu

Time [Sept. 8, 1952] The Winning of the West

Traditional Bowhunter [Apr/May 1998] Zagaya Hombre, Gene Wensel

Ye Slyvan Archer [May 1937] Interviewing the Tiger-Man, George Brommers

Ye Slyvan Archer [July 1937] Why I Prefer the Bow to the Rifle, Sasha Siemel

Films

Jungle Menace, 1937, 15 episode serial starring Frank Buck

Jungle Terror, 1946

Spear hunting jaguars ; Kontiki [videorecording.] Publisher New York : American Museum of Natural History : CBS, 1953; 1 videocassette (60 min.) : sound, b&w ; 3/4 in

SEGMENT 1: Spear Hunting Jaguars. Charles Collingwood, narrator of the Adventure series, interviews Sasha Siemel, a professional hunter for 35 years who makes his living spear hunting jaguars for cattle ranchers in South America. Siemel, who has lectured at the AMNH, shows films of various forms of wildlife around his home in Matto Grosso, Brazil, and also lets the viewers see his hunting activities: capturing a cub in the jungle and spearing a jaguar. (Jaguars are the largest cats in the New World.) Siemel has killed over 300 jaguars, but only 31 by spear. Siemel demonstrates in the studio the movements of a spear hunter and shows some of his own hand-made spears to the studio while discussing their construction techniques..Film Collection no. 37 Spear hunting jaguars ; Kontiki [videorecording.] Publisher New York : American Museum of Natural History : CBS, 1953.

References

1 Ye Slyvan Archer [May 1937] Interviewing the Tiger-Man, George Brommers

2 Ye Slyvan Archer [July 1937] Why I Prefer the Bow to the Rifle, Sasha Siemel

3 Sasha Siemel Museum & Store ad

Sashino, Sasha Siemel, Jr., 1965, 165p.

Tigrero!, Sasha Siemel, 1953, 266 p.

sashasiemel.com