Helen Jane Schreider ( Armstrong; May 3, 1926 – February 6, 2025) and Frank Schreider (January 8, 1924 – January 21, 1994) were American explorers in the mid-20th century, known for traveling by amphibious jeep. National Geographic hired them after their first independent journey from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego (1954–56). They were the first people to travel the length of the Americas solely by means of their own power. They completed six additional expeditions through National Geographic, working freelance at first and later as foreign editorial staff, for fifteen years, from 1956 to 1970. They worked as a team and lived for periods of time in about 50 countries on five continents. Helen and Frank Schreider were known for their ability to write, photograph and film within the cultures they visited. They wrote three books, six major articles for National Geographic, and contributed to nine other books. They also made three separate nationwide speaking tours with their films.
Early exploration Frank and Helen met at the University of California at Los Angeles, where Frank studied engineering and Helen fine arts. They married in 1947, but it wasn't until February 1951 that they embarked on a belated honeymoon, beginning their life of exploration and adventure. With their German shepherd Dinah they set out in a jeep for a jaunt to South America, but four months later they were back, disillusioned and broke. They had gotten only as far as Costa Rica, where they hit a "wall of mountains," as the Pan American Highway had not yet been completed.Helen and Frank Schreider, 20,000 Miles South: A Pan American Adventure in a Seagoing Jeep from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, 1957, p. 14.
Following this experience, they realized that to bypass the mountains of Costa Rica and the jungles of Panama they would need an amphibious vehicle in order to go by sea when they couldn't get through on land.
In the fall of 1951, Frank found an old rusty World War II amphibious jeep in a junkyard. He began the work to rebuild the engine and to repair the hull, while Helen designed the interior storage and living space.Schreider 1957, pp.15-17
Before the Schreiders could set off on another venture, they needed to raise money, so before finishing the jeep repairs they left for a two-year job at an air force base in Anchorage, Alaska. While there they expanded their dreams of adventure. They would start their journey at Circle, Alaska, the northernmost town in North America, and they’d travel to the end of Argentina to Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the world's southernmost town. This would be a journey of 20,000 miles.Schreider 1957, pp. 21-22.
The Schreiders started their journey from Circle on June 21, 1954, arriving in California a couple of weeks later where they continued to work on the rehabilitation of the amphibious jeep.Schreider 1957, pp. 23-25. Months later, christened with a Coke bottle, "La Tortuga," the two-and-a-half ton turtle was born. The craft was successfully launched in a calm bay in Los Angeles – making front-page news in the Los Angeles Times.Schreider 1957, p. 29.Jerry Hulse, "Seagoing Vehicle readied for Tour," Los Angeles Times, December 27, 1954. pp. 1&6
On January 1, 1955, they began the next phase of their journey.George Dissinger, "Amphibious Jeep Travelers--San Diego Pair Halts Here on Trip From Arctic to Cape Horn," San Diego Evening Tribune, January 1, 1955, Section B, p. 2. At the southern end of Mexico the highway gave way to 200 miles of oxcart tracks through thick jungle.Frank and Helen Schreider,"Hazardous roads, impenetrable forests pose problems in Mexican back country," Daily Times-Advocate, April 16, 1955. Navigating this tangle of trees, vines, boulders and mud, with the help of local people and their machetes, they finally reached the wall of mountains in Costa Rica that had blocked them four years earlier. This time they turned to the coastline to go by sea but there was no calm bay to enter the ocean. They had to launch from the beach into twenty-foot waves, nearly ending their journey before it truly began.Schreider 1957, pp. 70-104.
La Tortuga proved to be seaworthy and they entered the Pacific on four occasions and survived four terrifying days in rough ocean water. They were then misled by a friendly fisherman to go inland on a small river to a supposed road, which turned out to be not a road but a railroad. In desperation, they drove 35 miles on the railroad, bouncing along the ties, which almost destroyed La Tortuga. Somehow they survived, got themselves to Panama City where it took Frank six weeks (and considerable expense) to repair La Tortuga.Schreider 1957, 105-123.
On May 11 they passed through the Panama Canal, but this was an adventure in itself, with La Tortuga looking like a minnow beside the huge ships."Amphibious Jeep Makes Canal Transit Today," The Nation, May 11, 1955.Loretta Sayre, "Panamanian Governor rides with Schreiders as Jeep makes crossing of Canal," Daily Times-Advocate, May 16, 1955, p. 1."Amphibious Exercise," Time Magazine, May 23, 1955, p. 30."The Amphibious Jeep 'Tortuga' passes through Canal," Panama Canal Review, June 3, 1955, p. 15. The officer in charge of the Panama Canal Zone, Admiral Miles, tried in vain to dissuade them from entering the Caribbean. In parting, the admiral said that if they made it through the Caribbean to South America and Tierra del Fuego, he would recommend Frank to the Explorers Club.Schreider 1957, pp. 124-137.Neil Morgan,"San Diego Memo," San Diego Evening Tribune, December 1, 1955, Section B, p. 1.
After the Panama Canal they survived a perilous 300-mile journey on the Caribbean. To escape violent storms they sought refuge on islands inhabited by the San Blas Indians. Initially, these isolated people thought La Tortuga was a sea monster, but upon seeing the Schreiders and Dinah, they treated them with great hospitality.Dr. Clyde Keeler, "Schreiders' Jeep believed 'Sea Monster' by San Blas Indians," Star-Herald, June 15, 1955. Finally they arrived on dry land in Colombia after a month at sea.Schreider 1957, pp. 145-187."Schreiders make first land trip--S.D. pair reach South America in Jeep," San Diego Evening News, July 15, 1955, p. B-1.
From Colombia they continued through Ecuador,"Dos norteamericanos realizan raid desde Alaska a Tierra del Fuego en un anfibio," El Comercio, Quito, 28 de Julio, 1955. p. 1. [Equator, in Spanish] and while in Peru took La Tortuga all the way to the remote ruins of Machu Picchu, where they found it deserted but for themselves.Schreider 1957, pp. 242-244."The US Ambassador to Peru receives Mr. and Mrs. Schreider," Peruvian Times, Vol XV, No 767, September 2, 1955, p. 2. Afterwards, often with no roads to speak of, they traversed Bolivia to Chile, where La Tortuga sailed 50 miles across three interconnected lakes to get to Argentina and proceed to its southern tip.Schreider 1957, pp. 260-274."En Jeep anfibio uniran an Alaska con el extremo sur del Continente Americano," El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile, November 18, 1955, pp.1&19.
They then crossed the treacherous Strait of Magellan and finally landed on Tierra del Fuego. From the beach where they landed, a road building crew struggled to help them push and pull La Tortuga through an unfinished road to Ushuaia, finally reaching their goal on January 23, 1956. La Tortuga was the first vehicle to ever arrive on the island on its own power, for which it was issued an Ushuaia license plate #1. Only then were they able to reassure their families and friends back home that they survived their journey."Cross Straits--Pair in Jeep Cover Length of Americas," San Diego Evening Tribune, February 2, 1956, p. B-1."Pair completes long car trek," The Key West Citizen, February 3, 1956. p.2."Alaska to Argentina--couple in Jeep end 22,000-mile journey," The San Diego Union, February 14, 1956, pp.1&a-4."High Adventure," Saturday Evening Post, February 23, 1956, p. 6."De Alaska a la Patagonia en un 'Jeep Anfibio,'" Zig Zag, 10 de marzo de 1956, p. 31 [Chile, in Spanish].Hector Grossi,"Operacion Anfibio Alaska-Tierra del Fuego," El Hoger, March 16, 1956, pp 62, 63, 70, 82. [Argentina, in Spanish]. Fortuitously, a few days later, an officer of the Argentine Navy invited them, along with the battered Tortuga, to board a freighter for Buenos Aires, and eventually they arrived back home in California on April 9, 1956.Schreider 1957, pp. 275-287."Pioneers--Two Jeep to Cape Horn from Arctic," Los Angeles Times, April 10, 1956, p.2."22,000-mile Jeep trip ends for pair," Los Angeles Herald & Express, April 10, 1956, p. A-12."Traveled by Jeep--Arctic-to-Horn pair welcomed by Mayor," Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1956, Part 2, p 1.Ron Kenny, "Schreiders rest at Valley Center after driving from Arctic to Tierra del Fuego," Daily Times-Advocate, April 16, 1956, p. 1.Ron Kenney, "Schreiders tell of difficulties they overcame on two-continent journey," The San Diego Union. April 22, 1956, p. a-36.
Frank started writing about their travels while on board the ship and within a few months he completed their book 20,000 Miles South, which Doubleday published in 1957.James. Daniel (9 June 1957). "Traveling by Turtle" New York Times."20,000 Miles South--Book Review," UCLA Alumni Magazine, May 1957."20,000 Miles South, Helen and Frank Schreider, Doubleday--Book Review," Los Angeles Free Press, May 9, 1957.Alice Dixon Bond, "20,000 Miles South by Helen and Frank Schreider, Doubleday--Book Review," The Boston Sunday Herald, June 2, 1957, Section IV, Books in Review, p. 15.Lewis S. Young, "20,000 Miles South--Review", Los Angeles Herald Express, June 5, 1957."Sea-Going Jeep--First time ever trail is blazed Arctic to Tierra," Toronto Star, May 11, 1957."Couple span Americas in Amphibious Jeep," Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1957. Part III, p. 26. In addition to their Doubleday contract, they also sold the story to Saturday Evening Post, which ran a five-week serial on their adventure.The Schreider adventure was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post: January 12, 1957, "We Made the ‘Impossible’ Tour, Part One: How We Motored Through the Jungle." January 19, 1957, "We Made the ‘Impossible’ Tour: Part Two: How We Went to Sea in a Jeep." January 26, 1957, "We Made the ‘Impossible’ Tour, Part Three: Island-Hopping the Spanish Main." February 2, 1957, "We Made the ‘Impossible’ Tour: Part Four: Trigger-Happy Territory." February 9, 1957, "We Made the ‘Impossible’ Tour: Conclusion: The Land of Fire – three agonizing miles of travel in southern Argentina."
During their travels, in addition to photographs, they filmed their journey on a 16 mm Bolex camera. After editing the film on their return, they were booked on a speaking tour throughout the US and parts of Canada. They would stand on stage (with Dinah of course) speaking on microphones, narrating the journey live, while the film played behind them.Paul Sampson, "Couple Lecturing on Jeep Trip From Alaska to South America," The Washington Post, November 16, 1957, p. B-1. At one of the first such events at Constitution Hall in Washington DC, Dr. Melville Bell Grosvenor approached them and asked them to work for National Geographic. He wanted them to do more amphibious jeep expeditions to foreign lands.
After their presentation at Constitution Hall, the nationally syndicated columnist, Ed Koterba wrote that "all other travel settings on the surface of this earth must be anti-climactic after the Schreider voyage" and that their amphibious jeep, "La Tortuga," should be placed in the Smithsonian Museum "right along with the Spirit of St. Louis and other dramatic symbols of ‘famous firsts.’"Koterba, Ed (27 November 1957). “Tribute to a Jeep”. The Herald-Mail, p. 10.