Missionary misadventures with bandits, mountains, villagers

Guardians of the road in the 1900s. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection

By Robert Neff

Richard Sidebotham, an American missionary living in Korea in the early 1900s, is often associated (rather inaccurately) with bringing the first piano into Korea, but I always associate him with what he lost ― his clothes.

On October 14, 1900, Sidebotham was accompanying Mrs. Johnson (the wife of a fellow missionary) and her small child from Busan to their home in Daegu when they were suddenly set upon by a band of 20 Korean highwaymen armed with swords and other crude weapons.

Horace N. Allen, the American representative in Korea, was promptly notified of the attack but did not seem overly alarmed ― despite rumors of an anti-foreign movement being organized in Korea similar to that in China. Perhaps his lack of alarm was due to his less-than-favorable impression of Sidebotham.

In a letter to his sons, Allen described the missionary as a "galvanized (I mean naturalized) American … of feeble appearance [and] feeble actions." The ruffians easily intimidated the missionary and realized almost immediately that "he was a man of no spirit [and] decided to have some fun with him."

Allen seemed to take great delight in denigrating his fellow missionary (Allen originally came to Korea as a missionary doctor) to his sons. He seemed almost giddy as he described Sidebotham being stripped of all of his clothing by the bandits, then having Mrs. Johnson's bonnet placed upon his head and finally forced to taste all of the provisions ― including the baby food. This tasting may have been done because the bandits were unfamiliar with Western food or they were worried that it was poisonous. Once they were satisfied that the food was edible, they wolfed it down while presumably laughing at the naked missionary. Allen insisted that the entire American community in Seoul felt that Sidebotham "has disgraced us all by his cowardice."

A Korean street in the early 1900s. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection

However, another missionary, James Scarth Gale, was more charitable with his description of the event.

He reported that the Korean robbers "stationed Mr. Sidebotham on a rock, prodded him gently with their swords, and then demanded clothing, money, and baggage, promising to leave him intact if he responded quickly. There was nothing to do but to yield…"

While Allen had nothing but contempt for Sidebotham, he was deeply impressed with Mrs. Johnson's stoic behavior.

"When they attempted to take off her clothes, she struck out properly and gave them some good hard blows in the face. She was hit several times with the back of a sword but came off best. She then made them give back some of the baby food for her very young. She did us great credit."

Eventually, the Westerners ― Mrs. Johnson fully clothed and with her dignity and Sidebotham covered with shame and whatever he could scrounge to hide his nakedness ― arrived safely in Daegu.

Allen appealed to the Korean government for satisfaction and eventually, through some compromise between Mr. Johnson and the Korean magistrate, the issue was put to rest. The robbery was, according to Allen, "unpremeditated and of no anti-foreign significance, and of a similar character with many such cases occurring in that region wherein Koreans were the sufferers."

Allen seemed to take fiendish delight in taunting Sidebotham ― going so far as to sending him a message informing him that the American government would "be unable to recover his panties" nor accommodate his "excessive demands for indemnity." In at least two letters ― one to a fellow diplomat and the other to Sidebotham's superior ― Allen wrote:

"I expect to get a very complaining letter from our naturalized friend, Mr. Sidebotham. These naturalized citizens have great ideas of the duties their Government owes them."

It is unclear if Sidebotham was aware of Allen's opinion of him. If he was, he apparently kept it to himself. However, this incident was not his only encounter with highwaymen and nakedness.

A mountainous region of Korea in the 1900s. Robert Neff Collection

Several years later, Sidebotham and his further adventures in the southern part of the peninsula became reading material for the American community in Seoul. The stories were more along the lines of a travelogue rather than an official complaint.

In November 1904, he and another missionary traveled throughout South Gyeongsang Province. According to Sidebotham, they traveled through six magistracies where "a careful enquiry seemed to indicate that not more than one foreigner had ever been seen in any magistracy." One of these men was apparently Hugh Miller, a missionary who traveled from Jeonju (North Jeolla Province) to Jinju (South Gyeongsang Province) on his bike in 1900.

In an article published in The Korea Review (June 1905), Sidebotham declared: "Even the French fathers whom I had considered ubiquitous in [Gyeongsang] Province seem to have left these magistracies out of their travels" but then he admitted some doubt as to the veracity of his statement when he added, "though some indefinite rumors led me to think perhaps three out of the six had been touched."

His account of his travel is rather boring, but there are a few gems worth repeating. Upon spying Jirisan in the distance ― a mountain that "has won for itself a place of prominence in Korean mountain lore" ― one of his voluble Korean companions declared the foot of the mountain had a circumference of about 290 kilometers and "that it was [24 kilometers] from bottom to top by the shortest road." Its forested slopes were abundant with wild animals, especially bears, tigers and wild boars, and its summit could only be reached in the summer months. The Korean insisted that at the present (in late November), the snow on the summit "would be up to one's neck."

Sidebotham was extremely impressed with the Hapcheon area of South Gyeongsang Province:

"Entering the district of [Hapcheon] from the eastern side we came upon the prettiest natural scenery I have found in Korea. It was a gigantic mountain cliff overhanging for perhaps half a mile a delightful little stream. About halfway up the cliff was a winding natural road about eight feet wide, while above, the rocks towered up a straight column and below, there was a sheer drop of two hundred feet or so to the glistening stream. But not only was this natural roadway a wonder to us, but we marveled at the rich verdure on that rocky prominence. Large trees a foot in diameter sprang sideways out of solid rock and then coming upwards sent out their branches as naturally as if the roots were imbedded in rich earth. The November weather had tinted the leaves with every autumnal hue, and the colored foliage was so thick we hardly saw the sun from one end of the beautiful walk to the other."

Plowing with cows in the 1900s. Robert Neff Collection

Of course, walking along these rugged paths was not without its risks. They encountered two huge boulders upon the path that had fallen from above. Naturally enough, the discovery of the boulders invoked within them a fear of being killed by a falling rock, but according to the local superstition, it was not the impact that would kill them.

"The inhabitants of the village nearby say that whenever a rock falls someone in the village dies within a few days. Not long since an old man passed away ten days after a piece of rock had broken loose from the cliff and fallen."

There were other dangers. For some reason the normally gentle Korean cows did not like missionaries. Near the town of Hamyang, they encountered a young man plowing his field with a cow. The cow, upon noticing the Americans, "began to look wildly alarmed." The missionaries yelled for the farmer to take a firm grip upon his bovine plow but he waved them off; it was a serious mistake on his part. The terrified cow made good its escape, dragging the plow behind it, leaving the farmer to bemoan his fate. Apparently he had borrowed the plow from a neighbor and would have to replace it. The replacement cost was equal to his yearly income.

Bandits and highwaymen were also constant threats. At one point they passed "a body of men just emerging from a village while the cries of distress arose wildly from the place." When the missionaries arrived at the town of Sancheong, they were informed that one night, not long before their arrival, "twenty-nine men had come into town stark naked, who had been seized one by one as they came over the high mountain we had just crossed; and then after hours of hungry waiting they had been stripped of their all and let go."

It must have brought back some unpleasant memories for Sidebotham.

Despite the hardships, the missionary declared that the "trip ended pleasantly" and boasted that he and his companion "had seen more of this part of the world than any other Protestant missionaries." Perhaps the only complaint he had was that he wished all of his fellow missionaries "might travel more."

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.