You probably have heard of Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, high in the mountains of Peru. But did you know that a local boy discovered it?

His name was Hiram Bingham III. His grandfather was a missionary who founded both Kawaiaha’o Church and Punahou School. Hiram Bingham III, like his father and grandfather, became a minister, but early on he met someone who knocked him off his career path — a woman. It’s an interesting story.

The grandson was born in Honolulu in 1875 and attended Punahou School. He followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and became an ordained minister. However, the tradewinds blew a private schooner into Honolulu, and the young Bingham fell in love, says a distant cousin, Charles Montague Black, who owns Furniture Plus Design at the Topa Financial Center.

The schooner belonged to the Mitchells, heirs to the Tiffany fortune. Bingham had met Alfreda Mitchell while he was a divinity student at Yale Andover College. Now she was back and he was smitten.

The Mitchells didn’t want their daughter marrying a poor pastor and kept them apart.

"Hiram gave up poverty and piety for prosperity when he left his position as an minister at Palama Settlement to get his master’s degree in history at the University of California at Berkeley," Black said.

When he had done that, the Mitchells allowed them to marry, in 1899. Her family gave them a valley in Connecticut, where they built a home and raised seven sons.

Hiram continued his studies and got a doctorate from Harvard. He became a lecturer at Yale and curator of both Harvard’s and Yale’s South American libraries.

He put together an expedition through South America to chart the land, study the people and the fauna, and collect books. While in Peru, Bingham was told of ruins high above them in the Andes.

With just one guide, an 11-year old boy, Bingham made the trek up to the 13,000-foot peak and discovered what today is considered one of the wonders of the modern world: Machu Picchu.

Black, who took 16 relatives there in 2001 for the 90th anniversary of its discovery, said Bingham found it overgrown with vines. However, what he could see was amazing: more than 140 dwellings, temples and roads. It even had waterways that entered each dwelling. More than 3,000 stone steps linked its buildings, which stretch more than five miles.

Machu Picchu (which means "old peak") was constructed at the height of the Incan empire around A.D. 1450. It was abandoned around 1572. Even though it is less than 50 miles from the Incan capital, Cuzco, the Spanish conquistadors never discovered it in their search for gold.

It is an architectural marvel and is largely intact despite the centuries that have passed since it was last inhabited. The finely crafted stonework fits together seamlessly without the use of mortar. The stairways, walls and terraces blend perfectly into its hilly setting.

"There were many llamas," Black recounted. "Most of them are taller than 6 feet and not very friendly. They run freely over the entire site and clip the grass. They can reach spots inaccessible to lawnmowers. I called them ‘llama-mowers.’"

Bingham coined the name "Lost City of the Incas," which was the title of his best-selling book. Today, Machu Picchu is a major tourist attraction that draws more than 2,500 visitors each day.

Bingham later became governor of Connecticut and then U.S. senator.

Black met Bingham on his last trip to Hawaii around 1945. "I think it was just after World War II," he said. "I was only about 10. He was here for a rest away from Washington and to visit with my grandmother. They had always been close.

"I remember him as being very tall with white hair; an imposing and handsome man. He came to our home on Tantalus with my grandparents and only stayed for about an hour."

The gallant archaeologist may have leapt from the mountains of Peru to the silver screen. Bingham was one of the people who inspired George Lucas to create the fictional character Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford wore one of Black’s cousin’s hats and jackets in the movie. But that’s another story.

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Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at sigall@yahoo.com