Editing Martin and Osa Johnson (section)

==Safaris==
[[File:Osa Johnson and airplane.jpg|thumb|Osa with a gibbon in their S-39]]
In 1917, Martin and Osa departed on a nine-month trip through the [[New Hebrides]] (now [[Vanuatu]]) and the [[Solomon Islands]]. The highlight of the trip was a brief, but harrowing, encounter with a tribe called the [[Big Nambas]] of northern [[Malekula]]. Once there, the chief was not going to let them leave. The intervention of a British gunboat helped them escape. The footage they got there inspired the feature film ''[[Among the Cannibal Isles of the South Seas]]'' (1918).

The Johnsons returned to Malekula in 1919 to film the Big Nambas once again, this time with an armed escort. The escort proved unnecessary as the Big Nambas were disarmed by  watching themselves in ''Among the Cannibal Isles of the South Seas''. Martin and Osa finished their trip in 1920 with visits to [[British North Borneo]] (now [[Sabah]]) and a sailing expedition up the coast of East Africa. After returning home, they released the features ''[[Jungle Adventures]]'' (1921) and ''[[Headhunters of the South Seas]]'' (1922).

The Johnsons' first African expedition, from 1921 to 1922, resulted in their feature film ''[[Trailing Wild African Animals]]'' (1923).

During the second and longest trip, from 1924 to 1927, the Johnsons spent much of their time in northern [[Kenya]] by a lake they dubbed Paradise, at [[Mount Marsabit]]. The movies ''[[Martin's Safari]]'' (1928), ''[[Osa's Four Years in Paradise]]'' (1941), and the film ''[[Simba: King of the Beasts]]'' (1928) were made with footage of these trips.

In 1925, Osa and Martin met the Duke and Duchess of York, later [[King George VI]] and [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth]], while on safari in Kenya.<ref>Johnson, Osa. ''I Married Adventure''. (1940). J.B. Lippincott Company. U.S.A., 6th Edition, chap. 23, pp. 289-293</ref>

The third African safari from 1927 to 1928 was a tour of the [[Nile]] with friend and supporter [[George Eastman]], founder of [[Kodak|Eastman Kodak]]. Film of this trip, along with previous footage, was made into one of the first talkies for the Johnsons, ''[[Across the World with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson]]'' (1930), a cinema serial which included Martin's narrative.

In 1928, three Eagle Scouts were selected in national competition to go on safari with the Johnsons in East Africa: Robert Dick Douglas, Jr., of North Carolina, David R. Martin, Jr., of Minnesota, and Douglas L. Oliver of Georgia. The three scouts co-authored the 1928 book ''Three Boy Scouts in Africa: on Safari with Martin Johnson''. In later life, Douglas (1912-2015) was an attorney, Martin (1913-2004) became an executive in the [[Boy Scouts of America]], and Oliver (1913-2009) was an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at both Harvard University and the University of Hawaii.

[[File:Bambuti.jpg|thumb|Osa Johnson with Mbuti pygmies in 1930.]]
From 1929 to 1931, the Johnsons spent a fourth tour in Africa in the [[Belgian Congo]]. There they filmed the [[Mbuti]] people of the [[Ituri Forest]] and the [[gorilla]]s in the Alumbongo Hills. The 1932 feature movie ''[[Congorilla (film)|Congorilla]]'' was in part a product of this trip, and was the first movie with sound authentically recorded in Africa.

[[Image:OSAS ARK.jpg|right|thumb|Osa's Ark S-38]]
In 1932, the Johnsons learned to fly at the Chanute Municipal Airport (now named the [[Chanute Martin Johnson Airport]]) in Osa's hometown of [[Chanute, Kansas|Chanute]]. Once they had their pilot's licenses, they purchased two [[Sikorsky Aircraft|Sikorsky]] amphibious planes, a [[Sikorsky S-39|S-39-CS]] ''Spirit of Africa'' and [[Sikorsky S-38|S-38-BS]] ''Osa's Ark''. On their fifth African trip, from 1933 to 1934, the Johnsons flew the length of Africa, getting now classic aerial scenes of large herds of elephants, giraffes, and other animals moving across the plains of Africa. They were the first pilots to fly over [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] and [[Mount Kenya]] in Africa and film them from the air. The 1935 feature film ''[[Baboona]]'' was made from this footage.

On January 3, 1935, ''Baboona'' was shown on an Eastern Air Lines plane, becoming the first sound movie shown during flight.<ref>Daly, Phil M.. "Along the Rialto". ''The Film Daily''. January 4, 1935. page. 7</ref> The movie premiered on January 22, 1935, at the Rialto Theatre in New York City.<ref>Imperato, Pascal James; Imperato, Eleanor M. ''They Married Adventure''. (1992). Rutgers University Press. U.S.A. p. 185</ref> In 1935, the Johnsons were featured on [[Wheaties]] cereal boxes as "Champions of Sports." Osa Johnson was the second female to appear on the box and she and Martin were the first married couple selected for this honor.

The Johnsons' final trip together took them to [[British North Borneo]] again, from 1935 to 1936. They used their smaller amphibious plane, now renamed ''The Spirit of Africa and Borneo'', and produced footage for the feature ''[[Borneo (film)|Borneo]]'' (1937). Martin Johnson was a member of the [[Adventurers' Club of New York]].<ref>"Martin Johnson" (obituary). ''The Adventurer'', January 1937.</ref> He described the Borneo expedition before the club on November 19, 1936, the event being called "Martin Johnson Night."<ref>"The November Dinner." ''The Adventurer'', December 1936.</ref> He previewed his "Borneo Pictures" before the group on December 17, 1936.<ref>"The December Meeting." ''The Adventurer'', January 1937.</ref>

In January 1937, Martin and Osa began a nationwide lecture and radio tour at the [[Salt Lake Tabernacle|Mormon Tabernacle]] in [[Salt Lake City]]. On the morning of January 12, they boarded a flight bound for [[Las Vegas]] and [[Burbank, California|Burbank]]. [[Western Air Express Flight 7|The plane crashed]] in bad weather near the Los Pinetos peak in California. Martin died the following day.<ref>Imperato, Pascal James; Imperato, Eleanor M.. ''They Married Adventure''. (1992). Rutgers University Press. U.S.A. p. 195-197</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=Accident Boeing 247 NC13315, 12 Jan 1937 |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/34069 |access-date=2022-06-17 |website=aviation-safety.net}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Investigation of Aircraft Accident: WESTERN AIR EXPRESS CORPORATION: NEWHALL, CALIFORNIA: 1937-01-12 |date=1937-01-12 |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32993 |editor-last=Department of Commerce |language=English |access-date=2022-06-17}}</ref> Osa was severely injured but recovered and gave hundreds of lectures from a wheelchair.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-osa-johnson/|title=Osa Johnson|publisher=Columbia University|work=Women Film Pioneers Project|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref> By October 1937, the ''[[New York Times]]'' was publishing dispatches of Osa's latest trip to Africa, in which she described lifestyles and practices of the [[Maasai people|Maasai]] and other tribes.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/10/24/archives/natives-endanger-the-johnson-party-tanganyika-warriors-become.html |title=NATIVES ENDANGER THE JOHNSON PARTY |last=JOHNSON |first=OSA |date=1937-11-24 |website=New York Times |access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref> She died in New York City of a heart attack in 1953.

Osa Johnson's autobiography ''I Married Adventure'' was the best-selling non-fiction book of 1940.