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About Orlando Ferguson
- Orlando Ferguson (November 6, 1846–February 3, 1911) was a South Dakota resident best known today for a detailed flat earth map he created in 1893. In 2011, Ferguson was the subject of press attention after a copy of his 1893 flat earth map was donated to, and accepted by, the Library of Congress.
- The Fall River Pioneer Museum in Hot Springs also retains a slightly-incomplete copy. More specifically, his map depicts a "square and stationary" Earth, based on his literal interpretation of the Bible, which references angels visiting the "four corners" of the world.
- He lectured in Hot Springs on his theory in 1891, followed up by 60 page pamphlet full of theories.
- For instance, Ferguson also asserted that the Sun was 30 miles in diameter and 3,000 miles away from Earth.
- He also disputed the existence of gravity.
- But he was largely forgotten until the 2011 donation.
- Ferguson also published a magazine in 1896 called "Square World."Ferguson was born near Du Quoin, Illinois in 1846.
- He married in 1872 and moved to the Dakota Territory in the early 1880s, finally settling in Hot Springs, South Dakota in 1886.
- There, he ran a grocery store for a few years, and later built a hotel.
- After the hotel was lost in a fire, he built a bath house around the Siloam Springs.
- While often referred to as "doctor", Ferguson was not a formal doctor or trained as such.
- The name came from the sick who visited the bath house.Ferguson died in Hot Springs in February 1911.
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