McClintock Arctic Expedition
Encyclopedia
The McClintock Arctic Expedition of 1857 was a British effort to locate the last remains of the lost Franklin Arctic Expedition
. Led by captain Francis Leopold McClintock
aboard the steam yacht Fox
, the expedition spent two years in the region and ultimately returned with the only written message from the doomed expedition. McClintock and crew were awarded the Arctic medal in recognition of their achievements.
and Inuit
testimony placed the death of final members of Franklin's lost expedition near Back's Great Fish River
in 1850, Lady Jane Franklin called for an expedition to locate these remains. A secondary goal was to secure any possible claim by Franklin as to discovery of the Northwest Passage
. To be led by McClintock, who had participated in the Arctic explorations of Sir John Ross, Horatio Austin and Henry Kellett
, it was the fifth expedition privately financed by Franklin's widow, as by this time the British government had abandoned any hopes of rescue. Lady Franklin purchased the 177 ton Fox in April 1857 after other efforts to secure a vessel failed.
With an experienced crew of 25, the Fox set sail from Aberdeen
on 1 July 1857 after extensive refitting and external sheathing suitable for Arctic service. Inuit interpreter Carl Peterson, who had served under Captain Elisha Kent Kane was included. They quickly stocked provisions, including lemon juice to prevent scurvy. The government provided additional equipment and arms.
They briefly put ashore to several ports on Greenland, sending home an ailing crewman and obtaining coal, dogs, provisions, and Inuit guides Anton Christian and Samuel Emanuel. They set out again in early August and soon encountered icebergs off Disco Bay
, reaching Melville Bay
on 12 August.
s, still hoping for liberation to Upernavik
, but on the 18 September they began to prepare the ship for winter. Wildlife, including birds, seals, narwhal
and polar bears provided hunting as the crew settled into the winter monotony. The ship's surgeon, Dr. Walker, conducted schooling for the crew, and a successful November bear hunt produced a skin that was to be presented to Lady Franklin. The seasonal darkness settled in.
December began with the death of a crewman, stoker Robert Scott, who succumbed to injuries following a fall down a hatchway. His remains were committed to the deep on 4 December. Temperatures averaged below -20°F while the crew practiced the construction of snow huts. The returning daylight improved morale as February 1858 progressed and the icebergs began to spread out. By mid-March, open lanes of water had begun to appear, but despite several efforts to free the ship, the Fox was held by the ice until 26 April. They had been held by the ice for 242 days.
, seal
, reindeer
and various birds. Meetings and barter with Inuit, emboldened by previous contact with European explorers, occurred throughout the summer. However, no information regarding Franklin was obtained, although they had some recollection of other explorers, including John Rae
.
By August, the Fox was steaming towards Beechey Island
, known to have been Franklin's first winter encampment in 1845-46. They arrived on 11 August, the once desolate site now including a depot house and several small boats. Letters left previously at the site were taken aboard. On Beechey, McClintock placed a stone monument to Franklin and his crew, provided by Lady Franklin and constructed by Henry Grinnell
, before departing on 16 August.
Through Barrow Strait
, the Fox passed the same waters that held the Enterprise and Investigator nine years earlier during the McClure Arctic Expedition
. Bellot Strait
was explored as the ship probed the westward ice, already anticipating the onset of winter. Caches of provisions were made on shore in anticipation of separate explorations in the coming spring. By 28 September they had pushed to their wintering place off of Point Kennedy. The ship was prepared for winter once again, and a magnetic observatory was built.
, and was buried on shore. Temperatures reached -47°F as animals became scarce and winds became fierce. No regular schooling was conducted, although several crewmembers busied themselves by studying navigation. 1859 was welcomed amid improvised celebrations below deck. By February, animals began to return with the increasing sunlight. One member of the crew came down with scurvy
, as he had avoided the preserved meats.
The next day, the entire 45 members of this group of Inuit arrived. McClintock purchased all of the Franklin relics they possessed, mostly silverware and buttons. While none of the natives had seen Franklin's crew alive, several had seen their remains. Some told of a group of survivors from a three-masted ship crushed by the ice west of King William's Island
, placing them in the same area as described by Rae. McClure's party returned to the Fox with this evidence on 14 March, having travelled some 360 miles and charting 120 new miles of the coast. Young's party had already returned to the ship without major discoveries. Doctor Walker's team, sent to retrieve cached provisions, returned without success on 25 March. Additional sled journeys were undertaken, and McClintock visited King William's island and overland portions of the North-West Passage found by McClure
.
McClintock encountered another group of Inuit. In addition to providing extensive relics, they described two ships near King William's Island. One of the ships had sunk in deep water, while the other was broken upon the ice with one body aboard. They described the European survivors making for the "large river" with boats in the fall of that year, many falling on the way. The following winter, their bones had been found. Following their directions, a skeleton was located on the route on 24 May, confirmed as a crewman by the remaining garments. He appeared to have died where he fell on the journey.
Meanwhile, near Cape Herschel, a sledge party led by Lieutenant W. R. Hobson located the first written communication recovered from Franklin's Expedition (note that the date of wintering at Beechey has been attributed to error):
Handwritten around the margin of this communication was the following:
Signed by Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, it also states "and start (on) to-morrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River," and documents the position of original placement at Sir James Ross's pillar. At this point, Franklin's crews were retreating for their lives. McClintock, a few days behind Hobson, continued searching the area for additional clues, which included the discovery of a large boat that had been prepared for river use, fastened to a large sledge. The boat contained the skeletal remains of two men and an extensive collection of objects that would have little value in an Arctic crossing. In exploring Back Bay into June, Hobson also found a cairn with a second note left by Lieutenant Gore in May 1847, its content similar to the first. More abandoned equipment surrounded the cairn, the most interesting of which were taken. These sites appear to have been untouched by the natives, and no part of a ship was seen.
Amid melting ice, McClintock reached the Fox on 19 June. Hobson had arrived five days earlier, unable to walk from his ordeal, but recovered on ship. Young had also returned earlier, similarly impaired by the harsh conditions, but had set out again. A few members of the crew had developed signs of scurvy, and Thomas Blackwell, the man who first contracted the disease, had perished of it before McClintock's return. Young returned again on 27 June, having mapped Peel Sound
, but finding no traces of Franklin.
Preparations for departure were made in July, and a cairn containing detailed records of their efforts was constructed. On 9 August the ice allowed them to begin steaming out, and despite the loss of their two engineers and dangerous ice, open seas were soon reached. The port of Godhavn was reached on 29 July where their Inuit guides were paid and discharged. The Fox made port in London
on 21 September 1859 having lost three members of her crew.
McClintock provided the first survey of the west coast of King William's Land . In recognition of his services, he was knighted, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1865. McClintock and members of his crew were awarded the Arctic Medal as well.
McClintock's observations of persistent pack ice in Victoria Strait
confirmed the hopelessness of Franklin's attempts to push south through the unexplored passage . A separate channel, sheltered from the pack by King William's Island but unknown to Franklin, would have provided passage.
The M'Clintock Channel
is named in his honor, as is Mount McClintock
in Antarctica.
Franklin's lost expedition
Franklin's lost expedition was a doomed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer...
. Led by captain Francis Leopold McClintock
Francis Leopold McClintock
Admiral Sir Francis Leopold McClintock or Francis Leopold M'Clintock KCB, FRS was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy who is known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.-Biography:...
aboard the steam yacht Fox
Fox (ship)
The steam yacht Fox was the vessel commanded by Francis Leopold McClintock on an expedition of the Arctic in northern Canada searching for the fate of the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin in 1857-1859.-Construction and Early History:...
, the expedition spent two years in the region and ultimately returned with the only written message from the doomed expedition. McClintock and crew were awarded the Arctic medal in recognition of their achievements.
Preparation
When John Rae reported that found artifactsRae-Richardson Arctic Expedition
The Rae-Richardson Polar Expedition of 1848 was an early British effort to determine the fate of the lost Franklin Polar Expedition. Led overland by Sir John Richardson and John Rae, the team explored the accessible areas along Franklin's proposed route near the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers...
and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
testimony placed the death of final members of Franklin's lost expedition near Back's Great Fish River
Back River
The Back River , is a river in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada...
in 1850, Lady Jane Franklin called for an expedition to locate these remains. A secondary goal was to secure any possible claim by Franklin as to discovery of the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. To be led by McClintock, who had participated in the Arctic explorations of Sir John Ross, Horatio Austin and Henry Kellett
Henry Kellett
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett KCB was a British naval officer and explorer.-Naval career:Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822...
, it was the fifth expedition privately financed by Franklin's widow, as by this time the British government had abandoned any hopes of rescue. Lady Franklin purchased the 177 ton Fox in April 1857 after other efforts to secure a vessel failed.
With an experienced crew of 25, the Fox set sail from Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
on 1 July 1857 after extensive refitting and external sheathing suitable for Arctic service. Inuit interpreter Carl Peterson, who had served under Captain Elisha Kent Kane was included. They quickly stocked provisions, including lemon juice to prevent scurvy. The government provided additional equipment and arms.
They briefly put ashore to several ports on Greenland, sending home an ailing crewman and obtaining coal, dogs, provisions, and Inuit guides Anton Christian and Samuel Emanuel. They set out again in early August and soon encountered icebergs off Disco Bay
Disco Bay
Disco Bay may refer to:*Discovery Bay *Disko Bay...
, reaching Melville Bay
Melville Bay
Melville Bay , is a large bay off the coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to the north of the Upernavik Archipelago, it opens to the south-west into Baffin Bay. Its Kalaallisut name, Qimusseriarsuaq, means "the great dog sledding place"....
on 12 August.
The First Winter
The ice gradually closed in on the Fox in just a few days, the ship making small advancements with much effort. Some seal hunting provided sport and extended their sled dog's rations as they drifted with the pack through August. By mid-September, they were slowly drifting west among the approaching icebergIceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s, still hoping for liberation to Upernavik
Upernavik
Upernavik is a small town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,129 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the thirteenth-largest town in Greenland. Due to the small size of the settlement, everything is within walking distance...
, but on the 18 September they began to prepare the ship for winter. Wildlife, including birds, seals, narwhal
Narwhal
The narwhal, Monodon monoceros, is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic. One of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale, the narwhal males are distinguished by a characteristic long, straight, helical tusk extending from their...
and polar bears provided hunting as the crew settled into the winter monotony. The ship's surgeon, Dr. Walker, conducted schooling for the crew, and a successful November bear hunt produced a skin that was to be presented to Lady Franklin. The seasonal darkness settled in.
December began with the death of a crewman, stoker Robert Scott, who succumbed to injuries following a fall down a hatchway. His remains were committed to the deep on 4 December. Temperatures averaged below -20°F while the crew practiced the construction of snow huts. The returning daylight improved morale as February 1858 progressed and the icebergs began to spread out. By mid-March, open lanes of water had begun to appear, but despite several efforts to free the ship, the Fox was held by the ice until 26 April. They had been held by the ice for 242 days.
Arctic Summer
Two days later, they were safely anchored at Holsteinborg, Greenland, where their health, spirits and provisions were restored until their departure on 10 May. They remained in the area of Upernavik, attempts at advancement forestalled by the remaining pack ice. With July, their progress improved as open leads in the ice presented themselves. Supplies were supplemented by regular hunting of polar bearPolar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
, seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
, reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
and various birds. Meetings and barter with Inuit, emboldened by previous contact with European explorers, occurred throughout the summer. However, no information regarding Franklin was obtained, although they had some recollection of other explorers, including John Rae
John Rae (explorer)
John Rae was a Scottish doctor who explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition....
.
By August, the Fox was steaming towards Beechey Island
Beechey Island
Beechey Island is an island located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait...
, known to have been Franklin's first winter encampment in 1845-46. They arrived on 11 August, the once desolate site now including a depot house and several small boats. Letters left previously at the site were taken aboard. On Beechey, McClintock placed a stone monument to Franklin and his crew, provided by Lady Franklin and constructed by Henry Grinnell
Henry Grinnell
Henry Grinnell was an American merchant and philanthropist.-Career:In 1818, Grinnell moved to New York City where he became a clerk in the commission house of H.D. & E.B. Sewell. He married Sarah Minturn in 1822. In 1825, Henry joined his brother Joseph Grinnell in Fish, Grinnell & Company...
, before departing on 16 August.
Through Barrow Strait
Barrow Strait
Barrow Strait is a shipping waterway in Northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. Forming part of the Parry Channel, the strait separates several large islands including Cornwallis Island and Devon Island to the north, from Prince of Wales Island, Somerset Island, and Prince Leopold Island to the...
, the Fox passed the same waters that held the Enterprise and Investigator nine years earlier during the McClure Arctic Expedition
McClure Arctic Expedition
The McClure Arctic Expedition of 1850, among numerous British search efforts to determine the fate of the Franklin's lost expedition, is distinguished as the voyage during which Robert McClure became the first person to confirm and transit the Northwest Passage by a combination of sea travel and...
. Bellot Strait
Bellot Strait
Bellot Strait is a passage of water in Nunavut separating Somerset Island from Murchison Promontory on the Boothia Peninsula, the northernmost part of mainland North America...
was explored as the ship probed the westward ice, already anticipating the onset of winter. Caches of provisions were made on shore in anticipation of separate explorations in the coming spring. By 28 September they had pushed to their wintering place off of Point Kennedy. The ship was prepared for winter once again, and a magnetic observatory was built.
The Second Winter
By November, the crew had again settled into winter habits, occasionally hunting and brewing sugar beer. Dogsled exploration and depot parties braved drifting ice and temperatures of -15°F. On 7 November the ship's engineer George Brands died suddenly, presumably from apoplexyApoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
, and was buried on shore. Temperatures reached -47°F as animals became scarce and winds became fierce. No regular schooling was conducted, although several crewmembers busied themselves by studying navigation. 1859 was welcomed amid improvised celebrations below deck. By February, animals began to return with the increasing sunlight. One member of the crew came down with scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
, as he had avoided the preserved meats.
Traces of Franklin
The sled dogs were separated into three teams as land parties (McClure, Captain Allen Young and Doctor David Walker) departed to extend the search on 17 February, with temperatures no less severe. McClintock's dogs experienced much difficulty with the journey, and the planned trip was shortened. Nights were passed in snow huts. On 2 March they were surprised to encounter four Inuit returning from a seal hunt. One of them wore a naval button that came, he said, from a group of Europeans who had starved near a river - Franklin's last survivors, as confirmed by John Rae in 1854. Another had met with Rae's expedition in the same area.The next day, the entire 45 members of this group of Inuit arrived. McClintock purchased all of the Franklin relics they possessed, mostly silverware and buttons. While none of the natives had seen Franklin's crew alive, several had seen their remains. Some told of a group of survivors from a three-masted ship crushed by the ice west of King William's Island
King William Island
King William Island is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and forms part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the 61st largest island in the world and Canada's 15th largest island...
, placing them in the same area as described by Rae. McClure's party returned to the Fox with this evidence on 14 March, having travelled some 360 miles and charting 120 new miles of the coast. Young's party had already returned to the ship without major discoveries. Doctor Walker's team, sent to retrieve cached provisions, returned without success on 25 March. Additional sled journeys were undertaken, and McClintock visited King William's island and overland portions of the North-West Passage found by McClure
Robert McClure
Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure was an Irish explorer of the Arctic.In 1854, he was the first to transit the Northwest Passage , as well as the first to circumnavigate the Americas.-Early life and career:He was born at Wexford, in Ireland, the posthumous son of one of Abercrombie's captains,...
.
McClintock encountered another group of Inuit. In addition to providing extensive relics, they described two ships near King William's Island. One of the ships had sunk in deep water, while the other was broken upon the ice with one body aboard. They described the European survivors making for the "large river" with boats in the fall of that year, many falling on the way. The following winter, their bones had been found. Following their directions, a skeleton was located on the route on 24 May, confirmed as a crewman by the remaining garments. He appeared to have died where he fell on the journey.
Final Communications of Franklin
Handwritten around the margin of this communication was the following:
April 25, 1848 - H. M. ships 'Terror' and 'Erebus' were deserted on the 22d April, 5 leagues N. N. W. of this, having been beset since 12th September 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69° 37' 42" N., long 98° 41' W. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.
Signed by Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, it also states "and start (on) to-morrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River," and documents the position of original placement at Sir James Ross's pillar. At this point, Franklin's crews were retreating for their lives. McClintock, a few days behind Hobson, continued searching the area for additional clues, which included the discovery of a large boat that had been prepared for river use, fastened to a large sledge. The boat contained the skeletal remains of two men and an extensive collection of objects that would have little value in an Arctic crossing. In exploring Back Bay into June, Hobson also found a cairn with a second note left by Lieutenant Gore in May 1847, its content similar to the first. More abandoned equipment surrounded the cairn, the most interesting of which were taken. These sites appear to have been untouched by the natives, and no part of a ship was seen.
Amid melting ice, McClintock reached the Fox on 19 June. Hobson had arrived five days earlier, unable to walk from his ordeal, but recovered on ship. Young had also returned earlier, similarly impaired by the harsh conditions, but had set out again. A few members of the crew had developed signs of scurvy, and Thomas Blackwell, the man who first contracted the disease, had perished of it before McClintock's return. Young returned again on 27 June, having mapped Peel Sound
Peel Sound
Peel Sound is an uninhabited Arctic waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between eastern Prince of Wales Island and northwestern Somerset Island, while Parry Channel is at the northern opening and Franklin Strait is at the southern opening.There are several named islands...
, but finding no traces of Franklin.
Preparations for departure were made in July, and a cairn containing detailed records of their efforts was constructed. On 9 August the ice allowed them to begin steaming out, and despite the loss of their two engineers and dangerous ice, open seas were soon reached. The port of Godhavn was reached on 29 July where their Inuit guides were paid and discharged. The Fox made port in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 21 September 1859 having lost three members of her crew.
Legacy
McClintock and Hobson discovered the last written communications from the last survivors of the Franklin expedition, confirming elements of the history maintained by local Inuit as well as the date of Franklin's own death.McClintock provided the first survey of the west coast of King William's Land . In recognition of his services, he was knighted, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1865. McClintock and members of his crew were awarded the Arctic Medal as well.
McClintock's observations of persistent pack ice in Victoria Strait
Victoria Strait
Victoria Strait is a strait in northern Canada that lies in Nunavut off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean. It is between Victoria Island to the west and King William Island to the east. From the north the strait links the M'Clintock Channel and the Larsen Sound with the Queen Maud Gulf to the south...
confirmed the hopelessness of Franklin's attempts to push south through the unexplored passage . A separate channel, sheltered from the pack by King William's Island but unknown to Franklin, would have provided passage.
The M'Clintock Channel
M'Clintock Channel
M'Clintock Channel is located in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The channel, an arm of the Arctic Ocean, divides Victoria Island from Prince of Wales Island. This channel is named after Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, in Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, famous for his Canadian Arctic...
is named in his honor, as is Mount McClintock
Mount McClintock
Mount McClintock is the highest mountain in the Britannia Range in Australian Antarctic Territory, surmounting the south end of Forbes Ridge, east of Mount Olympus. It was discovered by the Discovery expedition and named for Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock, Royal Navy, a member of the Ship...
in Antarctica.