Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1916
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913–1916 was organized and led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson
. The expedition was divided into a Northern Party led by Stefansson, and a Southern Party led by R M. Anderson
. The objective of the Northern Party was to explore for new land north and west of the known lands of the Canadian Arctic
. At this time the possible existence of large undiscovered land masses, comparable to the Canadian Arctic islands
or even a small continent, was scientifically plausible. The approach of the Northern Party, besides simply going out and looking for land, was a program of through-ice depth soundings to map the edge of the continental shelf. Meteorological, magnetic, and marine biological investigations were also planned. The objective of the Southern party was scientific documentation of the geography, geology, resources, wildlife, and people of the Mackenzie River
delta and adjacent regions of Canada between Cape Parry
and the Kent Peninsula
, for about 100 mi (160.9 km) inland, and southern and eastern Victoria Island. Copper deposits and trade routes were of particular interest. The expedition was originally to be sponsored by the (US) National Geographic Society
and the American Museum of Natural History
. Canada took over the sponsorship because of the potential for discovery of new land and Stefansson, who though born in Canada
was now an American, re-established his Canadian citizenship.
1913 was a particularly bad year for Arctic
navigation. All of the expedition ships were frozen in before they could reach their initial destination of Herschel Island
. The principal ship of the expedition, the Karluk
, was carried off and eventually crushed by the ice, leading to loss of eleven lives before a famous rescue. Most of the Southern Party had travelled in other ships of the expedition, and Stefansson left the Karluk with a party of five before the ship was carried off. Stefansson promptly purchased a small schooner
, the North Star, reconstituted the Northern Party with local hires and resumed exploring. Only one of the fourteen Karluk survivors rejoined the expedition. The expedition purchased another ship, the Polar Bear, in 1915. The Southern Party remained in the North through the summer of 1916, exploring and mapping as far east as Bathurst Inlet
. Some members of the Northern Party continued exploring through 1918. The expedition discovered land previously unknown even to the Inuit (including Brock
, Mackenzie King
, Borden
, Meighen
, and Lougheed Island
s), produced valuable data, and launched the careers of several explorers and scientists. The controversies it engendered persisted for decades.
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist.-Early life:Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. His parents had emigrated from Iceland to Manitoba two years earlier...
. The expedition was divided into a Northern Party led by Stefansson, and a Southern Party led by R M. Anderson
Rudolph Martin Anderson
Rudolph Martin Anderson was a Canadian zoologist and explorer.He was born in Decorah, Iowa in 1876, the son of John E.A. Anderson. He received a Ph.D...
. The objective of the Northern Party was to explore for new land north and west of the known lands of the Canadian Arctic
Northern Canada
Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...
. At this time the possible existence of large undiscovered land masses, comparable to the Canadian Arctic islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...
or even a small continent, was scientifically plausible. The approach of the Northern Party, besides simply going out and looking for land, was a program of through-ice depth soundings to map the edge of the continental shelf. Meteorological, magnetic, and marine biological investigations were also planned. The objective of the Southern party was scientific documentation of the geography, geology, resources, wildlife, and people of the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
delta and adjacent regions of Canada between Cape Parry
Cape Parry
Cape Parry is a headland in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located at the northern tip of the Parry Peninsula, it projects into Amundsen Gulf, from the North Pole. The nearest settlement is Paulatuk, to the south, and Fiji Island is located to the west...
and the Kent Peninsula
Kent Peninsula
The Kent Peninsula is a large peninsula, almost totally surrounded by water, in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic mainland. From a narrow isthmus, it extends westward into the Coronation Gulf. It is south of Dease Strait which separates the peninsula from Victoria Island and the Finlayson...
, for about 100 mi (160.9 km) inland, and southern and eastern Victoria Island. Copper deposits and trade routes were of particular interest. The expedition was originally to be sponsored by the (US) National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
and the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
. Canada took over the sponsorship because of the potential for discovery of new land and Stefansson, who though born in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was now an American, re-established his Canadian citizenship.
1913 was a particularly bad year for Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
navigation. All of the expedition ships were frozen in before they could reach their initial destination of Herschel Island
Herschel Island
Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea , which lies off the coast of the Yukon Territories in Canada, of which it is administratively a part...
. The principal ship of the expedition, the Karluk
HMCS Karluk
The Karluk was an American-built brigantine which, after many years' service as a whaler, was acquired by the Canadian government in 1913 to act as flagship to the Canadian Arctic Expedition. While on her way to the expedition's rendezvous at Herschel Island, Karluk became trapped in the Arctic...
, was carried off and eventually crushed by the ice, leading to loss of eleven lives before a famous rescue. Most of the Southern Party had travelled in other ships of the expedition, and Stefansson left the Karluk with a party of five before the ship was carried off. Stefansson promptly purchased a small schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, the North Star, reconstituted the Northern Party with local hires and resumed exploring. Only one of the fourteen Karluk survivors rejoined the expedition. The expedition purchased another ship, the Polar Bear, in 1915. The Southern Party remained in the North through the summer of 1916, exploring and mapping as far east as Bathurst Inlet
Bathurst Inlet
Bathurst Inlet is a deep inlet located along the northern coast of the Canadian mainland, into which the Burnside and Western Rivers empty. The name, or its native equivalent Kingoak , is also used to identify the community of Bathurst Inlet located on the shore.-Plans for a deep-water port:A...
. Some members of the Northern Party continued exploring through 1918. The expedition discovered land previously unknown even to the Inuit (including Brock
Brock Island
Brock Island is one of the uninhabited islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Located at 77°51'N 114°27'W, it measures in size and lies close to Mackenzie King Island. The first known sighting of the island was by Vilhjalmur Stefansson in...
, Mackenzie King
Mackenzie King Island
Mackenzie King Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in northern Canada. It lies north of Melville Island and south of Borden Island, and like them is divided. Most of the island is in Northwest Territories, while its easternmost portion lies in Nunavut...
, Borden
Borden Island
Borden Island is an uninhabited, low-lying island in the Queen Elizabeth Islands of northern Canada. With an area of in size, it is the 172nd largest island in the world, and Canada's 30th largest island...
, Meighen
Meighen Island
Meighen Island is an uninhabited member of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Located at 79°55'N 99°30'W, it measures in size and is topped with an ice cap. The island is continuously icebound, and its northwestern...
, and Lougheed Island
Lougheed Island
Lougheed Island is one of the uninhabited islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It measures in size. It is relatively isolated compared to other Canadian Arctic islands, and is located in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between Ellef Ringnes Island to the...
s), produced valuable data, and launched the careers of several explorers and scientists. The controversies it engendered persisted for decades.
See also
- Diamond JennessDiamond JennessDiamond Jenness, CC was one of Canada's greatest early scientists and a pioneer of Canadian anthropology.-Biography:...
- Robert Bartlett (explorer)
- Hubert WilkinsHubert WilkinsSir Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer.-Early life:...
- Christian Theodore PedersenChristian Theodore PedersenChristian Theodore Pedersen was a Norwegian-American seaman, whaling captain and fur trader active in Alaska, Canada, and the northern Pacific from the 1890s to the 1930s...
- Voyage of the Karluk
Sources
- Bovet, John A. (1979) Archivaria 9 pp254–255 [Review of] Stefansson and the Canadian Arctic http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/viewFile/12585/13747
- Diubaldo, Richard J. Stefansson and the Canadian Arctic McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1998 ISBN 0773518150
- Gray, David. The People of the CAE. Northern Party with a contribution from Jette Elsebeth Ashlee. Canadian Museum of Civilization
- Gray, David. Canada's little arctic navy. The ships of the CAE. Canadian Museum of Civilization
- Gray, David. New Lands: explorations of the Northern Party Canadian Museum of Civilization
- Gray, David. New knowledge: Science and the Southern Party. Canadian Museum of Civilization
- Jenness, Stuart Edward. The Making of an Explorer: George Hubert Wilkins and the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1916. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2004. http://books.google.com/books?id=CTCPh_u4rKgC&printsec=frontcover&client=firefox-a#PPA6,M1 accessed April 26, 2009.
- New York Times September 18, 1915 Stefansson's quest to test a theory
- Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1921) The friendly Arctic; the story of five years in polar regions. Macmillan, N.Y.
Further reading
- Stuart Jenness (ed) (1991) Arctic Odyssey: Diary of Diamond Jenness, 1913-1916
- Hunt, William R. Stef: A Biography of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Canadian Arctic Explorer University of British Columbia Press, 1986 ISBN 0774802472.
- Montgomery, Richard. Pechuck. Kessinger Publishing, 2005 (originally published by Dodd Mead 1932)ISBN 1417997559
- Harold Noice. With Stefansson in the arctic. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1924 http://www.archive.org/details/withstefanssonin017001mbp
- Gisli Palsson "The legacy of Vilhjalmur Stefansson"
- F. A. McDiarmid "Geographical Determinations of the Canadian Arctic Expedition" The Geographical Journal Vol. 62, No. 4 (Oct., 1923), pp. 293-302
External links
- Northern people, northern knowledge. The story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1918 An extensive and detailed online exhibit from the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Particularly strong on the roles of local Inuit, and other Arctic residents hired for the expedition. Specific sections of this website are cited above as references attributed to David Gray, the principal researcher and writer of the exhibit.
- Anne Mease Explorers and Northern Exploration Northern Research Portal, University of Saskatchewan. A multi-part article including a section on Stefansson.