1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. I think 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: the thing we got the most email about from listeners 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: this year was about the discovery of one of the 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: Franklin Expeditions lost ships. Uh, we got a ton of 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: email about it, and especially because that story continued to 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: develop after they found one of the ships. So now 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: that we're into our year in unearthing season who is 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: it's a little longer this year than normal because there 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: are some things that are there's a lot to talk about. Uh. 12 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: It seemed like a good time to update our previous 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: episode because we already had one in the archive about 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: the Franklin expedition. So that episode is from the Katie 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: and Sarah era of the podcast. For those of you 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: who have not already heard the story, what we're gonna 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: do is, first we're into replay that Katie and Sarah 18 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: episode to let them tell you about Franklin's efforts to 19 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: find the Northwest Passage and what likely happened to him 20 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: and his crew. Then we will come back and Holly 21 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: and I will talk about the discoveries from and we'll 22 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: we'll have our regular listener mail and all of that. 23 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: If you have already heard this episode from Katie and 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: Sarah and you don't want to listen to it again, 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: you can skip ahead. It is approximately fourteen minutes long. 26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: We keep getting emails requesting more about Canadian history, and 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: I have something close to Canadian history today, spooky Arctic mystery. 28 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: So we're gonna go ahead and say that counts. We're 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: talking about Sir John Franklin's Lost Expedition. John Franklin was 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: one of twelve kids and his parents wanted him to 31 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: become a clergyman, but he loved the sea and he 32 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,279 Speaker 1: was absolutely sure that was his destinate from a young age. 33 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: So he entered the Royal Navy at fourteen, where he 34 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: had a buried career. He took part in expeditions to Australia, 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: he fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, and he commanded 36 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: the Trent on an eighteen eighteen Arctic expedition in an 37 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: attempt to reach the North Pole, and from eighteen eighteen 38 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: to eighteen twenty two he conducted an overland expedition from 39 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: Hudson Bay to the Arctic, I think, and surveyed part 40 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: of the coast, parts that people had never seen before, 41 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,519 Speaker 1: a large swap of the coast, and published a book 42 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: about it, the Narrative of a Journey to the Shores 43 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: of the Polar Sea, and did another narrative a few 44 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 1: years later after a second overland expedition in the same region. 45 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 1: And during this time it was post Napoleonic Wars. The 46 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: British Navy really needed something to do, basically, and they 47 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: needed a purpose, yeah, And so largely thanks to Sir 48 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: John Barrow, they decided their purpose was going to be 49 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: to navigate the Northwest Passage. And the Northwest Passage has 50 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: been an idea floated around since Elizabethan times even but 51 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: it was essentially that there was a way to take 52 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: a ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific, going above Canada, 53 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: and they knew it was there somewhere, they just didn't 54 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: know where. Somewhere in all that ice between all those islands. 55 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: They knew there was a way, but it took a 56 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: very long time to find it and even longer to 57 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: actually navigate it. So in eighteen forty five they decided 58 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: they're going to launch another expedition and Franklin is not 59 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: their first choice because he's older. He's fifty nine, and 60 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: they think that might be too old for someone who's 61 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: going to be in such strenuous conditions. Yeah, it's basically 62 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: seemed like his naval career was over. He's been the 63 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: governor of Tasmania for several years, he's been knighted. It 64 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like he's the man to choose for your 65 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: Arctic expedition. But he's convinced that he's the right one. 66 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: And I think someone said something to him about being 67 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: sixty and he said, no, no, I'm nine. Let's make 68 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: that clear. So it's a go, and Franklin is their choice. 69 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: And the ships they were going to take were state 70 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: of the art at the time. They had iron reinforced 71 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: halls and steam engines. They were very well equipped. Yeah, 72 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: they have three years worth of canned food on board, 73 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: which partly ends up being a problem, but we'll get 74 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: to that. So they dock in Greenland in July and 75 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: they send home a few men and a batch of letters. 76 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: If you were one of the men to be sent 77 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: home there, you were very lucky because things didn't go 78 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: well from there on out. The last sighting of them 79 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: is by British whalers north of Baffin Island at the 80 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: entrance to Lancaster Sound in July of eighteen forty five, 81 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: and then they disappear and go completely off the map. 82 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,239 Speaker 1: So what happened? Search parties were sent in eighteen forty 83 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: seven to answer that exact question, because two years was 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: too long. They should have heard something by now, and 85 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: the searches keep going. Yeah, by eighteen fifty as many 86 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: as fourteen ships were in the area at the same 87 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 1: time looking for them. This turned out to be kind 88 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: of the romantic adventure of the age searching for Franklin 89 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: and his lost crew, and consequently a lot of information 90 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: about the Northwest Passage was discovered during these rescue attempts. 91 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: But we're going to kind of give the overview of 92 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: what happened to Franklin and his men during this time. 93 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 1: This was all pieced together over years and years, but 94 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: something like thirty expeditions to find them. They each came 95 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 1: back with a little pieces. So by in eighteen forty 96 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:04,239 Speaker 1: five to six they winter at Beechey Island and three 97 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: crewmen died there and they started with twenty nine people. 98 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: The numbers are are dwindling slowly. In eighteen forty six, 99 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,919 Speaker 1: these ships, which are named Erebus and Terror, not a 100 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: good name for ships, leave Beechy Island and they sailed 101 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: down Peel Sound to King William Island, and then by 102 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: September of eighteen forty six the ships get trapped in 103 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: the ice off of King William Island in Victoria Street, 104 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: um and so they winter there. And there's a note 105 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: that was found later, uh from May forty seven saying 106 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: that things were okay, you know, it was they were 107 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: stuck in the ice still, but it was going all right. 108 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: But on June eleven, eighteen forty seven, as close as 109 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,239 Speaker 1: we can tell, Franklin died and he is the head 110 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: of everything of the whole expedition, and he's one of 111 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: very few men and the crew who are actually has 112 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: Arctic experience. And things get bad then because that's when 113 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: the ice from the winter should have thought and they 114 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: should have been able to move on, and it doesn't, 115 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: so they winter again on King William Island. Obviously, there 116 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: are questions of food that are going to come up soon, 117 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: so they have to start making difficult decisions in the 118 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: next year about what they're going to do, and they 119 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: abandoned their ships on April eighty eight and decide to 120 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: try to make a go of it, and in a 121 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: note that was later found um, by April four men 122 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: had died and the survivors were marching south to the 123 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: Black River, and things got very messy there. Uh they 124 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: resorted to cannibalism and a lot of them were addled 125 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: by what later looked like lead poisoning um. And some 126 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: people say the lead poisoning as a result of poorly 127 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: tinned foods. Right, the foods were apparently supplied by kind 128 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: of a cut rate dealer, and lead was supposed to 129 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: have actually dripped into the cans from the soldering. But 130 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: an author of Ice Blank Scott Cookman, actually has a 131 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: different fury and he thinks that botuli is um in 132 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: the cans caused all of the mental and physical issues 133 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: that happened and was responsible for why these men died 134 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: on the ice, not on the ship, on the ice 135 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: when they were away from reliable cooking sources, because proper 136 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: heating will that kills the cluster dam spores. But if 137 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: they don't have a stove, if you're head on the ice, 138 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: and maybe you have a dinky little stove or not 139 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: a stove at all, and so he kind of thought 140 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: that explained why they all die out there and not 141 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: on the ship. And there were there was also evidence 142 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: of scurvy, which is what happens when you don't get 143 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: enough vitamin C, and scurvy and lead poisoning lead to 144 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: the same kinds of weakness that make you unable to 145 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: do the hard work that's necessary to do day life. 146 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: And they weren't. They weren't adopting Inuit ways of dealing 147 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: with the weather, and they were carrying lots of unnecessary 148 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: supplies with them, so it was not they weren't equipped 149 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: for an overland expedition. The list of their supplies I 150 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: wish I had it on me is just so strange. 151 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't at all survival stuff. It was things like books. Silver, Yes, 152 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,959 Speaker 1: you don't need silver if you're trapped in the Arctic 153 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: for future reference for all our listeners, don't bring the silver. 154 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: The first search for Franklin goes out in eighteen forty seven. 155 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,839 Speaker 1: The first official search isn't until eighteen forty eight, and 156 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: over the years a lot of the expeditions get very 157 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: close to where Franklin ships were actually abandoned, but there's 158 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: a lot of delay, and one of the reasons is 159 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: when ships were over there looking at Peel Sound where 160 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: the boats went, it seemed impossible that they could have 161 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: gone in that direction because the ice cover was so heavy, 162 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: so they just skipped over it. And of course there 163 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: was a huge cold snap going on in the Arctic 164 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: at this time too, so these weren't normal conditions for 165 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: that area. The early searches turned up some accounts from 166 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: Inuit who had seen the explorers and had stories about 167 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: starving men. There was even one account that was taken 168 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: much much later from an Inuit in saying that, uh, 169 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: some of the boats were remainned, and they knew of 170 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: large vessels that lay on the other side of the island, 171 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: basically far away from where they're supposed to have been. 172 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: And they also said that because the winter was so cold, 173 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: they too were having a really hard time finding food 174 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: and hunting. So if the crew was depending on the 175 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: locals for food, they didn't have any to give well, 176 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: and it's likely that the crew wouldn't ask for help 177 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: to there were sufficient British men, the Royal Navy men 178 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,680 Speaker 1: exactly in the process of the search the Northwest Passage 179 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: is actually completed, although it's by several ships and fled. 180 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: It's not completed by the way one ship until the 181 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: twentieth century, I believe UM. But in eighteen fifty nine 182 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: there is a very important search mission sent out. The 183 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: Royal Navy was effectively done with this after getting looking 184 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,079 Speaker 1: for years, and then they felt like they had gotten 185 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: a gotten back enough information about the men. But Franklin's 186 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: widow wasn't satisfied. Jane Lady Franklin, was the first woman 187 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,599 Speaker 1: to receive the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society 188 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: because of everything she done to organize the expeditions. She 189 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: was determined that they would at least find some concrete 190 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: proof that the men were dead. So she hires Captain 191 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: Francis Leopold McClintock, who had actually been on several earlier 192 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:19,839 Speaker 1: search missions UM and during some of those had really 193 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: developed the art of sledging across the land and learned 194 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: a lot of the Inuit customs and helped prepare future 195 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: Arctic explorers for conditions. And he was very effective because 196 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: he used all of these other resources and his crew 197 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: found skeletons of the Franklin expedition. I think only four 198 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: of them. But most importantly he finds that note um, 199 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,839 Speaker 1: which has the first message saying that everything is okay 200 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: and then the later message abandoning ship, lots of people 201 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: dying were walking. Um finds it in a pile of 202 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: stones on the ice the island. It's very creepy, it is, 203 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 1: and we'll never know entirely what happened. These are just 204 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: again what historians and scientists are able to piece together 205 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: from the evidence that they had. So there are things 206 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: were sure of, like there was too much lead in 207 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: the bodies, there was evidence of scurvy. There's definitely cannibalism 208 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: when they can tell from the bones. But some of 209 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: it will never quite know. And very strange thing to 210 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: think of today is uh icebreaker luxury cruises go right 211 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: up by the island where they all died. Now, Um, 212 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: it's strange to think how accessible all that is. And 213 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: actually the Northwest Passage is open. Uh. It first opened 214 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: in two thousand seven enough if had melted that it 215 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: was considered fully navigable, and it happened again in two 216 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: thousand eight along with the Northeast Passage, which made the 217 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: North Pole circumnavigable for the first time in hundred and 218 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand years. That doesn't sane. See, that's why 219 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: we need your green knowledge on the podcast. And I'll 220 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: end with the memorial by Tennyson, who was a Kinsman 221 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: through marriage to Franklin, and he said, not here the 222 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: white North has thy bones, and the heroic sailor's soul 223 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: aren't passing online. Happier voyage now towards the earthly Pole. 224 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: And you had mentioned a rather ironic fact that happened 225 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: from that memorial poem. Yeah, another ill fated polar explorer, 226 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: the American Adolphus really became fascinated by the Arctic by 227 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: a visit to London where he read those rooms. So Holly, 228 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: before we get into what they found about this expedition 229 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: in let's take a brief word from a sponsor that 230 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: sounds grant, and now we will get back to Franklin's expedition. 231 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: Although the searches for frank Glenn's expedition actually started way 232 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 1: back in eighteen forty eight, when nobody had heard from 233 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: them for about three years, the effort that found the 234 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: Arabis actually started in two thousand and eight and was 235 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: headed up by Parks Canada uh the X. The expedition 236 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: that found the ship is called the Victoria Straight Expedition 237 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: and there are a lot of people, departments and agencies, 238 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: both public and private involved in it. The Canadian Hydrographic 239 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: Service is using multi beam sonar to map the sea floor, 240 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: and that's a project that would have gone on regardless 241 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: of the search for the expedition since it's important to 242 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: nautical safety. The Canadian Coast Guard helps support the search 243 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: teams overall while also working to protect the local communities 244 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: in ecosystem. The Russian ship Academics Sergey Vavlov acted as 245 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: a platform for an underwater survey vehicle. Otherwise, the four 246 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: primary ships in this expedition are the Canadian Coast Guard 247 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: CCGs Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Royal Canadian in Navy's h 248 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: MCS Kingston, the Arctic Research Foundation's research vessel Martin Bergmann, 249 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: and One Ocean Expeditions one Ocean Voyager. There are also 250 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: some smaller survey vessels involved along with a Canadian made 251 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: underwater autonomous vehicle, and satellite imagery is involved also from 252 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: Canadian Space Agency's Radar SAT to satellite on September one, 253 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: a team of three searchers headed by archaeologist Doug Stanton, 254 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: discovered a couple of artifacts from the Franklin expedition on 255 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: Hat Island, and that's in the territory of Nunavut, not 256 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: far southwest of King William Island. These were an iron 257 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: fitting and what appeared to be a wooden plug, and 258 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: we're called quote the first artifacts found in modern times. 259 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: Then on September seven, the Underwater Autonomous Vehicle, which had 260 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: been acquired pretty recently by Parks Canada, spotted what was 261 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: definitely one of Franklin's two ships in the waters of Victoria, 262 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: straight just off of King William Island. And this matched 263 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: Intuit oral history as well as testimony taken from Intuit 264 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: witnesses in the late eighteen forties which put one of 265 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 1: Franklin's ships sinking to the west of King William Island, 266 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: with the other sinking farther to the south. In other words, 267 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: it was where the indigenous population had said it would 268 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: be all along well linked to some sites that have 269 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: pictures in the show notes, because it's pretty incredible how 270 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: much detail is in the sonar images that technology has 271 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 1: come in an enormously long way in the last few decades, 272 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: and without those improvements it would have been basically still 273 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: impossible to find a ship. So congratulations and praise rolled 274 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: in from Prime Minister Stephen Harper as well as from 275 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth. Overall, the wreckage that was found on the 276 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: seventh looks to be in fantastic condition, with minimal damage 277 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: to the deck and only a little damage to the hull. 278 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: The masks had been sheered away, but researchers were really 279 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: hope full that much of the ship's contents would be 280 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: found intact. The first dive to the site took place 281 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: on September seventeen, and seven dives took place over the 282 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: course of two days. Thanks to the work of divers, 283 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: sonar imagery, high resolution photos and videos, and examination of 284 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: the artifacts, researchers were able to definitively conclude that the 285 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: ship was the Erebus on septem Among the artifacts, the 286 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: ship's bell was found intact during the very first dive. 287 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: It was brought up to the surface during the last 288 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: dive down to the vessel, and then it was sent 289 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: to the Parks Canada Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in Ottawa. It 290 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: had to stay wet the entire time so that it 291 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't deteriorate on the way. The conservation efforts on the 292 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: bell are expected to take about eighteen months, and as 293 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,200 Speaker 1: of when we recorded this, the terror has not been 294 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: located as a total. Side note, one of the other 295 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: jobs of this expedition and was re entering remains that 296 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: had been exhumed for research purposes previously, so I thought 297 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: that was an interesting side point. Do you have a 298 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: listener mail? Uh. We got several comments and emails following 299 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: our episode on the Verreaux Brothers, which was actually one 300 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,199 Speaker 1: that Holly researched and did all of the outlining for. 301 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 1: But a lot of the commentary we were getting was 302 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: stuff I said off secript, which was basically that I 303 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: found it particularly horrifying and terrible that a couple of 304 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: people dug up a man from his recently interred grave 305 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: and then taxidermied him. Were an animal, right, So they're 306 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: sort of a selection. The first is from Katie, and 307 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,719 Speaker 1: Katie says, I just finished the podcast on the Verreau Brothers, 308 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: and I agree with the injustice and distaste of applying 309 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: taxidermy to a human, particularly when there was no consent. However, 310 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: I've also wondered about this in the context of mummies 311 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: found it ain't Egypt. I acknowledge that these are different situations, 312 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: but the subject reminded me of it. We know a 313 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: significant amount about Egyptian sceneial practices and beliefs. It is 314 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: clear that they did not want their remains disturbed, but 315 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: I've never heard of anyone having qualms about displaying them. 316 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 1: It just seems to be accepted as standard. Of course, 317 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: I'm not against archaeological digs and artifact recovery, but the 318 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: actual display of the remains seemed to go far past 319 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: the normal ideas of respect for the dead. Anyway, I 320 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,120 Speaker 1: just wondered what your thought was on the issue here. 321 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: I have been enjoying the podcast for several years now, 322 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: and thank you all for the great work that you do. Uh. 323 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: The next comment was actually from when we put the 324 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: show notes post on our Facebook, and it started with 325 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: a comment from Lee. Lee says, I was surprised that 326 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: no mention was made of the current Body World's exhibit 327 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,959 Speaker 1: with the real human bodies treated in plastic scene. They 328 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: donated their bodies to science, but they are still real 329 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: form of humans on display. His body. Worlds are more immoral. 330 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,199 Speaker 1: I know Botswada Man didn't volunteer to be displayed, but 331 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: then again, I've seen real mummies displayed at a museum 332 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: which were definitely gray robbed, but I didn't hear any 333 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: mention of how immoral that was. As length of time 334 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: dead the key to whether or not it's okay to 335 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: display dead bodies. I kind of responded to that, and 336 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: then one of the responses that I got to that 337 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,119 Speaker 1: response was, I'm not sure I see the difference between 338 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: this gray robbing and a mummy. I think that the 339 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: display of mummies is gray robbing. How the body was 340 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,199 Speaker 1: prepared for burial or interment is irrelevant. The point is 341 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: that the person and the person's family and friends intended 342 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: the body to remain where it was, so sort of 343 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: address all of this at once. There is actually a 344 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,679 Speaker 1: lot of discussion about whether it's appropriate to display mummies 345 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: and museums. If you like google mummy ethics, yeah, you'll 346 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: get lots of discussion about that. I think that is 347 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: a worthwhile thing to talk about and a worthwhile thing 348 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 1: to consider. Like even the entire field of archaeology, there's 349 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: a lot of discussion about like what is archaeology, what 350 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: is grave robbing? Where is that line? Uh? I don't 351 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: know if I can come to a real decision about 352 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: how I feel about that particular aspect of it. There's 353 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: just a lot going on in terms of uh, everything 354 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 1: from colonialism to genuinely educating people about the past. So 355 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: what I do want to say is that that is 356 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: completely different in in the sense of scale from to 357 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: be totally blunt white people digging up an African person 358 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: and treating him as though he were an animal and 359 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: putting that in a museum as would be done with 360 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: animals like that is not the same thing. The mindset 361 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: there was kind of look at this exotic specimen and 362 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: it was not even this is a human necessarily right. 363 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: They really treated him as a subspecies, like a species 364 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: lesser than them, after they had just attended his funeral. Yeah, 365 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the same issues and ideas are present 366 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: in both things. Like a lot of the removal of 367 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: mummies done from Egyptian pyramids was done by white people, 368 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: and there are elements of race and colonialism and sort 369 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: of feeling entitled to just take artifacts from a place 370 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: like That's there are definitely elements of those two things. 371 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: But it's like, to me, unquestionably worse for uh, somebody 372 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: to dig up a person recently buried and then treat 373 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,439 Speaker 1: him as though he were an animal, especially given the 374 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:52,719 Speaker 1: greater context of race in the world. So we are 375 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: not ignorant of mummies. There's definitely a whole, huge, separate 376 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: discussion or argue meant to have about mummies and and 377 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: what the ethics are of that. Uh. It is just 378 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: not the same thing as the racist horror of mounting 379 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,679 Speaker 1: a black person as though he were an animal. And 380 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: that is my rant about that. So I completely understand 381 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: why people would connect it with mummies, but it's it's 382 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:29,639 Speaker 1: just a different it's a far cry. So if you 383 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, perhaps to yell at 384 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: me about what I just said or something else I 385 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: don't know, you can write to us for a history 386 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 1: podcast that How Stuff Works dot com. We're also on 387 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: Facebook at facebook dot com slash miss in history and 388 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: on Twitter at misbin history. Our tumbler is miss the 389 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: Mistory dot tumbler dot com. We're also on Pinterest at 390 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: pentterest dot com slash missed in History. We have a 391 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: spreadshirt store where we can buy these shirts and things, 392 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: and that is at misbin history dot spreadshirt dot com. 393 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: If you would like to learn a little more about 394 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: what we talked about today, come to our arrant company's website, 395 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: which is how stuff works dot com. Plunk the words 396 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: Franklin Expedition into the search bar you will find ten 397 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: true stories of survival cannibalism. You can also come to 398 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: our website where we're gonna definitely in the show notes 399 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: for this link up some awesome pictures of what this 400 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: ship looks like under the water. We also have an 401 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: archive of every episode and that is at missing history 402 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: dot com. So you can do all that stuff and 403 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: a whole lot more at how stuff works dot com 404 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: or miss in history dot com. For more on this 405 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works 406 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:50,120 Speaker 1: dot com.