1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I love a little 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: unsolved historical murder. They're fun, they are there's always fun speculation. 5 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: That's how I got drawn into Charles Francis Hall's story. 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: But it turns out his story is just so much 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,279 Speaker 1: more than that one because we don't actually even know 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: if he was murdered, but also because he was a 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: character with differing opinions of what he was like. He 10 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: was definitely driven and determined, very independent, and without any 11 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: real experience, he started mounting expeditions to the Arctic. He 12 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: was inspired by expeditions like Sir John Franklin's push to 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: find the Northwest Passage. But unfortunately he repeated the pattern 14 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: of doom when he made a try for the North Pole. 15 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: Although it wasn't a case or the entire expedition was lost, 16 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: he was the only one from that expedition to die, 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: and that has left historians with a mystery for the 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: last one hundred and fifty years. And we're going to 19 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: talk about all of that today. Charles Francis Hall was 20 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: born in eighteen twenty one, either in Vermont or in Rochester, 21 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: New Hampshire. Most accounts put Rochester as his birthplace, but 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: his wife once mentioned in writing that he had really 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: been born in Vermont, but the family moved to New 24 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: Hampshire when he was still a baby. This kind of 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: uncertainty is something that really dogs Hall's life story and 26 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: ultimately his death. He didn't get a lot of formal 27 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: education and became a blacksmith's apprentice at a young age, 28 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: but he didn't stay with the blacksmith trade. He moved 29 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: around a lot on his own from a fairly young age, 30 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: but we don't know a lot about his early life history. 31 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: It's a little bit clearer in eighteen forty nine when 32 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and by that point he 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: was already married to a woman named Mary Anne, although 34 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: we don't know a whole lot about her either. In Cincinnati, 35 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: Hall started his own business making seals and engraving plates, 36 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: and then in the eighteen fifties, Hall became a newspaper publisher, 37 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: running the Cincinnati Occasional and the Daily Press. Because of 38 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: his paper, Charles Francis Hall found a passion in reading 39 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: about stories of exploration when they went to press. He 40 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: became especially interested in the reports of Arctic exploration and 41 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: efforts to find the Northwest Passage. Became especially interested in 42 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: the stories of the eighteen forty five Franklin expedition, in 43 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: which the entire team was lost. By eighteen fifty seven, 44 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: Hall was collecting all the information he could about Arctic 45 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: exploration and John Franklin's expedition, as well as others, basically 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: anything that could be connected to any of these subjects, 47 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: and he was lucky that there was a lot of 48 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,959 Speaker 1: news coverage of all this. The media ran a lot 49 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: of stories around the one hundred and twenty nine people 50 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: who had died on Franklin's quest, and all of this 51 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: reading inspired Hall to start exploring for himself. This was 52 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: a very bold move. He didn't have any experience in 53 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: such things. Everything he knew regarding the Arctic and exploring 54 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: it he had learned from reading about it. Listen. Reading 55 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: is fundamental and it's a great way to learn things, 56 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: but there was no practical experience involved. But in all 57 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: of his readings he had come across rumors that there 58 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: were survivors of the Franklin Expedition, and he was determined 59 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: that he was the guy who was going to find them. 60 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: Bodies from the Franklin Expedition, discovered in eighteen fifty nine 61 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: on King William Island did not convince him. Hall believed 62 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: there were still survivors and that he could find them. 63 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty, Hall met with Henry Grinnell, the found 64 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: of the American Geographical and Statistical Society, who had given 65 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: funds to previous Arctic expeditions. Grinnell helped Hall connect with 66 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: various whaling companies so that he could arrange for the 67 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: ships to take him as a passenger. On these whaling vessels, 68 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: Hall traveled to Baffin Island and started a two year 69 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: exploration expedition of his own. Baffin Island is a nine 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty mile or fifteen hundred kilometer long island 71 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: in northern Canada which sits across Baffin Bay from Greenland. 72 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: It's massive and Hall was hoping to find survivors of 73 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: the Franklin expedition there. Although that did not happen, he 74 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: did find various artifacts from the much earlier travels through 75 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: the area led by Martin Frobischer in the fifteen seventies. Specifically, 76 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: he found some evidence that Frobisher had tried to mine gold, 77 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: and for clarity, because I didn't put this in the outline, 78 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: he was just like wandering in the wilderness looking. He 79 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: was following up on clues and meeting with indigenous peoples 80 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: and stopping at forts and stuff and being like do 81 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: you think and going on that information. But he really 82 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: was being incredibly brazen in all of this. Hall returned 83 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: home in eighteen sixty two and wrote a book titled 84 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: Arctic Researches and Life among the Eskimo, being the narrative 85 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: of an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin in 86 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: the years eighteen sixty, eighteen sixty one and eighteen sixty 87 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: two that was published in eighteen sixty five, and he 88 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: explains in the opening of the book that the day 89 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: that he finished writing it, like literally as it's going 90 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: to press, he was leaving for another expedition, having prepared 91 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: by learning to live among the indigenous population of the 92 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: area to get a fuller understanding than most explorers could. 93 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote, I enter upon this undertaking with lively 94 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,799 Speaker 1: hopes of success. I shall not like previous explorers, set 95 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: my foot on shore for a few days or weeks, 96 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: or like others, journey among men whose language is to 97 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: me unintelligible. I shall live for two or three years 98 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: among the Eskimo and gain their confidence, and I have 99 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: the advantage of understanding the language and of making all 100 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: my wishes known to them. Obviously, the word Eskimo is 101 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: outdated language, but were including it in direct quotes rather 102 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: than subbing it out. Yeah, it's also spelled in a 103 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: way it looks very French. Ho. Those wishes were the 104 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: same as on his earlier trip. He wanted to find 105 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: survivors of the Franklin expedition, and this journey was more 106 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: than twice as long as the first. It took five years. 107 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: He started at Hudson Bay's north during his year's long 108 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,119 Speaker 1: expedition of the area, making his base in Nauyat, which 109 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: was referred to as Repulse Bay. He did learn a 110 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: lot about Franklin's expedition and even found some of their belongings. 111 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: Up to this point, he had believed rumors that some 112 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: of the party had survived, but it appears that his 113 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: finding of these relics, as well as listening to the 114 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: accounts from the indigenous people of the area who had 115 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: seen the Franklin group. This all led him to conclude 116 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: that there had been no survivors after all. With Hall 117 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: on that second trip, we're two interpreters that are usually 118 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: described as into it. They are called Joe and Hannah. 119 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: So their real names are a little bit tricky because 120 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: they are written in different ways at different times, and 121 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: they're transliterated by English speakers. The most common ones look 122 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: like and I'm not even going to claim that I 123 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: have this pronunciation, Pervic and Tukulito. Tukalito is the wife 124 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: who was like the interpreter and really kind of helped 125 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: facilitate with people that were not speakers of their language, 126 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: and she has been listed by a lot of other names, 127 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: so it's very unclear how she got this particular name. 128 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: But I think all of this comes down to why 129 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: people started calling them Joe and Hannah, or why they 130 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: started asking people to They had been on other expeditions 131 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: and had helped other people, but they lived with Hall 132 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: in the US after he returned from his first expedition, 133 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: so they had spent two years with him, and they 134 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: were surely part of why he felt so confident in 135 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: his preface to his book, stating that he understood indigenous 136 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: culture and that he knew that he could live among 137 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: the people of the Arctic, and all of the white 138 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: people who were exploring into this territory were doing so 139 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: through the labor of indigenous people who were acting as 140 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: their like, their guides and their interpreters and all of that. 141 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: So like, regardless of his own feeling about this like, 142 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: they were the ones that were doing a lot of 143 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: the work. He could not could not have lived among 144 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: the indigenous people had they not been with him. And 145 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: he just showed up and said, I'm gonna live with 146 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: you and learn all your stuff. Now work. There was 147 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: a troubling incidence on Hall's second expedition, which gives some 148 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: insight into his personality and behavior. He had not been 149 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: able to get funds to finance his own ship for 150 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: the voyage, so he had hitched rides with whaling vessels. 151 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: He also sometimes made contracts with whaling vessels to borrow 152 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: men from their crews. Several years into the second expedition, 153 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: in the autumn of eighteen sixty seven, he did just that. 154 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: By March, he and the borrowed crew as well as 155 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: his guides, were back at Repulse Bay for the summer. 156 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: During the spring, Hall became convinced that some of the 157 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: whalers were undermining him and even verging on mutiny. He 158 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: shot one of the men, Patrick Coleman, who then died 159 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: a very slow death over the course of two weeks. 160 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: Hall's journal from this period does not mention this, there's 161 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: just a gap of several weeks in the journal, but 162 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: his out of the Expedition, which was published after his death, 163 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: does mention it. It is unclear where the information in 164 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: this published account, which is quite detailed, came from. Yeah, 165 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: there has even been some speculation that an editor pieced 166 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: things together and that it's not actually Hall's account, but 167 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: we don't know. When Hall returned to the US, he 168 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: had to answer for the shooting theoretically, but it actually 169 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: got tangled up in red tape. So at that time, 170 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: the area that Hall had been exploring was not part 171 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: of Canada, So the British and Canadian governments did not 172 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: want to get involved with the incident, and the US 173 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: didn't seem to think that it had any reason to 174 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: get involved in something so far away from its jurisdiction, 175 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: so Hall was never charged, although it doesn't appear that 176 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: there was also ever any mutiny afoot, So it seems 177 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: like he really had this irrational thought that he acted 178 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: on and killed a man, and nothing was ever done 179 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: in terms of consequences. We don't know if Patrick Coleman 180 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: ever actually did anything to provoke Hall, or if Hall 181 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: just perceived that he had. But this whole incident really 182 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: evidences a dark side of Charles Hall, who was described 183 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,599 Speaker 1: by some people as volatile and obsessed with the Franklin expedition. 184 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: He had called finding the survivors or evidence of what 185 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: had happened to them his mission. We'll talk about Hall's 186 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: next plan after his second expedition after we pause for 187 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. After returning home and accepting that 188 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: everyone from the Franklin expedition had died, Hall's explorer impulse 189 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: was not diminished in the least. He had merely shifted 190 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: focus to reaching the North Pole himself. This is something 191 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: that some accounts suggest he started really thinking seriously about 192 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: during that second expedition. Charles Francis Hall's earlier efforts had 193 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: gained him a little bit of attention and notoriety, and 194 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: he managed to get President Ulysses S Grant and a 195 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: number of Congressmen interested in his North Pole plan. He 196 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: wanted to run a full expedition himself with his own 197 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: ship and not have to depend on making deals with 198 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 1: whaling ships to travel, and in eighteen seventy Hall got 199 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: his financing. The US Congress granted him fifty thousand dollars, 200 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: which was quite a lot of money to mount an 201 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,599 Speaker 1: expedition to the North Pole. The undertaking was under the 202 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: jurisdiction of the US Navy and the National Academy of Sciences, 203 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: and this was the first Arctic expedition that the US 204 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: government fully funded. Hull was given command of a ship 205 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: named the Polaris for the journey. This had been a 206 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: steamer used by the Union in the US Civil War. 207 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: It was given a makeover and reinforced so that it 208 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: could withstand the cold of the Arctic. Although he may 209 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: not have wanted to work through the whaling industry for 210 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: travel anymore, Charles Hall hired a captain from the whaling 211 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: industry who he had sailed with on his two prior 212 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: expeditions to captain the Polaris. That was Sydney Buddington. On 213 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: June twenty ninth, eighteen seventy one, the Polaris left New 214 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 1: York City for Connecticut and then set sail from New London, 215 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: Connecticut on July third, eighteen seventy one. The Polaris next 216 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: stopped in Greenland to pick up supplies, sled dogs, and guides, 217 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: and once it was fully outfitted with its crew, the 218 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: USS Polaris had thirty three people aboard. Eight of these 219 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: are once again described as Eskimo in accounts of the day. 220 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,199 Speaker 1: Two were the Inuit couple that he had already been 221 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: friends with and had been using his guides, and also 222 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: their son. There was also another Indigenous couple in their kids. 223 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: There were four children in total on this expedition, three 224 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: little girls ages ten, eight and three, and the boy 225 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: was six years old. Later there was a fifth child 226 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,359 Speaker 1: because one of the couples had a baby during the expedition, 227 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: which was a boy who they named Polaris. In addition 228 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: to Buddington, the ship had a doctor Emil Bessels and 229 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: an astronomer named rd. W. Bryan. Where was also a 230 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: meteorologist named Friedrich Meyer. Emal Bessels in particular is important 231 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: to the story. He was only twenty four when the 232 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: Polaris expedition began, but he was already very accomplished. He 233 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: had graduated from medical school at eighteen in Heidelberg, Germany, 234 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: where he was born in eighteen forty seven, and the 235 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: Polaris was not his first Arctic expedition. He had visited 236 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: the island of Spitzbergen on a previous undertaking. As kind 237 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: of a fun side note, the archipelago, which was called Spitzbergen, 238 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: is now Svalbard where the global seed Vault is. The 239 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: island itself is still called Spitzbergen. Back to Bessels, he 240 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: had also served as a field surgeon in the Franco 241 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: Prussian War, so he had a lot of life under 242 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: his belt before he ever stepped onto the Polaris. The 243 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: leader of his prior Arctic expedition, a doctor Peterman, gave 244 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: Bessels the highest praise and endorsement. Initially, this trip seemed 245 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: to go very well. Haul and his party got farther 246 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: north than any non indigenous people had, reaching eighty two 247 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: degrees twenty nine minutes north latitude. That was the farthest 248 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: a ship had gone that was recorded in Western history. 249 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: But the situation on the ship was not as great 250 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: as those auspicious beginnings might have suggested. It appears that 251 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: Charles Hall was in conflict with two key members of 252 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: the team, Buddington, who many people said he was friends with, 253 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: and a Meal Bessels. In October, the Polaris and its 254 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: crew prepared for a long winter stuck in the ice. 255 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: They had come up against ice as they approached the 256 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: Lincoln Sea, and they found a harbor on the northern 257 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: shore of Greenland that Haul dubbed Thank God Harbor. In 258 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: early October, Hall set out from the ship on a 259 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: sledge to do some exploring. When Hall returned from his 260 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: scouting trip after two weeks on October twenty fourth, he 261 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: sought the comfort of a warm cup of coffee, and 262 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: after he drank it, he became sick, very sick. He 263 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: experienced painful symptoms, including partial paralysis and dementia, and Bezels 264 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: initially took care of him, believing he had a stroke. 265 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: Bezels recorded in his notes that Hall got slowly better 266 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: the next day and that they gave him quote warm 267 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: mustard foot baths and cold compresses placed on his head 268 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: and neck, and as he started to recover, Hall also 269 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: started talking about going on another sledge trip, and he 270 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: also wanted to know if the crew had been following 271 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: his instructions to prepare the ship for winter. But Hall 272 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: fell into what Beseel said was delirium and then became 273 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: suspicious that someone on the ship was trying to kill him. 274 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: He thought that he had been poisoned, and he said 275 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: so many times. Actually he didn't want anyone to help him. 276 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: He died on November eighth, eighteen seventy one, and he 277 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: was buried in a shallow grave on Greenland Shore. Beseels 278 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: wrote in his notes his account of the final days 279 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: of Charles Hall, noting his diagnosis that he had a 280 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: stroke and then probably a second stroke after he had 281 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: over exerted himself. In a moment of feeling better. Beseels 282 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: described how very difficult it was for the men to 283 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: dig a grave in the hard ground, and that it 284 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: had taken all night for several men to dig a 285 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: hole just two feet deep. Hall's death left Buddington in 286 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: charge initially. Once the ice had cleared, efforts were made 287 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 1: to go on with the mission, but the ship was 288 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: having leakage issues and the weather wasn't cooperating. Once again, 289 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: the Polaris was stuck in the ice in August of 290 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, and it stayed there, drifting along with 291 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: the ice field with no power to steer. In October, 292 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: as things grew uncertain as to whether the ship could 293 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: survive the shifting ice and the pressure on it, Buddington 294 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: told the crew that they needed to move everything overboard 295 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: along with the smaller boats. Many members of the crew 296 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: and the guides and their families were off the ship 297 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: on the ice when a gap suddenly formed and the 298 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: Polaris and the people outside of it who were on 299 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: an ice floe were separated. The Polaris was at the 300 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: mercy of the wind and currents when it pulled away 301 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: from the spot where it had lodged in the ice, 302 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: and it vanished, leaving the crew on the ice flow 303 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: with really little hope. Yeah, they thought the Polaris was lost. 304 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: The nineteen people who were on the ice stayed on 305 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: that ice floe with no means of controlling it as 306 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: it floated around for more than six months. Finally, on 307 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: April thirtieth, eighteen seventy three, after almost two harrowing years 308 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: at sea and one hundred and ninety six days, of 309 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: that were spent on an ice flow. The floating were 310 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: rescued when a ceiling ship known as the Tigris happened 311 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: upon them. All of them survived, which seems miraculous, but 312 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 1: we really have to note that it's truly because their 313 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: Inuit guides had taken care of everyone. They were fishing 314 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: and hunting from the FLOE's edge to keep everyone fed, 315 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: and according to the account of doctor Bessel's, who was 316 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: on the Polaris when the ship and the ice floe 317 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: were separated when the ice flow, survivors later saw the 318 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,239 Speaker 1: Polaris at shore as they had been rescued and were 319 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: brought to land. Some of them had initially wondered why 320 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,120 Speaker 1: the rest of the crew had not come to their rescue, 321 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: because from that vantage point it looked like the ship 322 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: was okay, but it actually was not. It had several 323 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: structural issues. Parts of it at that point were missing, 324 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: and it just could not have done so. Although the 325 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: group on the ice floe had believed the Polaris to 326 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: be lost again, it was not. Buddington had run it 327 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: aground close to Etta Greenlands after he and the crew 328 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: had furiously worked to keep it together just long enough 329 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: to get to land. Buddington and the remaining crew wintered 330 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: near Cairn Point. When spring arrived, a whaling vessel from 331 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: Scotland named the ravenscregg rescued the Polaris crew in Melville Bay, 332 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: where they had traveled in small rudmentary boats that they 333 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,880 Speaker 1: made from pieces of the Polaris. Buddington made it to Washington, 334 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: d c. With the remaining crew. That's another instance where 335 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: we need to note that they also survived because in 336 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: it who were living in that area where they went 337 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: aground took care of them. They did not serve on 338 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: their own. There was a Navy Board of Inquiry mounted 339 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: in June eighteen seventy three to investigate what had happened 340 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: to Charles Francis Hall. Although some of the people from 341 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: the ice flow testified that Hall was adamant that he 342 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: had been poisoned and that there was no accounting for 343 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: who had touched Hall's coffee before it reached him. Hall's 344 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: death was ruled as the result of an apoplectic seizure, 345 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: which is another name for as. The official report stated 346 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: that quote from personal examination of all the witnesses and 347 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: from their testimony is given we reached the unanimous conclusion 348 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: that the death of Captain Hall resulted naturally from disease 349 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: without fault on the part of anyone. Not everyone shared 350 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: that opinion, and we'll talk about one of the people 351 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: who gave his opinion on the matter to the press 352 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy three, after we pause or a sponsor break. 353 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: There were in eighteen seventy three some suspicions about what 354 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: had actually happened to Hall and whether he had met 355 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: with foul play. On Sunday, September twenty third, eighteen seventy three, 356 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: the New York Herald ran the headline the Story of 357 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: the Ice, and featured a very lengthy writeup of everything 358 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: that had happened to the Polaris team, and it opened 359 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: with a statement from doctor Bessel's that reads quote, we 360 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: are much to find from the American papers that several 361 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:07,119 Speaker 1: rumors of mischievous tendency, which I must characterize as silly 362 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,199 Speaker 1: and absurd, have been put into circulation concerning the expedition, 363 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: and particularly concerning the death of Captain Hall. It is 364 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: just possible that the government at Washington would prefer that 365 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: we reserve what we have to say for a graver occasion. 366 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: But we must emphatically contradict the statement that Captain Hall 367 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,920 Speaker 1: died any other than a natural death. He died of apoplexy. 368 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: He was ill about a fortnight. He appeared in perfect 369 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:37,199 Speaker 1: health when entering the voyage. I noticed nothing unusual in 370 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: his health up to the period of his illness. The 371 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: rumors that he was poisoned are too absurd to be 372 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: seriously entertained. The rumor may have been founded on the 373 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:51,959 Speaker 1: hallucinations of the raving patient. So doctor Bessel's thought that 374 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: the deceased Charles Hall started a rumor that he was poisoned, 375 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: and that rumor was definitely swirling. And in that same 376 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: article there was a damning statement from Inspector H. Kerrit Smith. 377 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: He was the man in charge of the government's storehouse 378 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: at Greenland, where the Polaris stocked up, and he had 379 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: some thoughts about the vibe of the group. He told 380 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: the Harold's reporter his concerns about what might have happened 381 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: to Hall. According to the write up, Smith was not 382 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: surprised when he heard that Hall had died. He told 383 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,719 Speaker 1: the Harold quote, I pitied him from the bottom of 384 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: my heart. To me, he imparted the source of all 385 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: his troubles, and a more distracted man I have seldom seen. 386 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: My house was open to all the officers of the expedition, 387 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: and I had, of course every opportunity to learn both 388 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 1: sides of the story. When Smith was questioned about the 389 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: group dynamics in play among the officers on the voyage, 390 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: he told the reporter quote, Buddington was only an instrument 391 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 1: in the hands of a third party. It was not 392 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: long before I discovered a very bitter feeling existed on 393 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: the polaris. And although Buddington was a stone the cause 394 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: of the quarrel, that there was in the background a 395 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: far more dangerous element who contend against. As Smith's statement continues, 396 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: it sounds like conflict began over whether scientific work should 397 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: take precedence over the objective of reaching the pole. He said, quote, 398 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: as far as I could learn, no trouble manifested itself 399 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: until the coast of Greenland was reached. Now it was 400 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: pretty well understood that Captain Hall was not a scientific 401 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: or highly educated man, though perfectly competent to command such 402 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 1: an expedition that was entrusted to him. Doctor Emil Bessel's 403 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: was chief of the scientific Corps and mister Frederick Meyers, 404 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 1: the meteorologist, and to these gentlemen Captain Hall looked for 405 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: assistance in carrying out the great object of the expedition. 406 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: From what I heard, however, he was disappointed in the direction. 407 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: And although Captain Hall, fully realizing the importance of all 408 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: scientific discoveries, was anxious to afford them every facility, he 409 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: was nevertheless bound to maintain his own as commander of 410 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: the expedition. Captain Hall told me in a despondent tone, 411 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: that both Bessels and Meyer carried on their operations without 412 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: regard to his authority. For instance, when Hall requested Meyer 413 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: to take an observation, he refused to do so on 414 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,440 Speaker 1: the ground that he was responsible only to the government 415 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: for his actions. Smith also stated that he thought Bessels 416 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 1: was using Meyer as his mouthpiece. Smith's concerns about Bessels 417 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 1: did not stop there. He also told the reporter that 418 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: Bessels knew that as doctor he was indispensable to the crew, 419 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: and that if he left the expedition at any time 420 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: it was at port, many of the men would have 421 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: joined him. He also noted that, in writing letters about 422 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: the expedition to German journals. Bessels called it the Hall 423 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: Bessel's expedition, and he noted that while Hall wanted absolutely 424 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: no alcohol on board, Bessels got a stock of it 425 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: under the auspices of medical supplies, and that he believed Buddington, 426 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: who had been reported as having been drunk on a 427 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: number of occasions on the trip, must have gotten it 428 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: from the doctor. According to Smith, the meteorologist Myers was 429 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: openly and subordinate, so much so that another Navy captain, 430 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: Captain Davenport, got involved while they were docked in Greenland 431 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: to settle the matter, but that after that there were 432 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,920 Speaker 1: a lot of bad feelings toward Hall. Yeah, Hall had 433 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: wanted to put Myers in shackles and keep him on board, 434 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: apparently to do the meteorological work. But like sort of 435 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: in a captive state. So naturally not a lot of 436 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,440 Speaker 1: loving feelings towards that. But we should note this is 437 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: all the account of a third party. But then Smith 438 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: recounted an argument that he had witnessed between Hall and 439 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: Bessel's in his own house, and after that argument, Hall 440 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: gave Smith and his wife four boxes of papers for safekeeping, 441 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,880 Speaker 1: which he said involved information about the Franklin expedition, which 442 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: he was not comfortable taking on the trip. He had 443 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: packed it initially, but then offloaded it in Greenland. These 444 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: papers involved information about members of the Franklin expedition resorting 445 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: to cannibalism, and he did not want them made public 446 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: while Franklin's widow was alive, and Hall seemed to think 447 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 1: that if he brought those papers on the expedition they 448 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: would be lost forever because something might happen to them. 449 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: Then the really damning statement from Smith came out quote. 450 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: I cannot help thinking that, despite the testimony taking at Washington, 451 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: his death was not the result of natural causes. Everything 452 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 1: induces to that opinion, for undue influence had been exercised 453 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: over the crew to lessen their respect for her commander, 454 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 1: and the jealousy of some of Hall's subordinates taking in 455 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: connection with the whole affair, leads me to the conclusion 456 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: that there was bowel play. I think the body of 457 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: Captain Hall, which I have no doubt is still in 458 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,159 Speaker 1: a state of preservations, should be sought after and exhumed. 459 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: Bessel's never fully outran these accusations in the court of 460 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 1: public opinion. Kind of any time something happened where he 461 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: was written up in the paper it was like and 462 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: suspect of the murder of Captain Hall, but nothing further 463 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: was done regarding the death of Hall. Once the Navy 464 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,719 Speaker 1: Board had made its decision, Bessels went on to work 465 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: at the Smithsonian Institution and he published scientific results of 466 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,439 Speaker 1: the United States Arctic Expedition and other papers about the 467 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: work that he had done on the journey. He died 468 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: at the age of forty after a stroke. It wasn't 469 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: until almost one hundred years after the expedition that questions 470 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: arose once again about what exactly happened to Charles Francis Hall. 471 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties, Dartmouth professor and Arctic historian Chauncey C. 472 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: Loomis started researching the expedition for his book Weird and 473 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: Tragic Shores, The Story of Charles Francis Hall, and Loomis 474 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: wanted the body exhumed. That happened in nineteen sixty eight. 475 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: Loomis himself went to Greenland for the exenbit and an 476 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: autopsy was performed on the well preserved body. Toronto's Center 477 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: of Forensic Sciences ran neutron activation tests on samples of 478 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: hair and fingernails that were collected. This revealed some very 479 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 1: interesting information and was even the basis for a paper 480 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine 481 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy titled an Inquest on the Death of 482 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: Charles Francis Hall. Charles Francis Hall had been given arsenic 483 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: in the last two weeks of his life, and a 484 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: lot of it. Suddenly, Emil Brussels was once again looking 485 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: suspicious as there was arsenic in his medical kit. Remember, 486 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: at this time in history, it was used to treat 487 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: all kinds of things like joint problems in syphilis and 488 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: dry skin. But the doses Hall was given were far 489 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: beyond what would have ever been administered for any medical reason. 490 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: But even though there had been conflict between the two men, 491 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: it just didn't seem enough to drive someone to murder, 492 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: especially in a scenario where a limited number of people 493 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: are depending on each other for survival. Additionally, Hall had 494 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: his own medical kits, so it is possible that he 495 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: may have overdosed accidentally when he was refusing medical help 496 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: from Brussels, and he may have been self medicating. So 497 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: this mystery percolated on for another four decades until another 498 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: piece of circumstantial evidence was found, and that was an envelope. 499 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: That envelope was from Charles Hall to a young woman 500 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: named Vinnie Reim, was postmarked October eighteen seventy one. That 501 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: envelope was discovered by Rhode Island College professor Russell Potter, 502 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 1: and Venni Riem was connected to Bessel's romantically, and maybe 503 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: also to Charles Hall. Reem was a well known sculptor, 504 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: and Hall kept a small bust of Abraham Lincoln she 505 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: had given him in his quarters on the Polaris. She 506 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: could potentially be an upcoming episode. Are good, It's what 507 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, because she's very interesting on her own 508 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: outside of any connection to these two men. So the 509 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: idea that perhaps there was a jealousy between these two 510 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: men might lend more gravity to the idea that Bessel's 511 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: was angry enough at Hall to kill him. For example, 512 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: if he suddenly saw a work of art by his 513 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: sweetheart in the Captain's quarters, that may have prompted a 514 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,120 Speaker 1: jealous rage. But that is pure speculation. We will never 515 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: ever know what really happened and how Hall came to 516 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: have so much arsenic in his system. But on the 517 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: official record, Emil Bessel's remains clear of any wrongdoing the 518 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: mystery forever. Uh, do you have listener mail for us? Yes? 519 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: This listener mail comes with a note as to how 520 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: to ensure that I obsess over your email and possibly 521 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: read it on the air. This is the key ingredient 522 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: you can include to make sure that I lose my mind. Okay, 523 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: this is from our listener, Kelsey, who writes hi Ally 524 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I was just listening to your recent episode 525 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: about Harrison Dyer while eating breakfast and enjoying learning about 526 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: his drama and his tunnels. When Tracy described the truck 527 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: falling into the street near fifteen twelve twenty third Street Northwest, 528 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: and I almost dropped my spoon. That's about three blocks 529 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: from my apartment in the DuPont Circle neighborhood in DC. 530 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 1: It's kitty corner from my local coffee shop, and I 531 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,959 Speaker 1: have passed by there dozens of times. I had no 532 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: idea there were tunnels under my neighborhood. Proof that history 533 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: is all around, well, perhaps obviously in DC. Thank you 534 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: for continuing to fill my days with fascinating history that 535 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: I wouldn't have learned otherwise. Best wishes Kelsey. And then 536 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: Kelsey includes not her own cats, but her friend astroids 537 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: cats Crumble and Waffle, who she considers her nephews. And 538 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: here's what you can do if you want to ensure 539 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: that I lose my mind over your email. These two 540 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: cats look like Devin, which is my very very favorite 541 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: flavor of kitty and was the breed of my beloved 542 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: mister Burns, who has left this earth and is no 543 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,240 Speaker 1: longer pulling people's pants down or turning on stoves. But 544 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: they are absolutely gorgeous. I'm obsessed and I want to 545 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: kiss their faces. So Kelsey and Astrid and Crumble and Waffle, 546 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: thank you for making me smile, because this is some 547 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 1: cute business. Those giant eyes and those giant ears. I 548 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: love a little crazy rexy baby. If you would like 549 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: to write to us and send us really any cat 550 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: pictures are good. As I've said before, any animals or 551 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: pictures are good. Send me your tarantulas, your snakes, and 552 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: your corvid. Send me your I don't know worms. Do 553 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: people keep earth worms as pets? Probably ants ant farm. 554 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: I'm into it. I love all of it. Send me 555 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: all of it if you would like to do so 556 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: and talk about maybe place ways that our stories have 557 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,880 Speaker 1: intersected with your neighborhood. You can do so at History 558 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also find us 559 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: on social media as mist in History, and you can 560 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,040 Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere 561 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:21,719 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 562 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 563 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 564 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.