1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and joining me today is Sarah Dowdy. 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: How are you, Sarah. I'm good, Katie good. We keep 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: getting emails requesting more about Canadian history and I have 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: something close to Canadian history today, kooky Arctic mystery. So 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and say that counts. We're talking 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: about Sir John Franklin's Lost Expedition. John Franklin was one 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: of twelve kids and his parents wanted him to become 10 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: a clergyman, but he loved the sea and he was 11 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: absolutely sure that was his destiny from a young age. 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: So he entered the Royal Navy at fourteen, where he 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: had a varied career. He took part in expeditions to Australia, 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: he fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, and he commanded 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: the Trent on an eighteen eighteen Arctic expedition in an 16 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: attempt to reach the North Pole. And from eighteen eighteen 17 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: to eighteen twenty two he conducted an overland expedition from 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: Hudson Bay to the Arctic. I think and surveyed part 19 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: of the coast, the parts that people had never seen before, 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: a large swath of the coast, and published a book 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: about it, the Narrative of a Journey to the Shores 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: of the Polar Sea, and did another narrative a few 23 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,199 Speaker 1: years later after a second overland expedition in the same region. 24 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: And during this time it was post Napoleonic Wars. The 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: British Navy really needed something to do, basically, and they 26 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: needed a purpose. Yeah, And so largely thanks to Sir 27 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: John Barrow, they decided their purpose was going to be 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: to navigate the Northwest Passage. And the Northwest Passage has 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: been an idea floated around since Elizabethan times even but 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: it was essentially that there was a way to take 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: a ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific, going above Canada, 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: and they knew it was there somewhere, they just didn't 33 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: know where. Somewhere in all that ice between all those islands, 34 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: they knew there was a way, but it took a 35 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: very long time to find it, and even longer to 36 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: actually navigate it. So in eighteen forty five they decide 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: they're going to launch another expedition, and Franklin is not 38 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: their first choice. Because he's older. He's fifty nine, and 39 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: they think that might be too old for someone who's 40 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: going to be in such strenuous conditions. Yeah, it's basically 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: seemed like his naval career was over. He's been the 42 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: governor of Tasmania for several years, he's been knighted. It 43 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like he's the man to choose for your 44 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: Arctic expedition. But he's convinced that he's the right one. 45 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: And I think someone said something to him about being 46 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: sixty and he said, no, no, I'm fifty nine, with 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: to make that clear. So it's a go, and Franklin 48 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: is their choice. And the ships they were going to 49 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: take were state of the art at the time. They 50 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: had iron reinforced halls and steam engines. They were very 51 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: well equipped. Yeah, they have three years worth of canned 52 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: food on board, which partly ends up being a problem, 53 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: but we'll get to that. Um. So they dock in 54 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: Greenland in July of eight and they sent home a 55 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: few men and a batch of letters. If you were 56 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: one of the men to be sent home there, you 57 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: were very lucky because things didn't go well from there 58 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: on out. The last sighting of them is by British 59 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: whalers north of Baffin Island at the entrance to Lancaster 60 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: Sound in July of eighteen forty five, and then they 61 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: disappear and go completely off the map. So what happened? 62 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: Search parties were sent in eighteen forty seven to and 63 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: through that exact question, because two years was too long. 64 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: They should have heard something by now, and the searches 65 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: keep going. Yeah, by eighteen fifty as many as fourteen 66 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: ships were in the area at the same time looking 67 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: for them. This turned out to be kind of the 68 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: romantic adventure of the age searching for Franklin and his 69 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: lost crew, and consequently a lot of information about the 70 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: Northwest Passage was discovered during these rescue attempts. But we're 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: going to kind of give the overview of what happened 72 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: to Franklin and his men during this time. This was 73 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: all pieced together over years and years. But I'm something 74 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: like thirty expeditions to find them. They each came back 75 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: with a little pieces. Yeah. So by in eighty five 76 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: to six they winter at Beechey Island and three crewmen 77 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: die there and they started with a dred and twenty 78 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: nine people. Yeah, so the numbers are are dwindling slowly. Yeah. 79 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty six, these ships which are named Erebus 80 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: and Terror not a good name. Four ships leave Beechy 81 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: Island and they sail down Peel Sound to King William Island, 82 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: and then by September of eighteen forty six, the ships 83 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: get trapped in the ice off of King William Island 84 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: in Victoria Street, um and so they winter there. And 85 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: there's a note that was found later, uh from May 86 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: forty seven saying that things were okay, you know, they 87 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: were stuck in the ice still, but it was going 88 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: all right. But on June eleven, eighteen forty seven, as 89 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: close as we can tell, Franklin died. And he is 90 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: the head of everything of the whole expedition, and he's 91 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,239 Speaker 1: one of very few men and the crew who actually 92 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: has Arctic experience. And things get bad then because that's 93 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: when the ice from the winter should have thought and 94 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: they should have been able to move on, and it doesn't, 95 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: so they winter again on King William Island. Obviously, there 96 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: are questions of food that are going to come up soon, 97 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: so they have to start making difficult decisions in the 98 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: next year about what they're going to do, and they 99 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: abandoned their ships on April eighteen forty eight and decide 100 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: to try to make a go of it, and in 101 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: a note that was later found um, by April four 102 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: men had died and the survivors were marching south to 103 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: the Black River, and things got very messy there. Uh 104 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: they resorted to cannibalism and a lot of them were 105 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: addled by what later looked like lead poisoning um. And 106 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: some people say the lead poisoning as a result of 107 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: poorly tinned foods. The foods were apparently supplied by kind 108 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: of a cut rate dealer and lead was supposed to 109 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: have really dripped into the cans from the soldering. But 110 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: an author of ice Blank Scott Cookman, actually has a 111 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: different theory and he thinks that botuli is um in 112 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: the cans caused all of the mental and physical issues 113 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: that happened and was responsible for why these men died 114 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: on the ice, not on the ship, on the ice 115 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: when they were away from reliable cooking sources, because proper 116 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: heating will that kills the cluster dam spores that if 117 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: they don't have a stove head on the ice, and 118 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: maybe you have a dinky little stove or not a 119 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: stove at all, and so he kind of thought that 120 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: explained why they all die out there and not on 121 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: the ships. And there were there was also evidence of scurvy, 122 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: which is what happens when you don't get enough vitamin C, 123 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: and scurvy and lead poisoning lead to the same kinds 124 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: of weakness that make you unable to do the hard 125 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: work that's necessary to do. And they weren't. They weren't 126 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: adopting Inuit ways of dealing with the weather, and they 127 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: were carrying lots of unnecessary supplies with them, so it 128 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: was not they weren't equipped for an overland expedition. The 129 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: list of their supplies I wish I had it on 130 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: me is just so strange. It wasn't at all survival stuff. 131 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: It was things like books. Silver, Yes, you don't need 132 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: silver if you're trapped in the Arctic, for future reference 133 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: for all our listeners, don't bring the silver. The first 134 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: search for Franklin goes out in eighteen forty seven. The 135 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: first official search isn't until eighteen forty eight, and over 136 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: the years a lot of the expeditions get very close 137 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: to where Franklin ships were actually abandoned, but there's a 138 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: lot of delay, and one of the reasons is when 139 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: ships were over there looking at Peel Sound where the 140 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: boats went, it seemed impos possible that they could have 141 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: gone in that direction because the ice cover was so heavy, 142 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,079 Speaker 1: so they just skipped over it. And of course there 143 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: was a huge cold snap going on in the Arctic 144 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: at this time too, so these weren't normal conditions for 145 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: that area. The early searches turned up some accounts from 146 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: Inuit who had seen the explorers and had stories about 147 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: starving men. There's even one account that was taken much 148 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: much later from an Inuit in nine saying that, uh, 149 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: some of the boats were remainned, and they knew of 150 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: large vessels that lay on the other side of the island, 151 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: basically far away from where they're supposed to have been. 152 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: And they also said that because the winter was so cold, 153 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: they too were having a really hard time finding food 154 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: and hunting. So if the crew was depending on the 155 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: locals for food, they didn't have any to give well, 156 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: and it's likely that the crew wouldn't ask for help 157 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: to they there were sales sufficient. British men and the 158 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: Royal Navy men exactly in the process of the search, 159 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: the Northwest Passage is actually completed, although it's by several 160 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: ships and led it's not completed by the way one 161 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: ship until the twentieth century, I believe. UM. But in 162 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine there is a very important search mission 163 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: sent out. The Royal Navy was effectively done with this 164 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: after getting looking for years. Yeah, and then they felt 165 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: like they had gotten a gotten back enough information about 166 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: the men. But Franklin's widow wasn't satisfied. Jane Lady Franklin, 167 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: was the first woman to receive the Founder's Medal of 168 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: the Royal Geographical Society because of everything she'd done to 169 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: organize these expeditions. She was determined that they would at 170 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: least find some concrete proof that the men were dead. 171 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: So she hires Captain Francis Leopold McClintock, who had actually 172 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: been on several earlier search missions UM and during some 173 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: of those had really developed the art of sledging across 174 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: the land and learned a lot of the Inuit customs 175 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: and helped prepare future Arctic explorers for conditions. And he 176 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: was very effective because he used all of these other 177 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 1: resources and his crew found skeletons of the Franklin expedition. 178 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: I think only four of them. Yeah, But most importantly 179 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: he finds that note UM, which has the first message 180 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: message saying that everything is okay, and then the later 181 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: message abandoning ship, lots of people dying were walking. Um 182 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: finds it in a pile of stones on the icy island. 183 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: It's very creepy it is, and I we'll never know 184 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: entirely what happened. These are just again what historians and 185 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: scientists are able to piece together from the evidence that 186 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: they had. So there are things were sure of, like 187 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: there was too much lead in the bodies, there was 188 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: evidence of scurvy. There was definitely cannibalism from what they 189 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: can tell from the bones. But some of it will 190 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: never quite know. And very strange thing to think of 191 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: today is um icebreaker luxury cruises go right up by 192 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: the island where they all died. Now, Um, it's strange 193 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: to think how accessible all that is. And actually the 194 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: Northwest Passage is open. Uh. It first opened in two 195 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: thousand seven enough ice had melted that it was considered 196 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: fully navigable, and it happened again in two thousand eight 197 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: along with the northeast passage, which made the North Pole 198 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: circumnavigable for the first time in hundred and twenty five 199 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: thousand years. That's insane. See, that's why we need your 200 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: green knowledge on the podcast. And I'll end with a 201 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: memorial by Tennyson, who was a kinsman through marriage to Franklin. 202 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: And he said, not here the white North has thy bones, 203 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: and the heroic sailor soul aren't passing online happier voyage 204 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: now towards no earthly pole. And you had mentioned a 205 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: rather ironic fact that happened from that memorial poem. Yeah, 206 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: another ill fated polar explorer, the American Adolphus Greely, became 207 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: fascinated by the Arctic by a visit to London where 208 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: he read those words. So does it happens when you 209 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: were mentioning tragedy? So if you like to learn more 210 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: about survival, we've got all kinds of survival articles on 211 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: the website. And check out the Stuffy missed in History 212 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: blog at www dot how stuff works dot com. For 213 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 214 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think. 215 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: Send an email to podcast at how stuff Works dot Com, 216 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: and be sure to check out the stuff you missed 217 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: in History Glass blog on the how Stuff Works dot com, 218 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: home to