From Gjoa Haven to Ottawa: Time Traveling in the Arctic
From Gjoa Haven to Ottawa: Time Traveling in the Arctic
By prisca.campbell
King William Island is also associated with Sir John Franklin's quest to find the northern sea route to Asia. His ships - the Erebus and Terror - were beset in ice off the northwest shore of the island. His men are believed to have trekked overland when they abandoned ship. What happened to those men is only partially understood.
A century and a half later, Parks Canada has mounted an expedition to find the ships, and if they still survive, the ships' logs. The research team found the remains of H. M. S. Investigator - a ship sent to rescue Franklin's crew. The team failed to discover the location of Erebus and Terror, or the ship's logs.
En route to Ottawa today, Monday, September 6, 2010, is a small box that was buried under a stone cairn in Gjoa Haven. Reputedly the sealed box contains Franklin's logs. An alternate claim is that the box contains memorabilia buried by Roald Amundsen, in 1905. Would the Antique Roadshow experts place a higher value on Franklin's ship logs or Amundsen artefacts? The historical significance, however, could be priceless. Only time and an examination by Arctic exploration experts in Ottawa will tell.
- prisca.campbell's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Nothing of historic significance or connected to either Amundsen or Franklin were found in the box, when it was opened.