Baillie Island facts for kids
Baillie Island is a small island in Canada's Northwest Territories. It sits off the northern coast of a place called Cape Bathurst. The Inuit people call this island Utkraluk.
Long ago, the island was part of the land used by the Avvaqmiut people. They were a group of the Mackenzie Inuit. These groups have lived in the Arctic for a very long time.
A Special Plant
Baillie Island is home to a very rare plant. It's called hairy rockcress or hairy braya (Braya pilosa). This plant is endemic to the area. This means it grows naturally only in a few specific places.
You can find this plant in just five spots on Baillie Island. It also grows on the nearby Cape Bathurst. Because it's so rare, it needs special protection. The Northwest Territories Species at Risk Committee lists it as "threatened." The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada calls it "endangered." This means it's at high risk of disappearing forever.
Island History
People have known about Baillie Island for a long time. But the first European to see it was John Richardson. He was an explorer and naturalist. He discovered the island in 1826 and gave it its name.
Early Explorers
Richardson visited the island again later with another explorer, John Rae. They were searching for the Northwest Passage. This was a sea route through the Arctic. They were also looking for Franklin's lost expedition, a group of explorers who had disappeared.
Trading and Police
In 1915, a big company called the Hudson's Bay Company set up a trading post on the island. People would trade furs and other goods there. Another trader named Christian Theodore Pedersen also visited the post while it was being built.
By the 1920s, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) also had a base on the island. This was an important spot for them in the Arctic. In 1928, a famous explorer named Henry Larsen was made captain of the ship St. Roch at Baillie Island. He later made important voyages through the Northwest Passage.
