First Grinnell expedition facts for kids
The First Grinnell Expedition in 1850 was an American adventure. It was paid for by Henry Grinnell, a wealthy merchant. The main goal was to find out what happened to the lost Franklin Northwest Passage expedition. Lieutenant Edwin De Haven led the team. They explored areas along the route Franklin was supposed to take. They worked with British search teams. Together, they found the remains of Franklin's winter camp on Beechey Island. This discovery gave the first real clues about what Franklin's group did in the winter of 1845. After this, De Haven's own ships got stuck in the ice!
Contents
Getting Ready for the Arctic
By 1850, three British attempts to find Franklin had already failed. In 1849, Lady Jane Franklin, Sir John Franklin's wife, asked the American President Zachary Taylor for help. She wanted the search to continue.
When the U.S. government was slow to approve money for ships, Henry Grinnell stepped in. He bought two ships, the 91-ton USS Rescue and the 144-ton USS Advance. He had them specially prepared for the Arctic. Then, he offered them to the government. The government quickly added more money and volunteer Navy officers and crew.
The expedition was told to search near the Wellington Channel and Cape Walker. These were areas Franklin might have explored. Elisha Kent Kane, a doctor, joined the Advance. Captain Donald Manson became the ice expert on the Sophia. Everything was prepared quickly. The expedition left New York on May 22, 1850.
The Journey North
The ships saw Greenland on June 20. They stopped at the Crown Prince Islands in Disco Bay. There, they learned from a British mail ship that other British search teams were heading to the same area.
The Advance and Rescue left the islands on June 29. They met the ice field on July 1, heading towards Upernavik. By July 7, the ice was so thick that the Advance had to tow the Rescue. This kept the ships from getting separated. The crews often had to go onto the ice. They used tools like crowbars and boathooks to clear a path. For 21 days, the ships moved very slowly. The crew had to work hard to push them forward.
Finally, on July 28, they broke free from the thick ice. They sailed across Melville Bay, surrounded by many icebergs. As August began, they hunted auks and polar bears to add to their food. On August 10, a wind change forced both ships to stop. The ice closed in dangerously around them. The next day, they reached open water. They made steady progress north along the coast towards Lancaster Sound. Near Cape York, they met Inuit hunters. The crews sometimes went ashore to hunt and explore.
Finding Clues About Franklin
On August 18, the expedition met the British ship Lady Franklin. Captain William Penny was leading its search for Franklin. They shared news about other British expeditions. On August 21, they met the Felix, led by Sir John Ross.
On August 22, they met Captain Forsyth on the Prince Albert. He suggested they search together by sledge. They found a pile of stones, called a cairn, left by other British ships. This cairn was at Cape Riley, Devon Island. It showed that traces of British camps had been found there and on Beechey Island. The Rescue had helped find these clues.
At Cape Riley, they found parts of stone walls. These were likely used to support Franklin's tents. They also found pieces of salted meat containers, clothing, and boat parts. No other expeditions were known to have camped there. De Haven noticed that the ice in Wellington Channel looked like it hadn't broken for several years.
The search teams went to Beechey Island on August 26. There, they met Captain Penny's ships, Lady Franklin and Sophia. Penny was with R. Anstruther Goodsir, whose brother, Harry Goodsir, was missing with Franklin. They found more items, like containers with labels from London, newspapers from 1844, and papers signed by Franklin's officers.
By now, Ross and Penny's expeditions were also in the area. They started making plans to search together. Then, a group on Beechey Island reported finding graves. There were three graves, marked with wooden markers and protected by limestone slabs. They faced Cape Riley.
Trapped in the Ice
Soon, winter storms separated the ships. The Rescue was pushed south into the open sea. The Advance found some shelter near Griffith's Island. The Rescue eventually got back under control to the south. De Haven decided to try to take both ships home with the information they had found. He felt they couldn't continue the search from where they were.
However, the ice grew thicker. The two ships soon got stuck in Wellington's Straits. De Haven named the mountains to the north "Grinnell Land," which is part of Ellesmere Island. The heavy ice squeezed the ships. The ice floe dragged both ships northward as the long Arctic night began.
By October 1, the ships were ready for winter. The upper decks were covered, sails were stored, and stoves were set up. They hid emergency supplies on the nearest shore. Sometimes, violent ice movements threatened the ships. They drifted north or south depending on the wind. Lard lamps kept the cabins just above freezing. Some crew members started showing early signs of scurvy. Dr. Kane hunted seals and foxes to get fresh meat. Curious foxes even became tame and amused the crew. By November 9, all winter preparations were done. The ships were near Beechey Island, and temperatures were usually below zero.
As December began, the crew prepared to leave the ships if needed. They got supplies ready and prepared sledges. The ice continued to grind against the ships. On December 7, dangerous conditions forced them to leave the Rescue. Its crew moved onto the Advance. The Advance was lifted by the ice. Crews often went out to chip ice away from the front of the ship. The empty Rescue was slowly being torn apart only 50 yards away.
The ice floe kept drifting, now southeast towards new ice dangers in Baffin Bay. Captain Griffin led practice evacuation drills. Snow was packed around the Advance for insulation. Eight crew members now had black gums from scurvy. Morale dropped in the endless Arctic night, even with a Christmas play.
The year 1851 started at the edge of Baffin Bay. Temperatures were usually around -25°F as daylight slowly returned. On January 13, the ice became very active with strong winds. Supplies hidden on the ice were lost. The Rescue's situation became worse. February was boring, but they played occasional games of football on the ice. They also had more plays at night. Scurvy symptoms got worse, and fresh food rations were increased, but it didn't help much. On February 22, the coldest temperature of the trip was recorded at -53°F.
As March began, they decided to repair the Rescue. This included fixing the hull in a drydock carved from the ice. More daylight, exercise, and plenty of sauerkraut and lime juice helped reduce scurvy among the crew. The ice packs moved slower, holding the ships around 72° north. In mid-March, the ice began to break up. Wildlife started to return amid heavy snows. April brought some open water. The crew began salting the ice around the two ships. On April 22, the Rescue's crew returned to their ship. They were surprised it had survived the winter.
Breaking Free
By mid-May, efforts to weaken the ice around the ships with long saws started to work. The ice floe was nearing Cape Searle. They cut large slabs of ice from around the ships and pulled them away. Fresh meat from bird hunting and occasional polar bears made the crews stronger. Open water got closer but stayed just out of reach.
The ice floe finally released the ships on June 5, 1851. They had drifted about 1050 miles. The back of the Advance was still held up by a large piece of ice. They used ice saws, but couldn't spare gunpowder for blasting. These efforts didn't work well. The ice also held the ship's rudder tightly. This ice violently released the Advance on June 8. After that, both ships sailed through a maze of ice.
They reached the Whale Fish Islands on June 16. They rested for five days with the Inuit at Godhavn. Then, they set out north again to continue their search for Franklin.
By June 24, they met the pack ice again. They slowly made their way towards Upernavik. They hunted and visited with the local Inuit. They stopped at a Danish settlement in early July. As the ice cleared, they met British whalers. They exchanged news, mail, and fresh food. Then, they briefly visited Upernavik. Nearby, they again met and joined forces with the Prince Albert, which was still searching for Franklin.
The three ships made slow progress north through the ice fields for weeks. Then, the way was completely blocked. On August 5, the Prince Albert left, heading south through the pressing ice. The Rescue and Advance kept trying to reach the open waters of Wellington Channel. The summer season was ending early. They slowly cut north, yard by yard, through the increasingly violent pack ice. Larger icebergs drifted in and created more loose ice. By August 17, they reached open water for the first time in almost a month. De Haven decided to return home before winter trapped them again. They reached Upernavik on August 23. Henry Grinnell met them in New York on September 30, 1851. Both ships were returned to him.
What They Learned
In his official report, De Haven thought Franklin had probably gone north into an unknown open sea after wintering near Beechey Island. However, it was later found that Franklin had done the opposite. He had continued south, following his original orders. De Haven was sad that the expedition ended early. He felt their hard work had "served to throw so little light upon the object of our search."
In 1853, Dr. Kane led the Second Grinnell expedition. This expedition also failed to find new information about Franklin. Kane eventually had to leave the Advance stuck in the ice.