Authors: Jennifer Niven
LEGEND
BC (Archives)
âBritish Columbia Archives
BWD
âBowdoin College, Maine
CAEâ
Canadian Arctic Expedition
DRT
âDartmouth College
JNC
âJennifer Niven's Collection
KGC
âKenneth Gordon Chipman
MMBCâ
Maritime Museum, British Columbia
OJâ
Official Journal of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913â1918
NAC
âNational Archives of Canada
NLSâ
National Library of Scotland
RAB
âRobert Abram Bartlett
RMA
âDr. Rudolph Martin Anderson
WLM
âWilliam Laird McKinlay
PRIMARY SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
This book is based on the diaries, journals, letters, unpublished manuscripts, and papers written by the members of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition, and on other pertinent letters and journals, as well as on documents and public records in government archives.
Providentially, most of the scientists and crew members kept diaries and journals, wrote letters home, and composed official reports and, despite the calamities the
Karluk
endured, many of these invaluable documents have survived. Some of the diaries, as in Mamen's case, were kept up until the days just before death. Other materials, as in McKinlay's case, included writing composed by memory over the course of several decades. My objective has been to bring the reader as close as possible to these primary sources and, through them, to the actual time and experiences documented by the people who lived them.
Over the years, as I conducted my research in the Unites States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, I constructed day-by-day calendars, juxtaposing all the firsthand accounts recorded by the participants themselves. This process allowed me to weave together and compare all the accounts of each event.
In addition to relying on the primary written sources, I conducted interviews and/or carried on extensive correspondence with the following:
Nancy Scott, daughter of William Laird McKinlay
Jennifer Byrd, granddaughter of William Laird McKinlay
Mugpi, the last living survivor of the
Karluk
, and her daughter Emily Wilson
Stuart Jenness, son of anthropologist Diamond Jenness
Peter Anderson, great-nephew of Alexander “Sandy” Anderson
Sonja Carling, relative of Bjarne Mamen
Jens Anker, relative of Bjarne Mamen
Magnus and Mamie Magnusson, friends of William McKinlay
Lord George Emslie, friend of William McKinlay
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, Agreement, Formation, and Preliminary History, NAC/MG30-B40
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, Auditor General's Report, 1912â1918, Details of Expenditures, NAC/MG30-B40
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, General Criticism and Controversy, NAC/MG30-B40
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913â1918, Preliminary History, Rudolph Martin Anderson Collection/Anderson-Allstrand Collection, NAC/MG30-B40
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, Reports of Southern and Northern Divisions, MMBC
Official Journal of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, Northern Party, 1913-1918, NAC/RG42-Volume 345
Official Papers Regarding the Death of George Breddy, NLS/DEP 357
MAJOR UNPUBLISHED SOURCES
Anderson, Rudolph Martin, Papers and Documents, Rudolph Martin Anderson Collection/Anderson-Allstrand Collection, NAC/MG30-B40
Bartlett, Robert Abram, Official Journal, Ship's Log, and Personal Papers, Robert Abram Bartlett Papers 1888-1989, Special Collections & Archives, BWD
Chafe, Ernest F.,
The Voyage of the Karluk and its Tragic Ending
, unpublished manuscript, MMBC.
Chipman, Kenneth Gordon, Diary and Papers, Kenneth Gordon Chipman Fonds, NAC/MG30-B66
Hadley, John, Diary, John Hadley Fonds, NAC/MG30-B2
The Karluk Chronicle
, Official Newsletter of the HMCS
Karluk
, DRT
McConnell, Burt, Official Diary and Papers, Burt M. McConnell Fonds, NAC/MG30-B24
McKinlay, William L., Official diary submitted to the Canadian Government and Papers, NAC, William Laird McKinlay Fonds, NAC/MG30-B25
McKinlay, William L., Original diary (versions one and two) and Personal Papers, Correspondence and Papers of William Laird McKinlay, NLS/DEP 357
McKinlay, William L., First Draft of Manuscript
Karluk
, unpublished manuscript, William Laird McKinlay Fonds, NAC/MG30-B25. (Note: Often referred to below as “First Draft” or “First Draft of
Karluk
.”)
McKinlay William L., Second Draft of Manuscript
Karluk
, unpublished manuscript, William Laird McKinlay Fonds, NAC/MG30-B25. (Note: Often referred to below as “Second Draft” or “Second Draft of
Karluk
.”)
Mackay, Dr. Alister Forbes, Diary, Bio, and Petition for Death, Correspondence and Papers of William Laird McKinlay, NLS/DEP 357/3
Mamen, Bjarne, Diary of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, The Bjarne Mamen Fonds, NAC/MG30-B20
Maurer, Fred, Lecture: “A Fight for Life in the Arctic.” 1914, Rudolph Martin Anderson Collection/Anderson-Allstrand Collection, NAC/MG30-B40
Munro, John, Diary, William Laird McKinlay Fonds, NAC/MG30-B25
Williamson, Robert John, Robert J. Williamson Fonds, NAC/MG30-B44
NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
In citing newspaper articles, many of which were contained in albums and private files, I have provided whatever data was available.
SECONDARY SOURCES CITED IN NOTES
Bartlett, Robert,
The Log of Bob Bartlett
. New York/London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1928.
Bartlett, Robert and Ralph T. Hale,
Northward Ho!: The Last Voyage of the Karluk
. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1916.
Crich, G.E.,
In Search of Heroes
. London, Ontario: Northwinds, 1990.
DeLong, Emma, ed.,
The Voyage of the Jeannette: The Journals of George W. De Long
(Volumes One and Two). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1884.
Diubaldo, Richard J.,
Stefansson and the Canadian Arctic
. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1978.
Fitzgerald, Edward,
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
. New York: Shakespeare House, 1951.
Hole, S. Reynolds,
A Book About Roses
. New York: William S. Gottsberger, 1883.
Horwood, Harold,
Bartlett: The Great Canadian Explorer
. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1977.
Jenness, Stuart, ed.,
Arctic Odyssey: The Diary of Diamond Jenness, 1913-1916
. Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1991.
LeBourdais, D.M.,
Northward on the New Frontier
. Ottawa: Graphic Publishers, 1931.
McKinlay, William Laird,
Karluk: The Great Untold Story of Arctic Exploration
. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976.
Nansen, Fridtjof,
In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times
(Volumes One and Two). New York: Frederick Stokes, 1911.
Peary, Robert E.,
The North Pole
. New York: Dover Publications, 1986.
Pielou, E.C.,
A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic
. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur,
The Friendly Arctic
. New York: Macmillan, 1921.
Thomas, Lowell,
Sir Hubert Wilkins: His World of Adventure
. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.
OTHER SELECTED SECONDARY SOURCES
Bartlett, Robert,
Sails Over Ice
. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934.
Brower, Charles D.,
Fifty Years Below Zero: A Lifetime of Adventure in the Far North
. University of Alaska Press, 1994.
Dear, Ian and Peter Kemp,
An A-Z of Sailing Terms
. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
De Coccola, Raymond and Paul King,
The Incredible Eskimo: Life Among the Barren Land Eskimo
. Canada: Hancock House, 1989.
Falconer, William,
The Shipwreck
. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1868.
Feeney, Robert E.,
Polar Journeys: The Role of Food and Nutrition in Early Exploration
. Fairbanks, University of Alaska Press and American Chemical Society, 1997.
Hoehling, A.A.,
The Jeannette Expedition: An Ill-Fated Journey to the Arctic
. London: Abelard-Schuman, 1967.
Kemp, Peter,
The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea
. London: Oxford University Press, 1976.
King, Dean,
A Sea of Words
. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
LeBourdais, D.M.,
Stefansson: Ambassador of the North
. Montreal: Harvest House, 1963.
Lopez, Barry,
Arctic Dreams
. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1986.
Mountfield, David,
A History of Polar Exploration
. New York: The Dial Press, 1974.
Mowat, Farley,
The Polar Passion
. Canada: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 1989.
Newcomb, Raymond Lee,
Our Lost Explorers: The Narrative of the Jeannette Arctic Expedition
. Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company, 1883.
Putnam, George Palmer,
Mariner of the North: The Life of Captain Bob Bartlett
. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947.
Shackleton, Sir Ernest,
Aurora Australis
. England: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1988.
Shackleton, Sir Ernest,
Heart of the Antarctic
. London: William Heinemann, 1910.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur,
The Adventure of Wrangel Island
. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur,
The Autobiography of Vilhjalmur Stefansson
. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur,
My Life with the Eskimo
. New York: Collier Books, 1971.
Swaney, Deanna,
The Arctic
. Oakland, California: Lonely Planet Publications, 1999.
Weems, John Edward,
Peary: The Explorer and the Man
. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1967.
Willis, Clint,
Ice: Stories of Survival from Polar Exploration
. New York: Thunders' Mouth Press/Balliett & Fitzgerald Inc., 1999.
PROLOGUE
1
  “I am afraid . . .
”
William Laird McKinlay (hereafter WLM) to Alan Cooke, September 25, 1973, NLS
2
  “The two years . . .” McKinlay writes in
Karluk
preface, 2nd draft, Part 1B, p. III: “A few ships did have wireless receivers then, but not the KARLUK nor the ENDURANCE.” NAC
3
  “Not all the horrors . . .
”
WLM,
Karluk: The Great Untold Story of Arctic Exploration
, 1976, p. 161
4
  “The greatest humbug . . .” Roald Amundsen, letter to Dr. Rudolph Martin Anderson (hereafter RMA) February 16, 1928, NAC
5
  “If there is . . .
”
WLM,
Karluk
preface, 2nd draft, Part 1B, p. III, NAC
SEPTEMBER 29, 1924
1
 Â
“We did not. . .”
Robert Abram Bartlett (hereafter RAB),
Northward Ho!: The Last Voyage of the Karluk
(hereafter
The Last Voyage of the Karluk
), p. 1
2
  Even though the . . . D. M. LeBourdais,
Northward on the New Frontier
, p. 269
3
  And there, on . . . LeBourdais, p. 275
4
  “A young man . . .
”
LeBourdais, p. 279
5
  Captain Lane and . . . LeBourdais, pp. 280-281
AUGUST 1913
1
  “
The Chief of . . .”
Official Journal during the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913â18, Northern Party, 1914-18, NAC
2
  In fact, before . . .” Extract from the Order in Council of February 22, 1914,” p. 3, CAE Agreement, Formation, and Preliminary History, NAC
3
  “an old coffee . . .” Kenneth Gordon Chipman's diary (hereafter KGC), July 2, 1913, NAC
4
  “absolutely unsuitable to . . .” Quoted in Diubaldo,
Stefansson and the Canadian Arctic
, p. 71
5
  But there was . . . Maurer, lecture, p. 16, NAC
6
  “Our parting was . . .” “Captain Bob Bartlett,”
New York Times
, August 27, 1937
7
  “I thought Peary . . .” Robert Abram Bartlett (hereafter RAB), “âGreatest Of Men' Tribute to Peary,” BWD
8
  Without consulting the . . . RMA, The Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1918, Preliminary History (hereafter CAEPH), p. 7, NAC
9
  “exceedingly over-confident . . .” RMA, CAEPH, NAC, p. 10
10
  “the evil influences . . .” RMA, CAEPH, NAC, p. 10
11
  “looked . . . as if . . .” Lowell Thomas,
Sir Hubert Wilkins: HisWorld of Adventure
, p. 64
12
  “a man of . . .” The
Karluk
Chronicle, June 22, 1913, DRT
13
  “And to think . . .” The
Karluk
Chronicle, June 18, 1913, DRT
14
  “Snow on the . . .” WLM, diary, August 1, 1913, NLS
15
  But he had . . . (Conversation with Lord George Emslie, July 7, 1999, Edinburgh, Scotland
16
  While there, he . . . Dr. William S. Bruce to WLM, February 6, 1912, NLS
17
  “Nowhere else have . . .” Fridtjof Nansen,
In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times
18
  “Best wishes” was . . . WLM to Mrs. Crouther Gordon, October 6, 1976, NLS
19
  “Shoot now,” Bartlett . . . Bjarne Mamen, diary, August 2, 1913, NAC
20
  “He appealed to . . .” KCG, letter to Mr. Boyd, July 18, 1913, NAC
21
  “I hope to . . .” Mamen, diary, October 4, 1913, NAC
22
  Physically, at least . . . The
Karluk
Chronicle, June 29, 1913, DRT
23
  He made no . . . WLM,
Karluk: The Great Untold Story of Arctic Exploration
, p. 12