John Franklin's first and second expeditions, 1819–27
| Dates | Explorer | Ships | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1819–27 | John Franklin | N/A | • Franklin becomes a hero through his stories of Arctic adversity • Charted over 1000 miles of the Arctic Coast |
The name Franklin is almost synonymous with the search for the North-West Passage. He commanded three expeditions, two on foot and one with the naval vessels the Erebus and Terror. As well as stories of exploration two of Franklin’s voyages are also replete with tales of almost unimaginable hardship and tragedy.
Franklin's first overland expedition, 1819-22
To complement the sea voyages of Ross and Parry the Admiralty sent Franklin to map the north coast of America, reached by Samuel Hearne in 1771. His mission (to chart the coast east from the mouth of the Coppermine River as far as the northwest corner of Hudson Bay) was dogged with difficulty from the start. As Franklin made his way north toward Coppermine River he was constantly thwarted in his quest for adequate supplies.
On 21 July 1819, 20 men started eastward in two canoes, tracking the coast for just under a month and reaching Turnagain Point on Kent peninsula. With so many mouths to feed and supplies running low Franklin decided to curtail the voyage. However their canoes had not fared well, preventing a return by water, and so the expedition headed inland.
The expedition splits
The journey quickly deteriorated into a horrific ordeal, the details of which are still debated today. What can be agreed is that in early October the expedition split into three groups. One, led by George Back went in search of a group of Indians who had supplied the party with food previously. Robert Hood, a mapmaker, became too weak to continue and two other expedition members, John Hepburn and John Richardson, elected to stay with him.
Franklin led a third group, which pushed on towards Fort Enterprise where he hoped supplies would have been left. This forward party soon split itself up. Four members were finding it too difficult to continue. They opted to return and join Hood, Hepburn and Richardson and. Only one of these men arrived: Michel Teroahauté.
Cannibalism?
Here, one popular version of events becomes positively ghoulish. It is reported that Teroahauté arrived bearing fresh meat which, given its odd taste, Richardson concluded was actually the flesh of Teroahauté’s lost companions. One day when Teroahauté was left alone with Hood as the others searched for food a shot was heard and Hood was found with a bullet in his head. Teroahauté claimed Hood had committed suicide but Richardson did not believe him, thinking Teroahauté a cannibalistic murderer waiting for an opportunity to kill them all.
With Hood dead the three remaining headed for Fort Enterprise, with Richardson ever fearful that Teroahauté would find an occasion to murder them and eat their corpses. In a pre-emptive strike Richardson shot Teroahauté.
A British hero
Richardson and Hepburn struggled on, reaching Fort Enterprise in late October, finding Franklin and three other members of the expedition on the brink of death. They had found no provisions at the Fort and had tried to sustain themselves on a broth of old deerskins, bones, and lichen. Franklin’s account of the expedition also famously recounted the party eating their leather shoes. Salvation came when George Back arrived with the Indians and food he had set out to find. Of the 20 men who formed the expedition, 11 had died.
By any rational analysis the voyage was ill planned and poorly executed. But Franklin had shown one key characteristic that was expected of any British explorer – extraordinary fortitude in the face of almost insurmountable adversity. He became a British hero and set about planning a return to the North American coast having learnt much from his previous ordeal. Even the encroaching illness of his wife of two years (the poet Eleanor Anne Porden) could not prevent him from a return to Arctic in 1825. She died while he was away.
Franklin's second overland expedition, 1825-27
Franklin and Richardson’s second expedition was considerably more successful, benefiting from better planning, sturdier canoes and ample supplies. This time the party reached the North American coast at the mouth of the Mackenzie River, splitting into two. Franklin was to head west in an attempt to meet Captain Beechey in command of the Blossom, which had been tasked with reaching Icy Cape for the rendezvous. Meanwhile Richardson headed east, reaching the mouth of the Coppermine River – a distance of approximately 900 miles.
Poor conditions brought on by the gathering winter meant Franklin failed to reach the Blossom, even though it had travelled beyond Icy Cape to Point Barrow. Nevertheless the expedition was rightly heralded as a tour de force of arctic exploration. Between them Franklin and Richardson had charted over 1000 miles of the North American coast. However, it is Franklin’s third voyage which is the most famous, though for tragic reasons.