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5 Arctic Explorers Who Ventured Into the Unknown
Exploration is not for the faint of heart. This is especially true when the objective lies beyond the reach of not only civilization but many necessary resources. In a place where temperatures are lower than anywhere else in the world, challenges are compounded. The climate of the Arctic has frustrated hundreds over the course of human existence, from those searching for trade routes to those simply looking to go down in history as an innovator. Many failed, while others persevered beyond expectation. Who were some of history’s most intriguing Arctic explorers?
1. Lost to History: Sir John Franklin
Sir John Franklin by Thomas Phillips, undated. Source: National Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons
Englishman John Franklin (knighted in 1839) took to the sea at age 12 and never looked back. A member of the British Royal Navy, he became interested in exploration at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1818, he first set out for the Arctic under David Buchan’s leadership. The plan was to sail north between Greenland and Norway, skirt around the North Pole, and head for the Bering Strait. The failed expedition lasted only six months. It was unequipped to break through the ice above Norway. Nevertheless, England and Franklin were not deterred, and his new objective became the Northwest Passage. The Passage was a yet undiscovered but rumored route through the Arctic that would connect Europe and Asia, shortening trade voyages. Two subsequent voyages failed to locate the passage but made some progress in mapping the area.
Relics from the Franklin Expedition. Source: Geni / Wikimedia Commons
In 1845 Franklin set out on his most famous voyage, but it would be his last. Commanding two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, and piloting the former, Franklin led 134 men into the cold void with enough supplies to last three winters in the ice. Last seen on July 26, 1845, as they sailed into Baffin Bay, the entirety of the expedition, including the ships, then disappeared. 39 missions were sent to the Arctic to try and locate the missing crew, including several funded and encouraged by Franklin’s wife. It was eventually determined that the ships were caught in pack ice and abandoned by the crew in 1848, ultimately sinking. Journals from the crew were later recovered and stated that Franklin perished of an unknown cause on his ship on June 11, 1847. In 1981, the remains of three crewmen were recovered from their graves on Beechey Island.
There were no known survivors from the expedition, and no other complete bodies have been found, though some incomplete human remains were located in the region that may have been related to the expedition. Testing on these bodies, along with the analysis of other evidence, led historians to determine that lead poisoning was likely a contributor to many of the crewmembers’ deaths, along with exposure. In 2014, the wreck of the Erebus was located at the bottom of the sea near King William Island. Two years later, close to sixty miles away, the Terror was detected. No further details of Franklin’s demise have been located to date.
2. The Last of the Vikings: Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen, photographed by an Alaskan-based photographer in 1920. Source: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons
If his mother had had her way, Norwegian Roald Amundsen would have been a doctor. However, when he lost his parents as a young adult, Amundsen decided to follow his dreams instead. He would go on to be not only one of the Arctic’s great explorers but one of the premier pioneers of the Antarctic as well.
His first trip as a polar sailor took him south at the age of 27, traveling as part of the crew of the Belgian ship Belgica. This would be the first expedition to overwinter in the Antarctic. He soon led his own crews and achieved the dreams of Franklin and dozens of other explorers who had preceded him by becoming the first explorer to lead an expedition through the Northwest Passage. The three-year journey on his ship, Gjoa, with a crew of six, concluded in 1906. He had planned to become the first to reach the North Pole next but was beaten there by Robert Peary. Instead, he looked to the South Pole, which he would be the first to conquer in 1911. He and his crew covered almost 2,000 miles in 99 days on this trek, largely relying on dog sleds.
Amundsen, right, and Robert Peary, the two men credited with reaching the poles of the Earth first, pose together. Source: E.J. Reilly / Wikimedia Commons
Never one to rest on his laurels, Amundsen quickly returned to the Arctic. He did scientific research, plotting a way to finance his next expedition. He was approached by a man named Lincoln Ellsworth, who offered to finance an endeavor to become the first to fly a plane over the North Pole. Despite numerous attempts, this project failed, and Richard Byrd instead became the first North Pole pilot. Undeterred, two days later, Amundsen outfitted a dirigible, or blimp, to attempt a new mode of North Pole flight. This attempt was successful, and along with pilot Umberto Nobile, Amundsen made it to the North Pole on May 11, 1926.
The friendship between Amundsen and Nobile continued, but two years later, Amundsen perished in a plane crash. He had been on a mission to rescue Nobile, who had crashed another dirigible in the Arctic region. Amundsen was only 55 when he died. Nobile was eventually located and rescued by another group.
3. Pytheas’ Early Attempts
A statue of Pytheas in Marseille, the oldest city in France. Source: Rvalette / Wikimedia Commons
Though the age of exploration is usually referenced from the Middle Ages onward, Arctic explorers were active even in ancient times. In 325 BCE, Greek geographer Pytheas set north from the colony of Marseille (now part of France). His goal was to locate a new source of tin. There is little information regarding whether or not his ambitions were met, but he would give the Mediterranean world its first reliable information about what lay to the north. His expedition likely took him just inside the Arctic Circle, to a land he referred to as “Thule,” which is believed to be modern Iceland. He reported about a frozen sea and the sun being in the sky all day during the summer.
4. Knud Rasmussen Elected to Use a Sled Instead of a Ship
An undated image of Knud Rasmussen in his Arctic furs. Source: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons
Known as the greatest Danish polar explorer of the twentieth century, Knud Rasmussen had goals unique to the industry. Born and raised in Greenland, Rasmussen became intrigued by the Indigenous people of his homeland. On his travels, he aspired to locate Indigenous groups and gain knowledge of their cultural traditions.
Rasmussen established the Thule Trading Post located in what is now Qaanaaq, Greenland, to help finance his explorations. He made seven expeditions over the course of 23 years, but the most famous was the Fifth Thule Expedition in 1921, in which the ultimate goal was to traverse the Northwest Passage. Rasmussen didn’t take a boat on this trip but traveled by foot and dogsled. Along with Inuits Arnarulunguak and Qaavigarsuak, Rasmussen covered more than 18,000 miles over three years, finally reaching the coast of Siberia to conclude the journey. Along the way, the group spent time at numerous Indigenous settlements, collecting artifacts, hearing stories, and learning traditions.
From left to right: Rasmussen, Arnarulunguak, and Qaavigarsuak in 1924. Source: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons
On the trip, Rasmussen met dozens of Indigenous peoples. He learned about their customs, foods, languages, spirituality, and technological innovations in areas such as sled design and hunting. On each of his journeys, Rasmussen took notes and wrote narratives, but the Fifth Expedition narrative was by far the largest, comprising ten volumes. His approach of seeking to learn from Indigenous peoples rather than try to colonize or teach them was unique among most explorers at the time. Rasmussen died at age 54 in 1933 after a bout of severe food poisoning he suffered on his seventh expedition. The Rasmussen Museum houses the artifacts the explorer collected over the years and is located at his place of birth.
5. Matthew Henson Was a Pioneer in More Ways Than One
Matthew Henson was photographed immediately after his return from the North Pole in 1901. Source: Matthew Henson / Wikimedia Commons
Born on August 8, 1866, Matthew Henson’s early life as part of a sharecropping family in Maryland was a far cry from the Arctic wilderness he would eventually roam. Orphaned as a child, Henson was forced to make his own way in the world. At 12, he signed up as a cabin boy aboard the Katie Hines. The Captain took Henson under his wing and ensured his education.
In his six years on the Katie Hines, Henson became a competent sailor. With the death of the captain, he returned to land and worked at a fur shop. One day, naval officer Robert Peary entered the shop and was impressed with Henson’s sea experience and enthusiasm for exploration. He immediately hired Henson as his personal assistant.
This cartoon by Charles Henry Alston in 1943 maintains that Henson was the first to reach the pole. Source: National Archives at College Park / Wikimedia Commons
Henson worked with Peary on a mapping job in Nicaragua and in the Navy. In 1891, the pair began exploring the Arctic. They mapped the Greenland ice cap, and Henson honed his skills even further. He was known as an excellent carpenter, personally building and maintaining Peary’s sleds. He was great with sled dogs and a skilled hunter and fisherman.
He became fluent in the Inuit language and was known for his kindness to all. The pair, along with other crew members, decided to attempt to reach the North Pole. They made eight attempts, getting a bit further each time. The final attempt was a success, and Robert Peary is credited with becoming the first man to reach the North Pole. However, it is believed that Henson was, in fact, the first, according to his own recollections and other reports.
The public, in the racially tense time that was the turn of the century, failed to recognize a Black man as a pioneer, and Peary was given full credit. The friendship between the two men became strained, and they eventually ceased working together. Henson spent the remainder of his life living quietly.
In 1937, he gained recognition when the Explorers Club of New York made him an honorary member. In 1946, the US Navy recognized his achievements and awarded him a medal identical to the one they had bestowed upon Peary in 1909. His gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery indicates that Matthew Henson is the “co-discoverer of the North Pole.”
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