The voyages of the Englishman Lyon (1824) to Repulse Bay and of Back (1836) to Hudson Strait were fruitless, and it remained for the Franklin expedition to solve the problem of the Northwest Passage, partly by its own tilt s largely through relief voyages. Successful Ant arctic work had renewed interest in the Arctic, and Sir John Franklin was despatched from England with two ships and 12!) men to make the Northwest Passage. Franklin, wintering in 1545 at Beechy Island, explored the adjacent regions to 77° N. Sailing south to the west of North Sotm.rset and Boothia, his ships were beset in September, 1846, near King Laud, in 70° 5' N., 98° 23' \V., within 1)0 miles of the known sea off the American emititient.
The only recovered record found by llobsim of McClintock's party in 1859 shows that the ships were abandoned April 22. 1848, Franklin and 23 others having previously died. Captain Crozier with 103 men perished in an attempt to reach Fish River. Their route. via King William Land, Todd and Montreal islands, is marked by graves and skeletons. The party practically van ished from human knowledge until Rae, in 1854, and McClintock, in 1S59, revealed its fate.
Franklin's absence caused many search ex peditions. which were remarkably fruitful in the exploration of the American Arctic from the west coast of Greenland westward. The voyages from the Atlantic of James C. Ross, W. Penny. A.
Stewart, John Ross, E. J. Dellaven, C. Forsyth, and W. Kennedy discovered no trace of the ex plorer. though they added something, to geo graphical knowledge. The efforts of 'F.. E. L.
Moore and H. Kellett from Bering Strait were also fruitless, except for the discovery of Ilerald Island. More successful was the voyage (1850 53) of Captain Collinson, who navigated the Enterprise through ten degrees of longitude along the coast of America, and safely back to Strait. Wintering in Cambridge Bay, Victoria Land, lie explored its southern shore, looked across the sea where Franklin's ships had sunk, though that was unknown to him, and even picked up tel of the squadron.
B. M'Clure (1850-54) from Bering Strait car ried the Investigator to Banks Land, which he explored. as well as Prince Albert Land to the east. Wintering three years, he finally abandoned his ship in Mercy Bay. Through a sledge party which was sent to seek him, i\l'Clure learned of Beleher's squadron at Beechy Island, and this he joined by sledge, thus making the only north west passage. H. Austin's squadron• via Lan caster Sound from the Atlantic, first saw traces of Franklin, Onimaney finding in August, 1851, three graves at Beeeby Island. Brown, Oin maney, Osborn, Aldrich, Bradford, and McClin tock of Austin's party traveled by sledge 3340 miles, and discovered 670 miles of coast to the westward of winter quarters at Griffith island (1850-51). Edward Belcher commanded (1852 53) another squadron of five ships sent out by the British Admiralty. McClintock, Mecham, Hares, Hamilton, Pim, and Domville fruitlessly searched adjacent lands in journeys that aggre gated 5892 miles, of which McClintock, the greatest of Arctic sledgemen, traveled no less than 1401 miles. Belcher brought home M'Clure's crew from the I n rest igator, but had to abandon, in 1853, two of his own ships, the Intrepid and the Resolute. The latter, drifting south, was picked up in 1854 by an American whaler, was bought by the United States, and was refitted and returned to Great Britain. The nation hav ing failed to find certain traces of Franklin, Lady Franklin sent :McClintock in the Fox on a search expedition. Beset in Batlin's Bay, AleClintoek, after a winter drift of 1200 miles, pushed on in the next summer (1858), and, following Peel Sound, wintered at Port Leopold. :McClintock, Hobson, and Young, covering the whole field in sledges in 1859, discovered 800 miles of coast and unraveled the mystery. lkmthian natives with
Franklin silver led to the finding of boats, sledges, tents, and skeletons on King William Land, and finally of a written record. This told of Franklin's besetnmnt and death, of the aban donment of the ships. and of Crozier's retreat toward Great Fish Giver.
Tit E NORTHWEST PASSAGE BY LAND. The Northwest Passage also involved land journeys, which began with Ilearn's explorations from the Hudson Bay post, Fort Prince of Wales, in 1771, when, traveling with an Indian war party, he reached the mouth of the Coppermine, 67° 48'N. One of the Northwest Fur Company, Alexander 'Mackenzie, started from Fort Chipewyan to trace the waters of Slave Lake to the sea. Undeterred by tales of hardship and disaster, with Indian guides he reached, in 'July, 179S, Whale Island, 69° 14' N., at the mouth of the great river that bears his name. Mackenzie's successor, John Franklin. was the most notable figure associated, whether by land or sea, with the Northwest Pas sage. Coiiperating with Parry, at sea, in 1819 Franklin pushed his advance posts by winter journeys to Fort Enterprise, 64° 28' N., 113° W. Accumulating supplies on the Coppermine, in 1821 he reached the mouth and explored the sea coast eastward to Port Turnagain, 68° 18' N., 109° W., turning back the same day that Parry sailed out of Repulse Bay, 539 Miles distant. in 1825. acting in concert with Beeehy in Bering, Strait and Parry in Lancaster Sound, Franklin established his base at Fort. Franklin, Great Bear Lake. In 1826, reaching the mouth of the Mac kenzie, Franklin coasted westward, while John Richardson explored to the east. Franklin was turned back at Return Reef, 70° 26' N., within 160 miles of Port Barrow. Richardson in a suc cessful journey rounded Cape Bathurst, discov ered Wollaston Land, and reached Cape Hope, 58' N. He had traced the continental coast line through 20 degrees of longitude and 2 degrees of latitude, discovered a new land, de termined tidal conditions, and made valuable geological and botanical observations.
In 1833 G. Back, wintering at Fort Reliance, Great Slave Lake, discovered the Great Fish or Back River, and the following year passed be yond its mouth to Port Ogle, at the east en trance of Simpson Strait.
In 1837 two employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, P. W. DvaSC and T. Simpson, operating from Fort Chipewyan. reached in 1837 Bar row to the 'west, and, wintering at Fort Confi dence, explored in 1838-39 tune Continental shore line to the east, reaching Cape Herschel, 68' 41' N., S9° W. It remained for John Rae practically to complete the exploration of the north coast of America. From Repulse Bay, in 1846-47, Rae proved that Boothia Felix was a peninsular extension of North America, and connected with the discoveries of Parry and Itoss by sea. It fell, however, to Capt. C. F. Hall, an American, in 1868 to trace the west coast of Melville Penin sula, the last unknown shore between the far thest of Rae in 1846 and of Parry in Fury Strait in 1825. In the Franklin search the north ern coasts of An Brien were examined by .1. Richardson and Rae (1548-49) ; the latter visited Wollaston Land in a boat expedition which brought him within fifty miles of Franklin's farthest, the nearest approach to the Northwest Passage by sea. Rae in 1854 wintered at Repulse Bay, and the following April fell in with Eskimo, who gave him the first news of the Franklin disaster, reinforcing their story of the retreat on King William Land by silver bearing the Frank lin crest. The last search for news of Franklin was made in 1878-79 by F. Schwatka and W. H. Gilder, who found in King William Land graves, skeletons, and relics.