Overland to Starvation Cove : With the Inuit in Search of Franklin, 1878-1880

In May 1845 Sir John Franklin sailed westward from England in search of the Northwest Passage and was never seen again. Some thirty-five years later, Heinrich Klutschak of Prague, artist and surveyor on a small expedition led by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka of the 3rd US Cavalry Regiment, stumbled upon the grisly remains at Starvation Cove of the last survivors among Franklin's men. Overland to Starvation Cove is the first English translation of Klutschak's account. A significant contribution to Canadian exploration history, it is also an important anthropological document, providing some of the earliest reliable descriptions of the Aivilingmiut, the Utkuhikhalingmiut, and the Netsilingmiut. But above all, it is a fascinating story of arctic adventure. Contents 5 Acknowledgments 6 Introduction 7 Maps 32 Preface 37 The Search for Franklin 39 1. Schwatka's Franklin Search Party, 1878,1879, and 1880 46 2. Sojourn in Hudson Bay from August 1878 to i April 1879 as an Acclimatization Period 51 3. The Trek to the Arctic Ocean Watershed, i April-4 May 1879 74 4. From the Area of the Back River to King William's Land, 5 May-i2 June 1879 92 5. From Cape Herschel to Cape Felix, 12 }une~3 July 1879 112 6. The Main Search and Its Results 6 July-6 August 1879 123 7. The Divided Search, 6 August to the End of September 1879 136 8. In Permanent Camp, October 1879 151 9. From King William's Land to the Dangerous Rapids on the Great Fish River, i November-i2 December 1879 163 10. On the Back River, 12-31 December 1879 183 11. The Overland March from 31 December 1879 until 27 February 1880 193 12. The Final Stretch to Marble Island, 28 February-23 March 1880 208 13. The Last Months in Hudson Bay, April-August 1880 220 14. The limit of the American North 233 Postscript 241 Afterword 255 Notes 259 References 273 Index 281