Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-20T07:02:47.783Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparative analysis of the Su-pung-er and Bayne testimonies related to the Franklin expedition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2017

Tom Gross  and
Russell S. Taichman
Tom Gross
Affiliation:
39 Wild Rose Drive, Hay River, NT, X03 0R4, Canada
Russell S. Taichman
Affiliation:
Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, 1011 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA (rtaich@umich.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During Charles Francis Hall's second Arctic expedition (1864–1869) to find survivors and/or documents of Sir John Franklin's 1845 Northwest Passage expedition, two separate Inuit testimonies were recorded of a potential burial vault of a high-ranking officer. The first testimony was provided by a Boothia Inuk named Su-pung-er. The second testimony was documented by Captain Peter Bayne who, at the time, was employed by Hall. To date the vault has not been found. Recently, both the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror have been located. The discovery of these vessels was made possible, in part, by Inuit testimony of encounters with and observations of the Franklin expedition. The findings of the Erebus and Terror have significantly bolstered the view that the Inuit accurately reported their observations and interactions with the Franklin crew. The purpose of this paper is to publish in their entirety Hall's notes from conversations with Su-pung-er focused on the vaults and to compare these observations to those reported in the Bayne testimony. It is our hope that in so doing the final major archaeological site of the Franklin expedition may be located.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 53 , Issue 6 , November 2017 , pp. 561 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Burwash, L. T. (1931). Canada's western Arctic: report on investigations in 1925–26, 1928–29, and 1930. Ottawa: Department of the Interior.Google Scholar
Canadian Ice Service. (2016). Seasonal summary for North American Arctic waters – summer 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ec.gc.ca/glaces-ice/6BD77470-9C51-4B05-8BA9-2F047EFCC938/20161228_sumarsue_summer2016.pdf.Google Scholar
Cyriax, R. J. (1969). The unsolved problem of the Franklin expedition records supposedly buried on King William Island. Mariner's Mirror, 55, 23–32.Google Scholar
Evening Post . (1930, February 10). Franklin's grave, clues to location, expedition to search. Retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19300210.2.55.Google Scholar
Gilder, W. H. (1881). Schwatka's search: sledging in the arctic in quest of the Franklin records. London: S. Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington.Google Scholar
Gross, T. (2006). The Bayne project, Cape Felix, King William Island, NU, August 2006: archaeological permit no. 2006–011A. Iglooli: Government of Nunavut.Google Scholar
Gross, T. (2012). The Peter Bayne story: the investigation of Inuit testimony relating to Sir John Franklin's Last Arctic Expedition. The Society for Historical Archaeology News Letter, 4, 17–18. Retrieved from https://sha.org/assets/documents/Spring2012.pdf.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1864). Life with the Esquimaux: the narrative of Captain Charles Francis Hall, of the whaling barque "George Henry,” from the 29th May, 1860, to the 13th September, 1862. London: S. Low, Son, and Marston.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866a). Journal kept by Hall 1866 May–June 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866b). Hall's KWI. Note book 45. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F (1866c). Hall traveling notebooks, May 8–11, 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866d). Journal kept by Hall, 1866 May–June 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866e). Hall's field notes labeled May 3–7, 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866f). Hall traveling notebook. May 25–26, 1866. Entry for May 25, 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866g). Hall's field notes June 3 & 4th, 1866 (pp. 10, 20). Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866h). Hall traveling notebook June 5–June 10, 1866. Entry for June 5, 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1866i). Hall traveling notebook June 5–June 10, 1866. Entry for Thursday June 7, 1866. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1868a) Sir John Franklin Book – continuing information gained from time to time of the Innuits relative to Franklin's Last Expedition by C.F. Hall, Repulse Bay. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1868b). Journal “A” by Hall, during the time he spent with the Esquimaux during his 2nd expedition, 1868 December. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1868c). Journal kept by Hall, 1868 April–1869 June. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. (1869). Hall's journal “B,” 1869 January–1869 July. Washington, DC: C.F. Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Hall, C. F. & Nourse, J. E. (1879). Narrative of the second Arctic expedition made by Charles F. Hall: his voyage to Repulse bay, sledge journeys to the straits of Fury and Hecla and to King William's land, and residence among the Eskimos, during the years 1864–'69 (644 pp.). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Harrisburg Telegraph . (1916, May 8). Arctic cruise honeymoon. Retrieved from chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038411/1916-05-08/ed-1/seq-1.pdf.Google Scholar
House of Commons and Command. (1851). Papers relating to the Arctic relief expeditions, October 12, 1850. Parliamentary Papers, 33, 68–70.Google Scholar
Kilmer, C. G. (1868). Correspondence between C.B. Kilmer and Henry Grinnell, 1868. Washington, DC: C.H. Hall Collection, Smithsonian 2157.084 Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Klutschak, H. & Barr, W. (1987). Overland to starvation cove: with the Inuit in search of Franklin, 1878–1880. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
McClintock, F. L. (1860). The voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic seas: a narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions. Boston: Ticknor and Fields.Google Scholar
Morning Oregonian . (1913, April 26). Hunt for Franklin's body planned. Retrieved from http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1913-04-26/ed-1/seq-1/.Google Scholar
Potter, R. (2016) Finding Franklin: the untold story of a 165-year search. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Rae, J. (1889). The Arctic regions and Hudson's Bay route. Winnipeg: Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society.Google Scholar
Schwatka, F. (1899). The search for Franklin. A narrative of the American expedition under Lieutenant Schwatka, 1878 to 1880. London: T. Nelson and Sons.Google Scholar
Scientific American . (1913, June 21). A Septuagenarian Arctic explorer (p. 569).Google Scholar
Woodman, D. C. (1991). Unravelling the Franklin mystery: Inuit testimony. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Woodman, D. C. (1994). Project Supunger. NWT research database. Inuvik: Aurora Research Institute. Retrieved from http://data.nwtresearch.com/Scientific/12731.Google Scholar
Woodman, D. C. (1995a). Strangers among us. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Woodman, D. C. (1995b, March/April). Probing the Franklin mystery (p. 90). Canadian Geographic. Retrieved from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/sites/cgcorp/files/images/web_articles/2014-victoria-strait-expedition/docs/1995_marapr_canadian_geographic.pdf.Google Scholar
Woodman, D. C. (2010). Correspondence between D.C. Woodman and R. Potter regarding Irving's Grave. Retrieved from http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/temp/Woodman_letter.pdf.Google Scholar