John Franklin - 1819-1822, 1825-1827

John Franklin

Accomplishments:

• on his first voyage, Franklin and his party proceeded inland from York Factory and almost a year later had journeyed as far as Fort Enterprise
• some preliminary exploration of the Coppermine River was made before the expedition travelled to the mouth of the Coppermine River
• here, travelling by canoe, the party made a detailed exploration of the coast eastward as far as Turnagain Point on Kent Peninsula and penetrated south into Bathurst Inlet
• on the second voyage, Franklin's expedition was separated into two groups at Point Separation at the head of the Mackenzie delta
• the first party followed the eastern branch of the river to the ocean and then travelled east to the mouth of the Coppermine River, having sighted "Wollaston Land" on Victoria Island and having charted over 1,000 miles of previously unknown coastline
• the second party followed the western channels of the Mackenzie but was so impeded by fog and ice that little progress was made
• the discoveries of this party ended at Return Reef, within sight of Beechey Point

Interesting Facts:

• on the first voyage more than 550 miles of new coastline had been mapped
• the journey home was marked by difficulties, deaths, murders and starvation

  View Voyage Route

Information taken from Arctic Canada, Volume I, Third Edition, 1982