The Sir John Franklin Mystery

After

The search continues to determine the reason for the Franklin tragedy. Many experts now believe that the expedition failed because of lead poisoning from badly canned food.

The search for Franklin resulted in much more exploration of the Arctic. Still, it would be many more years before anyone successfully sailed through the Northwest Passage.

Rescue!
As many as 40 ships and more than 2000 men joined in the search for Franklin and his crew between 1848 and 1859. It was the longest and most expensive search-and-rescue mission ever.

Lady Jane Franklin Copyright/Source

Never Give Up
In 1856, eleven years after her husband had left England, Lady Franklin had not given up. Refused another search by the British Admiralty, she put up the money herself with help from donors. Francis Leopold McClintock was given command of the Fox, a 177-ton ship with a crew of 24.

Useless Stuff
McClintock came across a boat, weighing about 1400 pounds. It was much too heavy to be hauled overland. Scattered about were many unnecessary items: 5 watches, slippers, towels, hankerchiefs, soap, a sponge, a toothbrush, nails, saws, files and other things of little use. With their strength almost completely used up, starving and exhausted, why would they carry all these things?

Opening of the cairn containing the message from Franklin's officers Copyright/Source

A Message Found!
A message was found on King William Island that reported that the ships were trapped in ice off King William Island in 1846. They had remained with the ships for two years. Franklin died in 1847, along with many of the crew. In April 1848, 105 survivors left to go south to Hudson Bay.

It was up to other searchers to piece together what happened after that.

Another Piece of the Puzzle
In August 1984, Canadian anthropologist Owen Beattie and a team of scientists dug up three graves on Beechey Island. They were the first crew members to die on Franklin's expedition. The scientists were trying to find out what the men had died of. Because of the cold temperatures, the bodies were almost perfectly preserved.

High levels of lead were discovered in bone and hair samples. The lead came from the lead soldering inside the tins of canned food brought on the expedition. Lead poisoning can make a person unable to think clearly, and this may have played a role in the crew's misfortunes.

Anne Keenleyside did dry-bone analysis in the 1990s. The results also pointed to lead poisoning.

The Search Continues!
The search for the Erebus and Terror continue today. Using modern underwater technology, an expedition was sent in the summer of 2000, led by archaeologist Robert Grenier. The ocean floor was surveyed in areas where, according to Inuit information, the wreck of a Franklin ship seemed likely. So far, neither ship has been located. Read more at www.ric.edu/rpotter/woodman/utjulik.htm and www.ric.edu/rpotter/woodman/woodman2000.html