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121 pages

English

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First published in 1938, Explorer’s Wife is a heartfelt autobiography by Emma Wotton De Long, widow to arctic explorer George Washington De Long, lost to the disastrous Jeannette Expedition, 1879-1881.

This endearing and detailed account recalls the lives of Emma and George during their young courtship, the preparations of the Jeannette Expedition, through to its voyage and ultimate demise. Written from a woman’s perspective, her story chronicles the departure and loss of her husband through letters exchanged between the two, along with documents and anecdotes from the time.

The Jeannette Expedition was captained by George Washington De Long, a US naval officer, and set sail for the arctic in 1879. Along with many of his men, De Long perished when their expedition ran into problems in the Bering Sea. Of the 33 crew members that departed on the voyage, only 13 arrived safely back on US soil.

In this compelling account, Emma Wotton De Long provides a refreshing perspective on the naval catastrophe from a widow’s point of view. Explorer’s Wife is an excellent read for any interested in tragic maritime history and those looking to learn more about the arctic explorations of the past.

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Publié par	Read Books Ltd.
Date de parution	06 septembre 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781473350748
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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EXPLORER S WIFE
B Y EMMA WOTTON DE LONG
INTRODUCTION BY VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON
ILLUSTRATED
C OPYRIGHT , 1938 B Y DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, I NC .
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAMTON, N. Y .

INTRODUCTION
The study of Arctic literature through forty years has created in me an admiration for the work of George W. De Long. A personal acquaintance of twenty years has developed an admiration and friendship for his widow, Emma De Long.
My admiration for Commander De Long is based upon his work as revealed in the two volumes of The Voyage of the Jeannette , which Mrs. De Long edited, and upon the revelations of the Government investigations which followed the expedition and in which she had a large part.
My admiration for Mrs. De Long is three-fold-through her personality, through her courage and wisdom in suppressing from the published De Long records nothing but what was irrelevant, and through the ability and restraint with which she took part in the investigations which followed the expedition. Her tact and diplomacy were such that it may almost be said that she managed these investigations. This management, however, seems to me at least as having been as advantageous to history and to science as it was to the reputation of De Long. Bringing out the full truth served all these purposes.
During some fifteen years I have realized not only what a dramatic story it is which Mrs. De Long has to tell but also what a grasp she has of the history of the De Long expedition and of the related problems. I have found, too, that she has many records which have not been published and much knowledge which is hers solely. For at least ten years I have urged, coaxed and begged her to write a biography in which she would give a considerable part to what will throw further light on De Long s place in the history of geographic discovery. With others of like mind and persistence, I have now been successful. Her book has been written. Although Mrs. De Long applies a little more delicacy and restraint than I would have liked to see in her treatment of some failures in cooperation that occurred in the United States, this does not amount to suppression. She has merely been a little more explicit when dealing with the credit side of the historical ledger.
Mrs. De Long has done me the honor to ask for a kind of introduction, under three heads. First I am to sketch, as bearing on the De Long program, the history of previous geographic exploration in the vicinity of Bering Strait, going a little way east and west along the Alaskan and Siberian coasts. Then I am to estimate the Polar Continent theory as it stood sixty years ago with regard to this region and insofar as it modified the plans and conduct of the De Long expedition. Finally, I am to make a statement upon one of De Long s notable contributions to science, his announcement of the principle that strong winds do not blow in the Arctic pack at considerable distance from land or from large bodies of open water.
These three things are attempted in the following sections.
HISTORY OF BERING STRAIT
The history of Bering Strait begins toward the end of the 15th century when Russia (Muscovy), an inland country with only one small sector on the White Sea, had spread south, north and east to absorb Tartary and to occupy what is now Siberia. By 1647 the Russians had forts on the Kolyma, knew of the Anadir, and Tsar Alexis ordered an expedition eastward.
In June, 1647, Simeon Deshnev, with four ketches, left the Kolyma; but ice bothered and he turned back. The following year he left with seven ketches. Six were lost but Deshnev returned and reported that he had rounded the peninsula, reached the Anadir, and built a fort at Anadirsk.
If this journey was made entirely by sea, Deshnev sailed through Bering Strait and became its European discoverer. The only records are those which Muller, in the 18th century, found at Yakutsk. Muller was satisfied that Deshnev had not gone overland. Many authorities, such as Markham, Greely and Golder, accept this. Golder says: One no more doubts the exploits of Deshnev than the achievement of Nordenskjold. But some believe that part of the journey was overland. Burney says that Muller adopted, upon presumptive circumstances, a view of the subject which can only be established by absolute and indisputable proof.
The development of the waters between Siberia and what is now Alaska began following the year 1697 when Vladimir Atlassov, sent to conquer Kamchatka, reported that he had learned from his prisoners of the Kurile Islands and that there were islands beyond them.
During the fifty years that followed Atlassov s report, many expeditions, some governmental, some commercial, went out to the Kuriles, the Aleutians, Shumagins, the Fox Chain and to the mainland. Peter the Great, whose interest was keen, determined to settle the dispute on whether the continents were separated or joined and commissioned Vitus Bering to command the expedition.
Bering headed three expeditions; but only the first, 1728, went through the Strait which afterward bore his name. Although he reached 67 18 N., 193 7 E., (167 53 W.) and therefore had navigated the Strait, fog hid the American mainland and he returned without quite fulfilling his purpose.
For this reason, when the Great Northern Expeditions were organized in 1733, the separation or union of the continents was made an objective of the third sector (Lena River to Kamchatka). Demetrius Laptev, its leader, was on the Anadir in 1743; but his report does not make clear whether he went around the Chukchee peninsula or overland. Golder and Burney think he made the journey overland, Burney pointing out that since he had lost his ship on the Indigirka he was not equipped for passage by sea, and that by going overland he could hope to join Bering s third expedition.
The period from 1750 to 1800 was one of great activity participated in by many nations. Russia continued to send out expeditions to the islands and mainland, had taken possession of Alaska, and the Russian American Company had grown from a small trading venture to a large monopoly. Spain, alarmed for the safety of her possessions, sent three expeditions to claim the coast of California and to proceed north to 70 . The farthest reached, however, was 59 8 .
The next after Bering to enter the Strait from the south by ship and to pass through it was the British navigator, Captain James Cook, in August, 1778. He was unable to make his way through the ice at Cape Serdze Kamen, rounded by Deshnev in 1648, and returned to the American side. His farthest northeast was Icy Cape, Alaska.
First hand information secured from Cook by the Russians gave them further impetus. The publication of his narrative in England made apparent to some of his readers that there were opportunities for riches on the northwest coast of the American mainland. The first British ship arrived in Nootka Sound in 1785, which soon became a regular trading place for British vessels. In 1786 LaPerouse recommended to France the subsidy of vessels and Greenhow points out that by 1787 the market was so glutted that furs were cheaper in Canton than in Kamchatka. None of these trading ships went as far north as Bering Strait, but in the aggregate they so interfered with the trade of the Russian American Company that it sought new fields in another direction. The new charter of 1799 gave rights as far north as Bering Strait.
In 1815, Kotzebue in the Rurik proceeded by Cape Horn, discovered several islands, and then made for Kamchatka. Going north from this peninsula he passed through Bering Strait, traced the American coast northward from Cape Prince of Wales, and discovered Kotzebue Sound. Greely says that although Kotzebue made no higher northing than Cape Krusenstern, 67 N., his geological discoveries were of special interest and importance. This served to heighten interest.
In 1820, Baron von Wrangel made an attempt to survey the Siberian coast from the Kolyma to East Cape. Things more or less miscarried and he returned to Cape Shelagskoi.
In 1822 a sloop of war arrived at the Russian American Company s post at New Archangel (Sitka Sound) with an order forbidding all trade with foreigners. Foreign vessels were not to approach within 30 leagues of the coast and two sloops of war patroled the waters until protests from the English and the Americans brought about the Anglo-Russian and Russo-American treaties of 1824 and 1825, providing free navigation, fishery and trade for ten years.
In 1826, Beechey, who commanded one of the three units of the third Parry expedition, passed through Bering Strait, reaching 71 08 N. Beechey surveyed Kotzebue Sound, while Elson, mate of the Blossom , followed the Alaska coast. The main object-to meet a party of Franklin s second expedition coming from the Mackenzie Delta-was not accomplished, but discovery of the coastline was extended from Cook s Icy Cape to Point Barrow.
In the same year the Russian Government sent out an expedition under Captain L tke who had returned home after trying four times to reach the Ob. He arrived in New Archangel in 1827, proceeded to Unalaska and the Prybilof Islands, surveying the northern coast of Alaska. He also surveyed the vicinity of Cape Chukotsk on the coast of Asia.
In 1848, when Sir John Franklin s third expedition (of 1845) had not been heard from, search parties were organized in Great Britain. Some of these were routed via the Mackenzie, others were to follow the known Franklin track by sea, while still a third unit were to approach Bering Strait in the hope of meeting with the Franklin party or traces of them.
The first Pacific squadron consisted of two ships, H.M.S. Herald , commanded by Captain Henry Kellett, and H.M.S. Plover commanded by Captain T.