Canadian science writer Heather Pringle special-
izes in archaeology. Her forthcoming book on the
Vikings will be published by National Geographic
in February 2021.threaten the vessel. Sea ice has scoured the
stern and crushed the area where Franklin had
his cabin, entombing or scattering its artifacts.
More haunting still are the conditions aboard
Terror. Thick sediment mantles the upper deck,
but the ship’s wheel, helm, and bulwarks look
eerily intact. Windows and hatches, mostly
unbroken, still seal the contents of the cabins.
Studies and excavations at the two wreck sites
are expected to take years, and archaeologists
hope to settle a long-standing controversy. His-
torians have assumed that most of Franklin’s
men died in 1848 on the foolhardy quest to the
Back River. But in the 1980s, David Woodman,
a retired mariner and history writer based in
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, analyzed the
reports of Inuit witnesses. According to these
accounts, few of Franklin’s men died on the trek.
Instead many returned to the ships after Cro-
zier wrote his note, and managed to sail farther
south. When the two vessels finally sank, the
castaways survived on salvaged provisions and
occasional hunted game, until the last man died
in the early 1850s.
But the accounts given by some 30 Inuit
witnesses contained many ambiguities and
contradictions, in part because of translation
problems. So the Parks Canada team hopes to
recover written records from the shipwrecks,
such as logs or personal journals, to help reveal
what went wrong with the expedition.IN BRITAIN, families of the dead men were left
to wonder about their sons and husbands and
how exactly they met their end—questions thatlinger among many descendants today. And
some relief may be in sight. Stenton and his team
have taken samples from skeletal remains and
sent them to Lakehead University in Ontario.
Geneticists there successfully extracted DNA
from the remains of 26 crew members. Now
Stenton is gathering DNA samples from living
descendants. By comparing the historical and
modern DNA profiles, he and his colleagues
hope to identify some of the bodies by name.
Moreover, the Parks Canada team may add to
these identifications. Historical Inuit witnesses
reported boarding one of the ships and finding a
crewman’s body lying on a floor. The underwater
archaeologists have yet to encounter any human
remains, but if skeletons or bones turn up, the
team will consider DNA testing.
For the first time in more than a century,
hopes are high that the story of the lost expe-
dition will be told. The optimism is bringing a
new sense of opportunity to remote Gjoa Haven,
where young Inuit are landing jobs to watch over
and protect the Franklin wreck sites from loot-
ers. And officials are drawing up plans to expand
the local museum, so it may one day house and
display finds from the fabled Franklin ships.
“Tourists are already coming here,” Kogvik
says proudly. And enticed by the icy wonders
of the Northwest Passage and the famous story
of Franklin and his men, “more will be coming
next year.” j0 mi
0 mi150
150H.M.S. Erebus
identified in 2014H.M.S. Terror
identified in 2016Route^ of^ Franklin’s^ expeditio
n
Winter 1845–46
Beechey IslandJuly 1845
Stopover on
Whale Fish
IslandsApril 22, 1848
Last recorded locationMay 19, 1845
Departure from
Greenhithe,
EnglandGjoa Haven
ARCTICC
IRCLEDisko
BayKing
William I.NUNAVUT120 °W60 °
90 °BackBaffin
BayBAFF
IN
ISL
AN
DN.W.T.
CANADAGREE
NLA
NDPa
rry (^) C
hannel
G
ul
f (^) o
f (^) B
oot
hia
Somerset
Wales IslandPrince of Island
Devon Island
NUNAVUT
Queen Maud
Gulf
KATIE ARMSTRONG, NGM STAFF. MODERN SATELLITE IMAGERY. SOURCES: PARKS CANADA; NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, GREENWICH, LONDON
Lost and Found
Deep in the Canadian
Arctic, Franklin’s ships were
trapped in sea ice for 19
months. Survivors set out on
foot but were never heard
from again. Archaeologists
hope the sunken ships,
located in 2014 and 2016,
will yield answers.
ENLARGED AREA EUROPE
CANADA
N. AMER.
ARCTICOCEAN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
ASIA