Trial by Ice - The true story of Murder and Survival on the 1871 Polaris Expedition
by Parry, Richard
pub by Ballantine - Randome House, NY, 2001 -     - LCCN 00-062136   - - isbn 0-345-43925-2 -   - 322 p. total   -   - Contents p. vii   -   Acknowledgments p. ix   -   Authors Note p. xi-xii   -   Corrected Muster Ross of the Polaris Expedition p.xiii   -   Bibliograhy p. 311   -   index p. 312-321     About the Author p. 322   -   Maps on end papers - few lithograph illustrations
This is the story of an expedition funded by the government of USA shortly after the end of the American Civil War to bolster the USA position as a country which could do significant scientific discovery. In this case to show the flag of USA at the Earths North Pole - a voyage of discover, which had been attempted by several countries earlier and never achieved. Also it was to launch a significant scientific discovery.
This expedition was a disaster. It actually achieved very little, however only the general leader of the expedition, Charles Francis Hall, died. The rest of the members of the expedition managed to return, but only after unbelievable hardships, many of the hardships self inflicted, by lack of leadership, especially after Charles F. Hall died (very likely murdered - poisoned.)
The narrative may be broken into 4 parts.
First the concept, planning and organizing the expedition -
This involved the US Navy and the Smithsonian Insitution which did not necessarily have the same goals in mind. Then the ship refitted for the expedition was substantially strengthened for dealing with ice. However the vessel was shaped to be deep in hold rather than more dish-like and rise if squeezed by huge ice flows.
Charles F. Hall was the force which caused the expedition to be put together. He had taken it upon himself to search for the earlier British Franklin Expedition which disappeard in 1845. Hall traveled on 2 expeditions searching for the Franklin expedition, in 1860 and in 1864, each lasting for more than a year. He learned how to live with and like the Inuit. He published a book about his travels titled Arctic Researches and Life Among the Esquimaux. He had Inuit friends and was well experienced to live in the arctic.
The expedition was supplied and a rather peculiar crew was selected. Although an official US Governmental expedition a large percentage of the crew were not citizens of USA. There was a large contingent of Germans, including a Prussian doctor and scientist who was the leader of the scientific part of the expedition. The captain of the ship had experience as the master of whaling ships in the arctic. Hall was the general leadership of the expedition. They did not get along with one another.
Second part of the expedition -
The Polaris sailed up to the west coast of Greenland and was followed by a US Naval supply ship to top off supplies. From there the Polaris headed up the west coast of Greenland until it could go no farther and sailed (steamed) back to a more or less open bay to winter and resume their way north in the following years thaw, then by dog sled finish the trip to the North Pole. During the wait there were sled trips up the NW coast and scientific observations were made. During this time Charles F. Hall became deathly ill, and actually was poisoned to death. After his death all cohesion among the crew totally broke down. The most noted was the German background crew vs. the others, and there were other cliques. It more or less became every man for himself. The Inuit guides aboard were among some of the few of Hall suporters in the crew.
Third fleeing back to civilization -
The Polaris Sailed (steamed) south as soon as it could with a separate steam engine running pumps to deal with constant leaks, often getting jammed in ice, slowing progress. One time it seemed that the Polaris would be crushed and more than half of the expedition crew, including all the Inuit were moved on to the ice along with the whaleboats which were used for lifeboats. Many supplies which were to be moved on to the ice flow were lost. The wind and current suddenly moved the ice flow away from the Polaris. There were barely enough crew on the Polaris to operate the ship. It steamed on, miles away and past the crew on the ice flow abandoning them, but in fact they could not have maneuvered the ship to them if they had tried. The Polaris eventually went ashore in Greenland and all was stripped off it. Those aboard made camp, was contacted by local inuit, traded with them and wintered. After the following thaw the ships carpenter made a couple of small boats and they headed south along the coast eventually finding civilization and were rescued.
Those who were on the ice flow camped there, moved to another ice flow as the first one broke up. They lived off the supplies they had and the seals and other animals, mostly seals, that the inuit humter found, Much of it was eaten raw. They had broken into 2 groups at odds with one another, the Germans vs. the others in two nearby camps. After 193 days living on the ice they were rescued by seal hunting ship, and were returned to Washington, DC in USA.
Fourth hearings and narrative -
The survivors were sequestered upon arrival and held while they were officially questioned to discover what happened. Many of the crew diaries were saved and were part of the evidance. The inquest closed. Then some time later the other survivors arrived and were given much the same treatment. Given the nature of medical knowledge no reason for Charles Halls death was given. Much of the uglyness of the experience was swept -under the carpet-.
In August 1968 a small expedition visited Charles F. Halls grave and brought back a fingernail and a bit of hair. Scientific analysis proved that in the last 2 weeks of his life Hall was poisoned with arsenic. it is most likelt Emile Bessel the doctor and head of the science program is the most likely suspect. He died in Germany in 1888.
This was a much more interesting read than I had expected.
~ 2018-04-28 ~

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