The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-11-11
From the New York Tribune.
The Fate Of Sir John Franklin and his Cempan-


The Fate Of Sir John Franklin and his Cempan-
We have already published in The Tribune
the facts related below. Still the following ar
ticle from the Montreal Herald of Oct. 81 will
prove. interesting to our readers:
We are indebted to Sir George Simpson,
Governor of the IIudson's Bay Territory, for
the privilege of first publishing to the civiliz-
ed world the at length ascertained fate of the
noble but ill-starred Sir John Franklin, and
his gallant company. Alas! that the fate
should have been so sad and that the prob
lem, which has so long occupied the thoughts
and engaged the energies of the great naviga-
tors countless friends and admirers in Europe
and America should be solved by so painful,
so distressing a narrative as is contained in the
following letter, which only reached Sir George
Simpson yesterday afternoon-it having been
forwarded from York Factory. via Red River.
Our own hopes of Sir John Franklin's restor-
alton to the world had. we confess, long ceas-
ed but who could have been prepared for the
fearful reality-a miserable and lingering
death. from literal starvatiOn-possibly, as DR..
Rae conjcctures, worse than starvation-On the
frozen and desola.e shores of the Arctic Ocean.
But we shall not detain the reader, by any re-
Election of ours from the perusal of DR.. Rca's
intensely interesting narrative--we shall mere
ly mention that York Factory is situated at
the mouth of Hayes River in Uudson's Bay, in
about 500 n L., go WI.
DIR. RAGS Letter to Sir George Simpson.
| YORK Factory, Aug. 4 1854.
| My DEAR GEORGE Your several letters
public and private, of dates 18th of June and
LIST of December, 1853, aud 18th and 10th June,
1854, were handed me on the 2Sth ultmO, on
my reaching Churchel, and rejoiced to learn
that your health had benefited so much by your
visit to the north.
Let NE now allulc to the expedition affairs
| arrived here on the 3lst ult. with my small
party, in excellent health. but am sorry to
say without having effected our object. At
the same time information has been obtained
and articles purchased of the natives. which
places the fate of portion, if not all of the
survivors of Sir John Franklins miserable par
ty beyond dOubt-a fate the most deplOrable
death from starvation. after having had re-
course to cannibalism as means of prolong-
ing life.
reached my old quarters at Repulse Bay
on the 18th of August, and preparations were
Immediately commenced for wintcring. On
the lst September explained to the men our
position, the stock of provisions we had on
hand (not more than three months ratiOns}an
the prospects we had of getting more, &C.. &C..
pointing out all the danger and difficulty of
our position. All readily volunteered to re-
main, and our eXertions to collect food and flu
ell went on with undated energy. BY the end
ofSeptcmber, 100 deer, one musk OK. Al brace
of ptarmigan, and one seal had been shot and
the nets produced 1870 salmon.
OF the larger animals above enumerated, &C
deer and the musk were shot by myself, 81
deer by Mistcgan Uhe dccr-hunter) IA by one
of the men, nine by Ouligbuck. and l6 by the
/ other four men. The migration of the deer
terminated about the middle of October, and
% more animals were added to our stock
! On the 2Sth OF October, the snow being suf-
licicntly hard for building. We were happy to
exchange our cold tents for the more comfort
able shelter of the snOw-housc The winter
was very severe, but the temperature in our
snow huts was never so low as in my winter
quarters OF lS'b-'. Up to the 18th of January
we had nets set under the ice in the lakes. the
nets were taken up on that date as they pro
duccd nothing.
oh me "ls! Oh March ny spring journey COM
mehccd' Dut IN consequence of gales of wind
deep and soft sn""'. an. focry weather. we
mai" sLt very little Progress We did not
eater Peliy Bay until the l7th At This place
we met WIN EsquimauX. one of whom. ON be-
!hS ashe' II ne ever saw white people, replied
III the negative. but Said that a large partv (at
! least 40 pcrsons) had pcrjshcd from want of
food. some 10 or y DAYS Journey to the west
ward. me substance of the information. OBJ
tanned al various times and from various sourc-
cs, was at follows:
In the spring four winters past. (sprinc
| lHJV:l party of white men. amounting to
ABOUT forty. were seen travelling southwark
over me ice and dragging a boat with thcm.by
some EsquimauN who were killing seals on the
! norm shore of King Williams Land. which is a
large island named Kcilikak by the Esqui-
iiiauT. None of the party could speak the ma
i've language intelligibly, bnt. by signs. the
inc natives were made to understand that their
Sllips or ship had been crushed by ice. and that
| the 'whitcs' were now going to where they
| expected to find deer to shoot. From the APP
pearance of the men. all of whom except one
officer (chcf) looked thin they were then sup
! posed to be getting short of provisions. and
they purchased q small seal from the natives.
| At later date. the same season, but pre-
vious to the disruption of the ice the bodies of
about thirty white persons were discovered on
the continent. and five on an island near to it,
about long days journey (say thirty-fve or
forty miles, to the northwest of a large stream
which can be no other than Backs Great Fish
! y
ca-lik.) as its description. and that of the low
shore in the ncighborhood of Point Ogle and
Montreal Island agree exactly with that of Sir
George Back. Some of the bodies had been
buried, (probably those of the first victims of
famine.) some were in a tent or tents. others
under 4 boat that had been turned over TO form
a shelter and several lay scattered about in
different directions. OF those found on the is
land one was supposed to have been an officer /
n : n tpItCrOnp GtranDpI Ii
der, and his double-barrelcd gun lay under
meath him.
From the mutilated state of many of the !
corpses, and the contents of the kettles, it is I
evident that our miserable countrymen had !
been driven to the last resource-cannibalism
as means of prolonging life.
There appears to have been an abundant .
stock of ammunition. as the powder was emp
tied in heap upon the ground by the natives
out of the kegs or cases containing it. and
quantity of ball and shot was found below high |
water mark. having been left on the ice. close