The Arizona champion., 1884-04-19
EXPLORER MORTON.


 and adventures of William Morton, one of the more heroic explorers that ever sailed toward the pole, who died recently in Alaska, will be read with interest:
 William Morton's life was an adven- turous one He was born on December 5 I, 1877. He entered the United States navy in lS43, and engaged actively in the Mexican war and in the late civil war. He was on the United States steamer Monongahela when in 1867 she was carried by tidal wave into the city of Vera Cruz. He came most prominent ly into public notice, however, by his participation in the Franklin relief expe- ditions in the Arctic regions. Mir. Henry Grinnell, in lS49, organized one of these expeditions at his own expense. Mir. Morton volunteered his services and went with Lieutenant De Haven, who commanded the two relief vessels, the Advance and the Rescue. Dr. k. K. Kane accompanied this expedition in the capacity of surgeon. After an ab- sence of sixteen months, during nine of which the two vessels were bound {, they returned to this city without having found any trace of Franklin. Dr. Kane embodied the result of the expedition in work entitled "The United States Grimmell Expedition in Seach of Sir John Franklin" published in 1854 He also read paper before the American Geographical society on an "Open Polar Sea-" Dr. Kane and Mir. Morton were firm believers in the mythical open polar sea, and their second Franklin relief expedition revived public interest in this belief, which had existed for more than two centuries, and which sea was even represented upon maps as far back as 1908.
 Mr. Grinnell again equipped the Ad- vance, with the help of Mir. Peabody and some of the learned societies. Dr. Kane was put in charge and chose William Morton as an invaluable man for the work in hand. Morton had received a vote of thanks from congress for his mer itorious services on the first expedition. The Advance sailed northward Tn June, 1853, and reached 7S deg. Al min. in Rensselaer, bay on August 23, off the coast of Greenland, where it remained fast during the whole time the expedition was out. The ship was finally abandoned on May l7, 1855. Morton remained with Dr. Kane as friend and companion until the latter died from the effects of Arctic exposure at Havana on February Is, 1S57 at the early age of thirty-seven. Dr. Kane said of Morton that he was as gallant and trustworthy man as ever shared the fortunes or claimed the grat- itude of a commander. The most not able incident of the second Grinnell ex- petition was Norton s journey with Hans Hendrck, Danish guide, from the ice bound vessel up Kennedy channel as far as Cape Independence, in Sl deg. p min. north latitude, whence he saw what he and Kane firmly believed to be an "open Polar sea-" Mir. Morton left the vessel on the 4th of June, 1854, and on the 2lst reached the head of Kennedy channel. The couple attempted to mount the high cliffs that border the channel. Morton, having climbed as high as possible, planted the Grinnell flag at the highest northern region of the earth ever reached by man to that time. Further on MT. Morton and his companions encountered cape. AS he could not pass around it in his search after supposed unknown land beyond it, he ascended an eminence and ob served far in the north a lofty peak, 5000 feet in height called Mount Ed ward Parry, and which was the most extreme northern point of land known to exist upon the globe.
 From the position which Mir. Morton had attained he beheld to the northward boundless waste of water stretching away toward the pole. He heard the dashing of unfrozen waves upon which he might have embarked if he had brought with him a boat. He found the temperature there much more mod crate than it was farther south. He saw marine birds in the air and a few stunted flowers growing along the rocky shores. This open sea, which was sup posed to extend to the North Pole, was said, upon Capt. Halls expedition to be what is now known as Robeson's chan mel.
 During the second Grinnell expedition when Kane had determined to remain for a second winter, many of the crew and some of the officers murmured. Kane, selecting Morton alone as his con- fidant, succeeded in discovering every man who was disaffected, and, when al was ready overwhelmed them bNa,ag- ] unanimously dividing the stores, assign ing them the best coats and dogs and designating an officer, the late Dr. l. I. Hayes, to command them, bade the m God-speed in their journey home. They departed, but in eight days they gladly returned to the ship, begged pardon of its noble commander, and thenceforth shared the fortunes of the exped- ition.
 Mir. Morton accompanied Captain Hall as second mate of the Polaris in 1871. Captain Hall rrdied during the trip at Greenland, October 10, 1871. At Upernavik Morton met Hans Hen drick, his former companion on the | memorable trip many years before to | Kennedy channel. Hans at first did | not know him, so greatly changed was he by a score of years passed in active | service. Mr. Morton lost on this trip the temporary use of his foot. During his service with Kane in 1858, he had nf hic haa1, h,IIx, |