Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-03-23


last year and sailing along the Amer
lean coast discovered New York bay
ana the Hudson river The following
yeaI he again sailed far north along
the coast, through the Hudson strait
and into the great bay that bears his
name. penetrating westward several
hundred miles farther than had hither.
10 been accomplished. After wintering
in Hudson bay and suffering severity
from tempestuOus weather and failing
provisions, part of his expedition re-
turned to England. Hudson himself,
one of the most tragic figures in the
history of the artic, had miserably per
isEed. after being set adrift in a
small boat by his mutinous crew. 1t
was now believed that the way to the
Pacific had been discovered, and
that it undoubtedly lay through Hud.
son bay.
Within five years a number of ex-
petitions were made into this vast
sheet of water and in these Fox chan
mel and Rowe's welcome We're explor
ed. This belief in an outlet to the
northwest via Hudson bay persisted
nearly to the beginning of the 10Th
century. and the English parliament
as late as 1743 offered a reward of
100000 to the crew who should first
traverse this outlet. At this time,
toe, the Russians began their attempts
tC prove the existence of the passage
by seeking to penetrate from the west
ward through Behring strait and, in
general, to explore the polar archipel-
ago. Only bare mention can be made
here of these explorers, of Behring,
Sbalaroff, who in 1850 died of starva-
ton with his entire crew, ofAndreyeff,
Billings and Won Wrangall and Anjou
the last two making their famous
sledge journeys in 1920 to 1928. In
! 177C Captain Cook sailed on his last
voyage in an attempt to penetrate the
Polar sea to the eastward through the
Behring strait but was separated by
solid barrier Of ice from ship sent
to await him in Baffin bay.
First Scientific Expedition.
BY the end of the 18th century arc
tic exploration had ceased to be un
dertaken merely in the interest of fur
thering commerce. and it had begun
TO assume importance from a purely
scientific standpoint. The first o.
ter, sailed in 1918 to discover the
northwest passage by means of the
great openings reported by Baffin tt
exist at the westward end of Baffir
bay. Under the command of Johr
Ross the expedition penetrated Ian
caster strait for about 60 miles, ant
on meeting with heavy ice Ross came
to the conclusion that the strait wa'
merely bay, and returned to Eng
land. Parry, lieutenant under Ross
disagreed with this view, and in 181!
led an expedition to again attempt tn
passage. Parry was undoubtedly on,
of the ablest explorers of his time
and his achievements were splendid
lie traversed Lancaster sound, Bal
row strait, Belville sound and Bank
strait, practically demonstrating ha
he but known it, the existence of
waterway leading through the Parr
archipelago to the Arctic ocean. Tn
expedition wintered at Melville islam
after exploring that vicinity. Parry
later expedition through Hudson strai
and Fox channel was important in re
lation to the terrible land journey o
Franklin, 1892, and in the explore
ton of Repulse bay and Melville per
insula. Ross, who spent several year
in the arctic, and thoroughly explol
ed Boothia, King William Land an
adjacent waterways, persisted in hi
belief that there was no northwes
passage. OF importance was the locs
ton of the north magnetic pole nea
! King William Land by his nephew