The New York herald., 1920-01-19
STEFANsS0N FINDS
CACHE SET UP BY
M 'CLURE IN 1858
Traces Travels of the InVesti-
gators Captain Who Sought
to Aid Franklin.

Another Arctic cache. with echoes Of
hardships and traces of daring ex-
plorers Quit, has been found by Vilhjal-
mur Stefansson and Storker Storkersen.
of the Canadian government expedition.
The cache is believed to be one built
more than a half century ago by Com
mander Robert Mcclure, of II. NJ. S.
Investigator. who sailed the Arctic seas
in quest of Sir john Franklin. and the
members Of his Inflated expedition.
Commander Mcclure wintered in the
Arctic in 1851, 1852 and 1853. and his old
cache was OH the west side OF the Bay
of Mercy on Banks Island. Near the
the A1cClure cache was found with strands
of old rope. remnants of shipping. barrel
slaves. pieces of iron from the boats
used for Arctic exploration. and from
eight TO ten tons of soft coal which had
survived the action of the elements.
1t is known to Arctic explorers that
Commander Mcclure and his men went
on foot through McClure's Strait from
the Bay of Mercy to Dealey Island Nc
McClures Strait presumably named. after
the explorer. forms a body OF water
between Melville Island on the north and
Banks Island on the south
mo signs of any provisions were found
in the abandoned cache" said Storkersen
but we picked UP pieces of old rope and
other fragments left by explorers whe
wintered in that region many years ago
Destroyed by Eskimos.
"McClure's vessel, the Investigator, was
abandoned in the north He probabl;
built the cache for the benefit of futur.
explorers who might happen that way.
The cache had been destroyed by the Es-
kimos, and probably some of these Es-
kimos had never seen white man. They
took the iron from the boats and undoubt
edly they found the pieces of iron useful
The cache was probably built by Com
nander Mcclure after a consulta ton with
Captain Kelett, of the Resolute. and Cap
tain McClintock of the Intrepid. and after
he had decided to abandon his ship, the
Investigator.
1t appears that Captain Josepl E., Ber.
nier, in command of the Canadian Arctic
expedition of ,90S-1909, also found traces of
Commander Mcclure in the Arctic O. J.
NORM, second officer of the Arctic ex-
pedition, in command of Captain Bernier
reported tnat he found a cairn CT a sma.
beach near the point where the Investi-
gator had wintered from 1851 20 1858. Thu
cairn had been demolished and 10 records
were found
Two Vessels Separated.
Mcclure had begun his search for Frank
I'm in company with Commander C,olIinsou
his superior officer, from London. in 1870
and passed through Magellan Strait. at
terward calling at Honolulu (where he and
Collinson procured stores. y said Captain
Bernier. The two vessels became sem
arated, the Investigator outsailip,, ,bo Irn
terprise. or rather sailing a different
course Mcclure made Behring Strait first
and continued his voyage without waiting
for Collinson.
The Investigator wintered in the strait
OF Princess Royal Islands during the win.
ter of ls50-5l. After the liberation OF the
ship the southern end OF Banks Island
was rounded and the Investigator passed
north again until the Bay of Mercy was
reached, from which harbor the vessel
never emerged. unless she drifted out.
since her abandonment in 1853
Mcclure with sledge parties crossed the
strait named after him TO Winter Harbor
and there left records on Parry's Rock.
with the hope that Sir John Frankliu
might become acquainted with the fact
that the Investigator was fast in the Bay
of Mercy. These records were found bv
Captain Kellett after Mcclure had re-
turned to his vessel. Papers found in Kel-
lett's depot at Dealy Island contained y
rather pathetic story of the weakened
state of McClure's crew Immediately pre-
vious to the abandonment of the Investi-
gator.
When Mcclure was obliged to abandon
his ship he decided TO build a cache with
provisions enough for siXty-sx men for
four months. II is probable that this Is
the cache found by the Stefansson eXpedi-
ton on Banks Island