Fort Conger

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Fort Conger
Grinnell Land, Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic
Fort Conger, Grinnell Land, May 20, 1883.jpg
Fort Conger in May 1883
Canada Nunavut location map-lambert proj3.svg
Red pog.svg
Fort Conger
Coordinates 81°45′N64°45′W / 81.750°N 64.750°W / 81.750; -64.750 (Fort Conger) [1]
TypeScientific research post
Site information
Operator United States Army Signal Corps
Site history
BuiltAugust 1881(142 years ago) (1881-08)
In use1881–1935
MaterialsWooden boards; tar paper
Events Lady Franklin Bay Expedition

Fort Conger is a former settlement, military fortification, and scientific research post in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It was established in 1881 as an Arctic exploration camp, [3] notable as the site of the first major northern polar region scientific expedition, [4] the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, led by Adolphus Greely as part of the United States government's contribution to the First International Polar Year. It was later occupied by Robert Peary during some of his Arctic expeditions.

Contents

Fort Conger is located on the northern shore of Lady Franklin Bay in Grinnell Land, northeastern Ellesmere Island within Quttinirpaaq National Park. Bellot Island lies across from Fort Conger within Discovery Harbour. Though lacking in timber, the area is characterized by grasses and sedges. The surroundings are rugged and boast high cliffs around the harbour. Now uninhabited, [5] it is one of only a handful of previously staffed stations in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. In 1991, some of the structures at Fort Conger were designated as Classified Federal Heritage Buildings. [6]

History

Before Fort Conger was established, its Discovery Harbour was used as a wintering site by the crew of HMS Discovery, led by George Nares, during the British Arctic Expedition of 1875. [7] Though Nares left behind provisions at Fort Conger, most of those supplies were unfound when Fort Conger was established as a research base in 1881 during the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, led by U.S. Army First Lieutenant Adolphus Greely. The fort was named by Greely after U.S. Senator Omar D. Conger, who had supported the expedition. Twenty-five men, including officers, enlisted, and Inuit, lived and conducted research at Fort Conger over the next two years. (Greely would rise to the rank of major general in the Army and received the Medal of Honor for his lifetime achievements in 1935.)

Peary's grave at Arlington NC Grave of Robert Peary - rear base - Arlington National Cemetery - 2011.JPG
Peary's grave at Arlington NC

During his 1899 expedition to reach the geographic North Pole, Robert Peary reached Fort Conger, only to have several toes snap off at the first joint because of frostbite. [8] Bedridden for weeks while recuperating, Peary wrote on a wall, Inveniam viam aut faciam ("I shall find a way or make one."), [9] the words Hannibal had allegedly said before crossing the Alps. Later they became an inscription on the monument over Peary's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

Two additional Peary expedition parties returned to Fort Conger in 1905 and 1908. Other explorers used Fort Conger as a base from 1915 through 1935. [6] In 1937, the MacGregor Arctic Expedition attempted to reoccupy Fort Conger.

Construction

The original fort was built as a three-room building, 18 m (59 ft) long, 5 m (16 ft) wide, and 3 m (9.8 ft) high. Lean-tos on either side of the building housed supplies. The double-wall construction of the main building consisted of long, wooden boards, covered with tar paper. [10] This type of construction was found to be unsuitable for the Arctic as it was difficult to keep the building warm. [4]

Peary found Fort Conger to be "grotesque in its utter unfitness and unsuitableness for polar winter quarters" and eventually tore down the original building. Re-using the wood, he built several smaller, adjoining buildings, some of which still stand [4] and are classified as Federal Heritage Buildings.

Research

As a scientific station, Fort Conger has been the site of many research projects from the early "Pendulum Observations", [11] to "Research on the microbes attacking the historic woods at Fort Conger and the Peary huts on Ellesmere Island" conducted by the University of Minnesota. [12] Unexpected large quantities of arsenic have been discovered at Fort Conger in recent years, its presence most likely attributable to it being delivered here for sample preservation. [13] In 2013, a comprehensive 17-page report on the history of Fort Conger was published in the journal, Arctic. [14]

In the 1974 Disney film The Island at the Top of the World , Fort Conger is featured as a stopover station for airborne arctic explorers in the year 1907.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellesmere Island</span> Island of the Arctic Archipelago in Nunavut, Canada

Ellesmere Island is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of 196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi), slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total length of the island is 830 km (520 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quttinirpaaq National Park</span> National park in Nunavut, Canada

Quttinirpaaq National Park is located on the northeastern corner of Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the second most northerly park on Earth after Northeast Greenland National Park. In Inuktitut, Quttinirpaaq means "top of the world". It was established as Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve in 1988, and the name was changed to Quttinirpaaq in 1999, when Nunavut was created, and became a national park in 2000. The reserve covers 37,775 km2 (14,585 sq mi), making it the second largest park in Canada, after Wood Buffalo National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolphus Greely</span> American polar explorer and army general (1844–1935)

Adolphus Washington Greely was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Edward Israel was an astronomer and Polar explorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacGregor Arctic Expedition</span>

The MacGregor Arctic Expedition was a privately funded expedition which set out to reoccupy Fort Conger, Ellesmere Island, Canada, a site within flying distance of the North Pole. The expedition, which took place from July 1, 1937, to October 3, 1938, had four main objectives: To collect weather data; to make a magnetic survey; to photograph the aurora borealis and study its effects upon radio transmission; and to explore the area northwest of Ellesmere Island, in order to clear up the questions about Crocker Land, which Robert Peary placed on the map more than 30 years earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conger Range</span> Mountain range in Nunavut, Canada

The Conger Range, also called the Conger Mountains, is a mountain range in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, beginning about 16 km (10 mi) west of Mount Osborne. It is part of the Arctic Cordillera which is a vast dissected mountain system extending from Ellesmere Island to the northernmost tip of Labrador and northeastern Quebec. The Conger Range is a structural extension of the Garfield Range and continues into the highlands north of the head of Hare Fiord. The overall extent of the range is about 180 km (112 mi). Most of its peaks are ice-covered, although nearly all of the southern slopes are ice-free. Many of the valleys between the peaks are filled with glacial tongues spilling out to the south from the Grand Land Ice Cap. Its highest point is Mount Biederbick at 1,542 m (5,059 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pim Island</span> Island in Canada

Pim Island is an uninhabited island located off the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Located within the Arctic Archipelago, it is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.

Cocked Hat Island, located off the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, is a part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The island is located within the Arctic Archipelago, and is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.

Rice Strait is a narrow waterway between Ellesmere Island's eastern coast and Pim Island in northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. It connects Rosse Bay on the south with Buchanan Bay to the north.

Lady Franklin Bay is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. The bay is located in Nares Strait northwest of Judge Daly Promontory and is an inlet into the northeastern shore of Ellesmere Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinnell Land</span> Section of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut

Grinnell Land is the central section of Ellesmere Island in the northernmost part of Nunavut territory in Canada. It was named for Henry Grinnell, a shipping magnate from New York, who in the 1850s helped finance two expeditions to search for Franklin's lost expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Franklin Bay Expedition</span> Polar expedition

The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–1884 to Lady Franklin Bay on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic was led by Lieutenant Adolphus Greely, and was promoted by the United States Army Signal Corps. Its purpose was to establish a meteorological-observation station as part of the First International Polar Year, and to collect astronomical and magnetic data. During the expedition, two members of the crew reached a new Farthest North record, but of the original twenty-five men, only seven survived to return.

HMS <i>Alert</i> (1856) 19th-century British Royal Navy sloop

HMS Alert was a 17-gun wooden screw sloop of the Cruizer class of the Royal Navy, launched in 1856 and broken up in 1894. She was the eleventh ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name, and was noted for her Arctic exploration work; in 1876 she reached a record latitude of 82° North. Alert briefly served with the US Navy, and ended her career with the Canadian Marine Service as a lighthouse tender and buoy ship.

HMS <i>Discovery</i> (1874) 19th-century British Royal Navy barque

HMS Discovery was a wood-hulled screw expedition ship, and later storeship, formerly the sealing ship Bloodhound built in 1873 in Dundee. She was purchased in 1874 for the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876 and later served as a store ship. Discovery was sold in 1902, reverting to the name Bloodhound and her previous sealing trade. The ship was wrecked in Newfoundland in 1917.

Dobbin Bay is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Nares Strait by eastern Ellesmere Island, south of the Darling Peninsula.

Rosse Bay is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Nares Strait between Pim Island and Ellesmere Island's Johan Peninsula. The bay is also connected to Rice Strait.

Whisler Island is an uninhabited island within Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. An island within an island, it is located in Lake Hazen on Ellesmere Island within Quttinirpaaq National Park. It lies opposite Wagon Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George W. Rice (photographer)</span> Canadian photographer (1855–1884)

George Walter Rice was a British North America-born photographer who was first to photograph the Arctic region on the ill-fated American led Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881 to 1884. Rice died in the Arctic on 9 April 1884 while awaiting the arrival of a relief vessel.

Repulse Harbour is a bay in northern Greenland. To the northwest it opens into the Lincoln Sea. Administratively it is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.

References

  1. ↑ "Fort Conger". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada.
  2. "Fort Conger". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada.
  3. ↑ "PEARY IS AT FORT CONGER" (PDF). The New York Times . November 10, 1900. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  4. 1 2 3 George, Jane (4 August 2000). "Fort Conger: old tales of futility and desperation". Nunatsiaq News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "Lady Franklin Bay". The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. bartleby.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 2005-11-27. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  6. 1 2 "Quttinirpaaq National Park of Canada". pc.gc.ca. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  7. ↑ Flemming, Clare. "Collection of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition 1881-1884" (PDF). Explorers Club. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2010.[ dead link ]
  8. ↑ Robinson, Bradley (1983). "Matthew A. Henson (1866-1955)" (PDF). Arctic . 36 (1). Arctic Institute of North America: 106–107. doi:10.14430/arctic2253. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  9. ↑ Fleming, Fergus (2003). Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole. Grove Press. p. 108. ISBN   0-8021-4036-X.
  10. ↑ Mitchell, William (2007). General Greely - The Story of a Great American Author. Read Books. p. 70. ISBN   978-1-4067-0765-6.
  11. ↑ Peirce, Charles S.; Max H. Fisch (1986). Writings: a chronological edition. 1872 - 1878. Vol. 3. Indiana University Press. p. 216. ISBN   0-253-37201-1.
  12. ↑ "Research on the microbes attacking the historic woods at Fort Conger and the Peary huts on Ellesmere Island". umn.edu. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  13. ↑ Cullen, William R. (2008). Is arsenic an aphrodisiac?: the sociochemistry of an element. Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 87. ISBN   978-0-85404-363-7.
  14. ↑ Bertulli, Margaret M.; Dick, Lyle; Dawson, Peter C.; Cousins, Panik Lynn (September 2013). "Fort Conger: a Site of Arctic History in the 21st Century". Arctic. 66 (3). Arctic Institute of North America: 312–328. doi: 10.14430/arctic4310 .
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