Fatal North (39 page)

My Washington, D.C., research efforts, including dealing with the Library of Congress, were assisted greatly by two special individuals who were my “secret weapons” when it came to dealing with the federal bureaucracy: my daughter, Chelsea Henderson Maxwell, a U.S. Senate staffer, and her husband, Carl Maxwell, who works on “the other side of the hill” for a U.S. congressman.

Closer to home, I thank my sons Grant, fourteen, and Evan, twelve, for putting up with me during the writing of this book, and for lowering their music when asked.

Alert,
183

Alexander, Cape,
53–54
,
248

America,
USS,
29

American Academy of Forensic Sciences' Last Word Society,
286

American flag, covering Hall's body,
6–7
,
21
,
92

American Geographical Society,
21
,
35

Anacostia River,
228

animals in Arctic/wildlife,
52–53
,
241

Arctic foxes,
4
,
69
,
79

brent geese,
67
,
127

dovekies,
127
,
193

gulls,
127

lemmings,
4
,
79

musk ox,
67
,
79
,
122–123

owls/hawks,
79

polar bears,
92
,
119
,
200–201
,
214–215

seals,
67
,
69
,
153–222

ugyuk,
195–196
,
199

whales,
247

Ansel Gibbs,
183

Antelope,
231

Anthing, Frederick, ice-floe survivor,
146

Arctic

exploration,
19

extended daylight,
114–115

iceberg activity,
185–186

paraselene,
102

permafrost,
5

perpetual darkness/everlasting twilight,
103
,
106

preservation of burial remains,
5–8

signs of summertime,
9

Arctic Experiences: A History of the Polaris Expedition
(Tyson),
292

arsenic, levels in samples from Hall,
283–286

“Arsenic and Old Ice” (Lucas),
286

aurora borealis,
53

autopsy of Hall's remains,
3–9

Back, George,
19

Baffin, William,
19

Baffin Bay,
168
,
174
,
186–187

Baffin Island,
14
,
31
,
172

Baird, Spencer F.,
228

Barnes, W. K.,
270–277

Bartlett, Isaac,
220
,
240

Beale, Joseph,
270–277

“Bear” the dog,
119
,
184

Bering Strait,
27

Bessels, Emil,
24
,
26
,
39
,
44
,
288–290

Buddington's accusation of poisoning Hall,
82–87
,
90–91

Buddington's consumption of alcohol,
74–76
,
140

comment on Hall's death,
93–94

frostbite and snow blindness,
96
,
129
,
130–131

Hall's distrust of,
47–51
,
71

during Hall's illness and death,
76–87

orders in the event of Hall's death,
35–37
,
99–100

Polaris
winter quarters,
62
,
67
,
71

scientific studies,
39
,
44
,
115

separate quarters after rescue,
254–255

sledge trip south,
115–117

statements at expedition inquiry,
232–234
,
270–277

supply of “medicinal alcohol,”
116–117
,
120

surgeon-generals at expedition inquiry,
270–277

“the little German dance master,”
48
,
85

Bismarck,
33

Booth, John,
Polaris
fireman,
ix

Booth, John Wilkes,
228

Borie, Adolf,
230

Bowditch's Navigator,
18

Brevoort, Cape,
79

Brevoort, J. Carson,
79

British North Polar Expedition of 1875,
2

British Polar Expedition of 1875,
2–3

Brooklyn Navy Yard

outfitting
Tigress
for Arctic trip,
245–251

preparation of USS
Polaris,
21–34

Bryan, Richard W. D.,
62
,
93
,
102

Polaris
chaplain and astronomer,
44

sledge trip south with Bessels,
117
,
120

statement at expedition inquiry,
278–279

survivor on
Polaris,
242
,
243

Buddington, Sidney O.,
24
,
231
,
288

abandon of ice-floe survivors,
144–149

accusation of Bessels poisoning Hall,
90–91

alcohol consumption,
98
,
116–117
,
139
,
235
,
243
,
263
,
266
,
276

command after Hall's death,
35–37
,
98–112

conduct in front of crew,
40
–11,
99
,
100

erratic course for
Polaris,
139–143

food ration discrepancy,
67–68

gluttony of supplies,
115–117

Hall's distrust of,
54–56
,
70–71

insistence on going south,
61–64
,
126–135

left
Polaris to
Eskimo chief,
250

pilfering food,
40
,
45
,
70

plan to scuttle
Polaris,
110–112

Polaris
winter quarters,
61–63
,
101
,
104–105

rescue of
Polaris
party,
252

small boat scouting trip north,
118–119
,
120–121

statements at expedition inquiry,
255–263

stranding crew on ice,
131–135

suspected drinking,
70
,
71
,
74
,
76
,
89

Bylot, Arctic explorer,
19

Campbell, Walter,
267

cannibalism in Greely expedition,
3

Joe's concern for his family,
208–210

Joe's concern for his family on ice floe,
169–171

Tyson's hint at expedition inquiry,
237

Chester, Hubbard C,
27
,
49
,
62
,
64
,
260
,
262

failure of small boat scouting party,
125–132

during Hall's illness and death,
73
,
79–87

sledge trip during winter season,
109

small boat trip north,
118–119
,
120–121

statement at expedition inquiry,
263–266

surviving on the
Polaris,
265

City of Antwerp,
transport of
Polaris
survivors to New York,
252

Civil War

Battle of Mobile Bay,
228

Hall's second expedition during,
14

reconstruction of the South,
19

Washington Navy Yard,
228

coffee, Hall's cup of,
76
,
81
,
90
,
267

Coffin, Nathaniel,
33
,
95
,
142

Coleman, Patrick,
43–44

Colfax, Schuyler,
15
,
19

Commagere, Frank Y.,
250–251

Conception Bay, Newfoundland,
219

Congress,
USS, supplies for
Polaris,
44–16

Constitution, Cape,
50
,
119

Cumberland Gulf,
196

Daly, Charles P.,
22

Davenport, H. K., captain of the
Congress
,
44–46

Davis, John,
19

Davis Strait,
249

Dease, Arctic explorer,
19

Denmark, Greenland territory,
4

diet.
See
Food

Disco, Greenland,
40–42
,
111
,
178
,
179

dogs/sled dogs on the
Polaris,
14
,
22
,
49
,
80
,
96
,
98
,
103–104
,
119
,
123
,
146

supplied in St. Johns,
39
–
40

on Tyson party ice floe,
158
,
162
,
177
,
184

Ebierbing “Joe,”
49
,
97
,
139
,
268
,
269
,
290

appearance at fundraising,
15–16

Arctic experiences with Hall,
31–32
,
93

during Hall's illness and death,
81

Hall's sledge trip,
73

ice-floe survivor,
146

promise to stay with Tyson,
128

return search for
Polaris
survivors,
246–251

sledge trip south with Bessels,
117
,
119–120

Tyson party reliance on hunting for food,
79
,
153–222

Ellesmere Island,
54
,
168

England, polar expeditions,
17

Erie,
231

Eskimos,
83
,
182

accompanying Hall,
31–32

appearance at fundraising,
14–16

Arctic abilities,
14

capote,
188

concept of food rationing,
157–158

dividing a seal properly,
173–174

partnership for survival,
165

Tyson party reliance on hunting for food,
79
,
153–222

See also
Hendrik, Hans

See also
Tookoolito “Hannah”

See also
Ebierbing “Joe”

execution, in Greely expedition,
3

Farragut, David,
228–229

Fenton, Reuben,
19

food rations for dogs,
103–104

rations for
Polaris
crew,
67–68
,
106–107
,
115–116

rations for Tyson party on ice floe,
153–222

“Fowler's Solution,”
284–285

Fox, Arctic explorer,
19

Franco-German War,
25

Franklin, John,
43–44
,
52
1845 expedition,
14

expeditions to find survivors,
18
,
28

Frazier, Cape,
139
,
234–235

Frobisher, Martin,
19

Frolic,
USS, retrieval of Tyson party,
227
,
229

George Back, Cape,
56

Georgiana,
231

German crew members, control over expedition,
48
,
179
,
182

Germany,
24
,
25

Gignoux, Tom,
5

global warming effects at North Pole,
293

Godhavn Harbor,
41

Grady Harbor, Labrador,
222

Grant, Ulysses S.,
20
,
28–31
,
230
,
287

American attempt for North Pole discovery,
3
,
14–20

Black Friday in first term,
254

return search for
Polaris
survivors,
245–251

Greely Expedition of 1881,
3

Greenland,
3–9
,
41

Greer, James A., command of
Tigress
search for
Polaris
survivors,
246–249

Hall, Charles Francis,
16
,
23–25

American flag shroud,
6–7

autopsy of remains,
3–9

Buddington's conduct questioned,
40–41

burial of,
92–93

cause of death, results of expedition inquiry,
280–282

choice of
Polaris,
28–31

confiding trust concerns to Tyson,
70–71

determining location of North Pole,
22–23

dislike of Bessels,
26
,
47–51
,
71
,
85

expedition during Civil War,
14

experience with insubordination,
43–44

fascination with Arctic north,
13–17
,
23–24

fundraising for expedition,
13–20

German crew members' disrespect,
48

hallowed ground
of,
4
,
9
,
92
,
93

health during sledge trip,
80

illness and death of,
76–87
,
92–93
,
266–269