The Ice Master

  2 “Up against it . . .” Hadley, diary, June 2, 1914, NAC

  3 “‘Underwood Pemmican again . . . ‘“ Hadley, diary, June 5, 1914, NAC

  4 “A season in . . .” Robert E. Peary, The North Pole, p. 19

  5 “‘I think,’ Hadley . . .” Hadley, diary, June 5, 1914, NAC

  6 “Behold, there is . . .” WLM, diary, June 5, 1914, quoting The Book of Genesis, 42: 2 (In the verse in its entirety, Jacob said, “Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.”)

  7 “I take it . . .” WLM, diary, June 6, 1914, NAC

  8 “In no very . . .” WLM, diary, June 7, 1914, NAC

  9 “seems to be . . .” WLM, diary, June 13, 1914, NAC

  10 “They went about . . .” WLM, First Draft Manuscript,Karluk, 242, NAC

  11 “Hadley declares that . . .” WLM, June 13, 1914, p. 80, NAC

  12 “Are we going . . .” Interview with Emily Wilson, daughter of Mugpi, December 30, 1999

  13 “Are you sure . . .” Interview with Emily Wilson, daughter of Mugpi, December 30, 1999

  14 “then came back . . .” WLM, diary, June 22, 1914, NLS

  15 “fairly good for . . .” Munro, diary, June 18, 1914, NAC

  16 “Orgy of charges . . .” WLM, diary, June 18, 1914, NAC

  17 “This, Munro well . . .” WLM, diary, June 18, 1914, NLS

  18 “Informing Hadley of . . .” WLM, diary, June 18, 1914, NLS

  19 “I believe he . . .” Hadley, diary, June 18, 1914, NAC

  20 “It was a terrible . . .” Burt McConnell, “The Rescue of the ‘Karluk’ Survivors,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine, February 1915, p. 358

  21 “in that state . . .” Burt McConnell, “The Rescue of the ‘Karluk’ Survivors,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine, February 1915, p. 358

  22 “We are living . . .” Munro, diary, June 29, 1914, NAC

  23 “Clam! Call Hadley! . . .” WLM, diary, June 25, 1914, NLS

  24 “What is the . . .” Hadley, diary, June 25, 1914, NAC

  25 “Powder-burned and blackened . . .” Hadley, diary, June 25, 1914, NAC

  26 “Have you another . . .” Hadley Appendix, Stefansson,The Friendly Arctic, p. 746.

  27 “and there has . . .” WLM, diary, June 25, 1914, NLS

  28 “‘Of course,’ he . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 62-63, MMBC

  29 “Charlie, there has . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 64, MMBC

  30 “Breddy said he . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 64, MMBC

  31 “Wednesday last, they . . .” WLM, diary, June 26, 1914, 88, NLS

  32 “The temptation recurred . . .” WLM, First Draft Manuscript, Karluk, p. 256, NAC

  33 “And would not . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 65 MMBC

  34 “One point I . . .” WLM, diary, June 28, 1914, NLS292

  35 “Our suspicions have . . .” WLM, diary, June 29, 1914, NLS

  36 “that Breddy’s Eyes . . .” Hadley, diary, June 28, 1914, NAC

  37 “I think it’s . . .” Hadley, diary, June 30, 1914, NAC

  JULY 1914

  1 “Now that time . . .” WLM, diary, July 22, 1914, NAC

  2 “One good look . . .” RAB, The Log of Bob Bartlett, p. 4

  3 “could pinch them . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 65–66, MMBC

  4 “I am sure . . .” WLM, diary, July 2, 1914, NLS

  5 “made by cutting . . .” WLM, diary, July 5, 1914, NLS

  6 “acquired taste.”WLM, diary, July 5, 1914, NAC

  7 “Eight days of . . .” WLM, diary, July 12, 1914, NLS

  8 a seashore plant . . . Pielou, Naturalist’s Guide to the Arctic, p. 129

  9 “created shocked surprise . . .” WLM, diary, July 13, 1914, NAC

  10 “sundry parts.”WLM, diary, July 14, 1914, NAC

  11 “It helps to . . .” WLM, diary, July 16, 1914, NAC

  12 “A few southerly . . .” WLM, diary, July 13, 1914, NLS

  13 “Rain, fog and . . .” WLM, diary, July 17, 1914, NAC

  14 “Let us pray . . .” WLM, diary, July 14, 1914, NAC

  15 “as a kind . . .” RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 298

  16 “It was a . . .” RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 298

  17 “SOME letter for . . .” McConnell, diary, June 1, 1914, NAC

  18 “At the time . . .” McConnell, diary, July 1, 1914, NAC

  19 “It was a . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 46, NAC

  20 “little room for . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 47, NAC

  21 “was enough to . . .” WLM, diary, July 22, 1914, NAC

  22 “would give us . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 67, MMBC

  23 “Hey, boys! The . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 67, MMBC

  24 “is so hard . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 68, MMBC

  25 “both lean and . . .” WLM, diary, July 20, 1914, NLS

  26 “Thus does our . . .” WLM, diary, July 21, 1914, NAC

  27 “No more unfavourable . . .” WLM, diary, July 23, 1914, NAC

  28 “often on ice . . .” WLM, diary, July 30, 1914, NAC

  29 “It may be . . .” WLM, diary, July 29, 1914, NAC

  30 “We are all . . .” Munro, diary, July 18, 1914, NAC

  31 “It seems as . . .” Munro, diary, July 24–28, 1914, NAC

  AUGUST 1914

  1 “what will be . . .” WLM, diary, August 27, 1914, NAC

  2 “We are now . . .” WLM, diary, August 4, 1914, NAC

  3 “Less than an . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 69, MMBC

  4 “In spite of . . .” WLM, diary, August 13, 1914, NAC

  5 “What his real . . .” WLM, First Draft, Manuscript, Karluk, pp. 272–273, NAC

  6 “That now is . . .” WLM, diary, August 10, 1914, NLS

  7 “The monotony of waiting . . . WLM, diary, August 12, 1914, NAC

  8 “savagely, with thought . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 48, NAC

  9 “Spoiled and rancid . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 48, NAC

  10 “Talk about putrid . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 48, NAC

  11 “We were in . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 47, NAC

  12 “Things on the . . .” Munro, diary, August 7, 1914, NAC

  13 “Wandered ankle-deep in . . .” Williamson, “The Cry of the Owl,” Victoria Daily Colonist, Sunday, March 8, 1959

  14 “Pale faces and . . .” Williamson, “The Cry of the Owl”

  15 “To me, he . . .” Williamson, “The Cry of the Owl,” Victoria Daily Colonist, March 1, 1959

  16 “For what reason . . .” Williamson, “The Cry of the Owl,” March 8, 1959

  17 “He had better . . .” Hadley, diary, pp. 144–145, NAC

  18 “Would not be . . .” WLM, First Draft Manuscript, p. 274, NAC

  19 “As good a horse . . .” WLM, First Draft Manuscript, p. 274, NAC

  20 “In chopping wood . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 49, NAC

  21 Managed by the. . . McKinlay calls Captain Jochimsen “Joachim” in his book

  22 “Steering such a ship . . .” Bartlett, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 302

  23 “It was getting . . .” Bartlett, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 307

  24 “Had been nightmares . . .” Bartlett, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 307

  25 “If the ship . . .” Hadley, diary, August 28, 1914, NAC

  26 “And things that . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 73, MMBC

  27 “That blanket that . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 73-74, MMBC

  28 “No, no ship . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 68-69, MMBC

  29 “We had been . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 70-71 MMBC

  30 “Will relief ever . . .” Munro, diary, August 27, 1914, NAC

  31 “The days that . . .” Bartlett, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 309

  32 ?
??I could only . . .” Bartlett, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 310

  SEPTMBER 1914

  1 “There were twenty. . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 79, MMBC

  2 “bent on outdoing. . .” WLM, diary, September 3, 1914, NAC

  3 “Every cloud has. . .” Munro, diary, September 3, 1914, NAC

  4 “The Lord had. . .” Munro, diary, September 6, 1914, NAC

  5 “That man long. . .” McConnell, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, February 1915, “The Rescue of the Karluk Survivors,” p. 356

  6 “I don’t know. . .” McConnell, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, p. 357

  7 “How did you. . .” McConnell, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, p. 357

  8 “Have you a. . . Breakfast.”McConnell, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, p. 357

  9 “The ship is . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 50, NAC

  10 “transcendentally resplendent.”Maurer, lecture, p. 50, NAC

  11 “No, we want. . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 50, NAC

  12 “resting place of . . .” Maurer, lecture, p. 47, NAC

  13 “There was nothing. . .” Munro, diary, September 7, 1914, NAC

  14 “Mr. Swenson, I. . .” McConnell, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, “The Rescue of the Karluk Survivors,” p. 359

  15 “Umiakpik kunno! Umiakpik. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  16 “How we got. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  17 “raised a shout. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NAC

  18 “No, thank you. . . much.”Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, pp. 76-77, MMBC

  19 “Now that we . . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 77, MMBC

  20 “We’re alive now. . .” Interview with Emily Wilson, daughter of Mugpi, December 30, 1999

  21 “it didn’t mean. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  22 “I don’t think. . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 77, MMBC

  23 “my head was. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  24 “all sorts of. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  25 “God bless the. . .” WLM, diary, September 7, 1914, NLS

  26 “as heartily as. . .” WLM, diary, September 8, 1914, NLS

  27 “All of you. . .” RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 314

  28 “No, sir. . . island.”RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 314

  29 “had thus reached. . .” RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 314

  30 “luxury unqualified” WLM, diary, September 8, 1914, NLS

  31 “I have clear. . .”WLM, letter to Mr. Mamen, November 7, 1976, NCS

  32 “It was as. . .” RAB, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, p. 317

  33 “We were questioned. . .” WLM, letter to family, September 12, 1914, NLS

  34 “I do not. . .” WLM, letter to family, September 12, 1914, NLS

  35 “Just think of. . .” WLM, letter to family, September 12, 1914, NLS

  THE WAKE

  1 “Do you have. . .” WLM, Karluk: The Great Untold Story of Arctic Exploration, p. 160

  2 “I had no. . .” WLM, undated letter fragment, “Letters re. Members of the CAE,” NLS

  3 “grand fellows . . . grimmest.”WLM, undated letter to family of Hugh “Clam” Williams, NLS

  4 “There is not. . .” Chafe, The Voyage of the Karluk, p. 21, MMBC

  5 “I want to. . .” Robert Williamson, June 1959 letter to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, NAC

  6 “Please do not. . .” Williamson, undated letter to Stefansson, NAC

  7 “a sad occasion. . .” Untitled fragment, WLM Collection, NLS, DEP 357, No. 38

  8 “I very much. . .” M. Forbes Mackay, undated letter, NLS

  9 The Mamen brothers. . . Mrs. RMA, “Re: Translation of Mamen Diary,” June 19, 1930, NLS

  10 “I will do . . .” Valborg Mamen, letter to Mrs. RMA, November 10, 1925, NLS

  11 “Ellen, has had. . .” Valborg Mamen, letter to Mrs. RMA, November 10, 1925, NLS

  12 “The said death. . .” “Re. The Goods of George Breddy, Deceased,” Affidavit of W.L. McKinlay, November 5, 1923, NLS

  13 “Another member of. . .” Mrs. RMA, 1922 Memorandum, NLS

  14 “Over the years. . .” WLM, letter to John Raffles Cox, May 3, 1975, NLS

  15 “blankety blank liar”Mrs. RMA, letter to WLM, February 9, 1922, NLS

  16 “I think he. . .” Letter from Jim Lotz to WLM, June 5, 1977, NLS

  17 “I want to. . .” WLM, letter to Mrs. Cook, January 14, 1977, NLS

  18 “As far as. . .” WLM, Karluk, 2nd draft, Part 1B, p. 363, NAC

  19 “that a commissioner. . .” Unidentified newspaper clipping

  20 “no good could. . .” Charles Camsell, Deputy Minister of Canada, June 8, 1923, NAC

  21 “She’s all I’ve. . .” The New York Times, “The Far Horizon,” June 22, 1938

  22 In the years. . . Horwood, Bartlett: The Great Canadian Explorer, p. 114

  23 “McKinlay is a. . .” RAB, letter to Dr. W.S. Bruce, November 12, 1914

  24 “Speaking of heroes. . .” WLM Collection, NLS, DEP 357, No. 25

  25 “When I die. . .” Times Herald, “Bartlett Here for lecture,” January 6, 1940

  26 “I owe that. . .” WLM, bookflap of Karluk: The Great Untold Story of Arctic Exploration

  27 “My writing, I. . .” WLM, letter to Richard Diubaldo, February 1974, NLS

  EPILOGUE

  1 “I am not . . .” The Daily Colonist, October 14, 1924

  2 “All seem to . . .”The Daily Colonist, October 14, 1924

  Maps

  William McKinlay’s plan of the lower deck of the Karluk.

  Plan of Shipwreck Camp, drawn by William McKinlay at Captain Bartlett’s request.

  A tracing of Mamen’s detailed pencil sketch of Wrangel Island.

  Photo and Map Credits

  The author makes grateful acknowledgment to the following for permission to reprint photographs:

  BC Archives: D-09078 (cover photograph), 3 (G-07484)

  National Archives of Canada: 1 (C-018139), 2 (PA-074063), 4 (C-086412), 5 (PA-203456), 6 (PA-203452), 7 (PA-105125), 8 (PA-074058), 9 (C-070806), 10 (PA-074053), 11 (PA-203453), 12 (PA-074047), 13 (PA-074041), 14 (C-086406), 15 (PA-203460), 16 (PA-074059), 17 (C-071058), 19 (PA-074035), 20 (C-070808), 23 (C-071039), 24 (C-071032), 25 (C-071035), 26 (C-071034), 27 (C-071050), 28 (C-071045), 29 (C-071023), 31 (C-071020), 32 (PA-074084), 33 (PA-074074), 34 (PA-203447), 36 (Lomen Bros., Nome/PA-105130), 37 (C-025961)

  National Library of Scotland: 18, 21, 22, 30, 35 (Lomen Bros., Nome/NLS)

  Grateful acknowledgment is also made to Bowdoin College Library (The Robert A. Bartlett Papers, Special Collections & Archives) for permission to print a tracing of Bjarne Mamen’s map of Wrangel Island which appears on page 397; and to Nancy Scott and the National Library of Scotland (Correspondence and Papers of William Laird McKinlay, DEP 357) for McKinlay’s plans of the Karluk and Shipwreck Camp on pages 395 and 396.

  Acknowledgments

  I could not have written this book alone. Nor did I.

  First and foremost, I want to thank Captain Robert Bartlett and the people of the Karluk for letting me tell their story. And I am grateful to William McKinlay for leaving me such a priceless legacy and for sharing his obsession in the materials he left behind.

  There are three people without whom I could not have written this book. The journey would have been much less fulfilling had they not shared it with me. I thank my mother and fellow writer, Penelope Niven, for unconditional love, friendship, and endless support and for teaching me from childhood that anything is possible. I thank my father, Jack F. McJunkin, Jr., an artist himself, for bestowing on me a passion for truth, beauty, and all things adventurous. I thank John Hreno, III, for making the fairy tale come true every day, for being there for me in every way, and for giving me the greatest happiness.

  I am lucky to have an incredible, amazing literary agent, John Ware, without whom none of this would have happened. E
normous thanks to him, as well as to my fabulous film agent, Martin Shapiro, and the splendid Carole Blake.

  Tremendous gratitude goes to my superb editor Will Schwalbe, who has been absolutely wonderful to work with and who has helped make this experience such a positive one. Thanks also to Mark Chait, his top-notch assistant, and the wonderful team at Hyperion for their terrific work—Bob Miller, Martha Levin, Ellen Archer, Michael Burkin, Jane Comins, Phil Rose, April Fleming, and Breene Wesson. With them, The Ice Master has found a marvelous home.

  The Ice Master also found a marvelous home at Macmillan of London. Thanks to my sensational editor there, Georgina Morley, who has been such a delightful force, and her sterling assistant Stef Bierwerth. And to the entire outstanding Macmillan group—Ian Chapman, Jeremy Trevathan, Katie James, Caroline Turner, and Lisa Cropman—for everything.

  I was fortunate to find the last remaining survivor of the Karluk—Mugpi. I owe her a special tribute for all she endured in 1913–1914, and all she has contributed here. I also thank her daughter, Emily Wilson, for her patience and time, as well as the other descendants of the Karluk’s men, who have become a sort of family to me over the past two years—a family I am honored to be a part of. McKinlay’s daughter, Nancy Scott, has been extraordinary, and endlessly generous in sharing the world of her father with me. She freely opened her home and McKinlay’s life to me. And I want, too, to thank her “other Jennifer,” McKinlay’s granddaughter Jennifer Byrd, for sharing her own insights.

  It was the wish of Bjarne Mamen’s mother that his diary and personal papers never be published in full. Yet Jens Anker and Sonja Carling, both relatives of Bjarne Mamen, have been kind enough to share with me what they could, while still respecting the wishes that were expressed long ago. Sandy Anderson’s great-nephew, Peter Anderson, has likewise been generous and forthcoming with his uncle’s materials. And Stuart Jenness, son of Southern Party anthropologist Diamond Jenness, has been a kindred soul and supporter from the beginning of this project. He has been a great resource and has offered indispensable information.

  As I embarked on my research for the book, I was warned that the work would not always go smoothly. However, I never experienced anything but the utmost support and assistance from the following institutions and their skilled personnel: The British Columbia Archives (with special thanks to Michael Carter and Kelly Nolin); the Maritime Museum of British Columbia (special thanks to Lynn Wright); the National Archives of Canada (where Marcel Barriault, Marc Bisaillon, Hector Sanscartier, Michel Poitras, Jean Matheson, Larry McNally, Jim F. Kidd, Sere St-Denis, and David Samson were particularly helpful); the National Library of Scotland (thank you Colm McLaughlin, Karen Moran, Irene Danks, and Sally Harrower); Bowdoin College in Maine (with appreciation to Richard Lindemann, Jennifer C. Fradenburgh, Kathryn B. Donahue, Susan Burroughs, and Sean Monahan); Dartmouth College Library (Philip N. Cronenwett); and the Explorer’s Club (Janet E. Baldwin).