John Franklin began his naval career at an early age. Born in 1786, he went to sea at twelve, then entered the Navy at fifteen. He participated in the battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar, and was wounded in the battle of New Orleans. Franklin had an easygoing, almost dull, but amiable personality, somewhat at odds with the harsh disciplinary measures employed in the service - the naval practice of flogging to maintain discipline caused him personal distress. At the same time he was ambitious. In hopes of advancing his naval career, he had volunteered as second-in-command of a Polar expedition in 1818. The reason the expedition was even attempted was an erroneous assumption about climactic conditions at the Pole. In 1818 some in the British Admiralty were convinced that the area in the vicinity of the North Pole was free of ice. The permanent Polar ice pack encountered by ships venturing north of Greenland was, it was believed, just a barrier to the open water surrounding the Pole. Captain David Buchan was in charge of the expedition. The Spitsbergen Islands, north of Norway, served as the starting point for Buchan's two ships, which sailed in the spring of 1818. Ice and storms nearly destroyed the wooden ships and the expedition was back in England in October.
John Franklin became an Arctic hero in 1821, simply by surviving a journey in the Canadian Arctic, which killed eleven men. While Franklin had displayed a great deal of courage in leading the expedition, his inexperience and bad judgment had contributed to the difficulties the party encountered. Franklin's account of the expedition included stories of murder, cannibalism, and starvation - all the elements of adventure and heroic struggle the British public looked for. The problems Franklin's own leadership had caused were overlooked - and the lessons which could have been learned from the party were lost. (One of the command problems stemmed from the Naval practice of having enlisted men do nearly all the heavy hauling while officers would stand by and give orders.)
Survival in the Canadian wilderness requires different skills than those gained on board a ship. Yet, because Franklin had served in the 1818 Polar voyage, he was considered experienced enough to be given a command of his own in 1819. His orders were to explore and map the lands above the Arctic Circle in what is now the Canadian Northwest Territories above Saskatchewan and Alberta. The attitude of the British Admiralty was a source of some of the problems which visited the expedition. Publicly, The Admiralty's public commitment to be first in matters of Arctic exploration contrasted with the underlying reality. While the Admiralty argued that England should be first, there was an unwillingness to make a serious commitment to discovery. Trying to save money, the Navy provided only for minimal equipment and supplies. Franklin, for his part, was too inexperienced to realize that the equipment and supply allowances were inadequate for the task assigned. He nevertheless set off in May 1819, determined to accomplish his assignment.
His ultimate goal was to reach the mouth of the Coppermine River and explore along the Arctic coast north of the Arctic Circle. Starting from York Factory, on the Manitoba side of Hudson Bay, he traveled west to Lake Athabasca, in Saskatchewan, reaching the lake in March 1820. In July 1820 Franklin and fifteen men headed north to Fort Providence on Great Slave Lake. In August 1820 the party was 250 miles north of Fort Providence and set up winter quarters. The winter months were used to shuttle supplies. In June 1821, the party once more headed north along the Coppermine River. The journey proved a difficult one and even where game could be found, the party of twenty was simply too large for the hunters to feed. Franklin, intent on his goal of discovering the North West Passage, failed to comprehend the very real danger the party was in. In August, though short of supplies, Franklin hesitated before ordering the party to turn back.
The party's food supply began to give out as they traveled south - they were forced to eat old shoes. It was decided to split up. On October 4, one group, under George Back, one of the mapmakers, left in hopes of finding the group of Indians who had earlier supplied the party with food. On October 6, Robert Hood, one of the expedition's mapmakers, was too weak too continue. Dr. Richardson and another member, John Hepburn, stayed with Hood, while Franklin and the others went on. Four members of Franklin's group found the journey too difficult and tried to return to Richardson's encampment. The only one to make it to Richardson's camp was Michel Teroahauté, an Iroquois. Michel seemed to have saved the party when he brought in some fresh meat - except that the meat had a peculiar taste. Richardson became convinced that the meat was that of one of the three men who had disappeared. Michel seemed to become more hostile in the days that followed. One Sunday, when Richardson and Hepburn were away from camp in search of food, Michel was left alone in camp with Hood. A shot was heard and Hood was found dead, a bullet in his head. Michel claimed it had been a suicide, but Richardson was certain Hood had been murdered. With Hood dead, Richardson, Hepburn, and Michel broke camp on October 23, in hopes of finding either Franklin or the other group. While the three headed out together, Richardson was convinced that Michel would now try to kill them. Richardson waited for his chance. They stopped to rest that afternoon and Michel went out in search of food. When he returned Richardson shot him. Richardson and Hepburn reached Franklin at Fort Enterprise, on October 29. Franklin was almost dead, as were three companions. On November 1, one, in fact died. The survivors were close to rescue however. George Back had managed to find the Indians and on November 7, 1821 they reached Franklin.
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