Following his return to England in October 1822, Franklin wrote an account of the journey. He earned fame as "the man who ate his shoes," plus six hundred pounds in royalties from his account of the expedition. Despite the hardships Franklin had not lost interest in the Arctic. In 1825 he was given command of another expedition. So keen was his interest in the North, that he was willing to leave even while his wife was dying of tuberculosis. The voyage sailed on February 16, 1825 and his wife died six days later. Fortunately for his party, not all the lessons of the first expedition had been lost on him. This time Franklin made sure there was plenty of food. The birchbark canoes, which had proved too flimsy during the first expedition, were replaced by mahogany and ash boats - light enough to carry, but strong enough to withstand the rough sea conditions encountered in the Arctic.
Franklin's second expedition, like the first, originated at Great Slave Lake. Instead of following the Coppermine River however, Franklin's expedition went northwest, down the Mackenzie. So fast was this journey by river, that he reached the Mackenzie's mouth on the Beaufort Sea on August 16, 1825. The party then turned around, traveling along the Mackenzie and wintered on Great Bear Lake. In June 1826 Franklin once more traveled the Mackenzie to its mouth. The expedition split into two groups. One group, under Franklin, explored along the northern coast of Alaska; the other group, under Dr. John Richardson, was to explore east to the Coppermine River. Franklin had hoped to rendezvous with a British ship off the coast of Alaska. By mid-August he was only half-way to his goal, but signs of approaching winter convinced him to begin the return journey. He reached Great Bear Lake in September, having put some 2,048 miles behind him. The party had had to endure storms and rough seas, but had otherwise fared well. This time there were no fatalities.
| [Home] | [Radio] | [Releases] | [Franklin] | [First Expedition] | [Second Expedition] | [Last Expedition] | [Search] |