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This is, perhaps, the most haunting tale surrounding the lost expedition: this message was in a letter left in 1847 on King William Island, and its contents hinted nothing, of course, of what was to come for the unfortunate crew.

If, last year, you watched the first season of AMC’s The Terror, then you have an idea of what this post is about: an exhibit about the mysterious fate of 1845’s vanished Franklin Expedition, the most infamous of Britain’s attempts to find the Northwest Passage.

DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION exhibit was at Mystic Seaport from December, 2018 through the end of April, 2019. It landed in the Collins Gallery of the Thompson Exhibition Building after a stint up at the Canadian Museum of History.

This is below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan. While this has nothing to do with DEATH IN THE ICE, parts of it looked so much like below decks on THE TERROR or THE EREBUS–as shown in the AMC TV series–that it felt almost like I was on a theatrical set and not the real thing. But make no mistake: real people spent months at sea, sleeping in this tiny bunk.

These doors lead to quarters below deck on the Charles W. Morgan. Again, doesn’t have anything to do with the Franklin Expedition–only that the set for the AMC series had exactly the same doors in some places.

This is below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, which was built in 1841–just four years prior to the Franklin Expedition’s fateful voyage. This is an area, according to the interpretive signage, where whale catch was processed.

This is a lamp that burns in the sleeping quarters, so that visitors can see just how dark it really was below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan.

The rigging of the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, flagship of Mystic Seaport.

The bow of the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, flagship of Mystic Seaport.

Mystic Seaport’s Treworgy Planetarium, which presented a special show, “Polar Night, Arctic Light” as a companion to the DEATH IN THE ICE exhibit. The hour-long program explored the night sky from the perspective of King William Island, where the wrecks were found, so that visitors could see what the Franklin Expedition’s men may have seen.

Me on the steps of Mystic Seaport’s Treworgy Planetarium, which presented a special show, “Polar Night, Arctic Light” as a companion to the DEATH IN THE ICE exhibit. The hour-long program explored the night sky from the perspective of King William Island, where the wrecks were found, so that visitors could see what the Franklin Expedition’s men may have seen.

For those of you who don’t know, the NP was a fabled shortcut from Europe to Asia—something, if found, that would’ve saved time and money, as the current trade routes took months (and, initially, in the fifteenth century, the over-land routes were controlled by the Ottoman Empire).

There were several attempts to find the NP, and ultimately, it wasn’t navigated until 1906. While the passage had been found, the fact that the Franklin Expedition—which consisted of 129 men on The Terror and The Erebus—had not haunted generations of researchers and explorers.

The exhibit was housed in the Seaport’s Thompson Exhibition Building.

Inuit knowledge was ultimately the key to locating the lost Franklin Expedition. One of the things that’s especially interesting about that? The stories the Inuits passed down had to be accurate in terms of where things were located, because without that accuracy, hunting vital to survival couldn’t be carried out.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this story is how the men lived on the ice.

From this letter excerpt, it doesn’t seem at all as though the men were suffering too greatly.

One of the newest technologies of the time was canned food. It has been thought that lead in the cans may have contributed to the sailors’ demise.

These items were found at what the Inuit called “The Boat Place.” It is certain they belonged to Franklin’s doomed crew.

These plates were actually on the HMS Erebus and were recovered from the wreck. They have been EXACTLY replicated for AMC’s THE TERROR television series (just watch the first dining scene in Episode 1 and you’ll see them). These particular artifacts feature scratch marks from cutlery.

These plates were actually on the HMS EREBUS and were recovered from the wreck. They have been EXACTLY replicated for AMC’s THE TERROR television series (just watch the first dining scene in Episode 1 and you’ll see them). These particular artifacts feature scratch marks from cutlery.

In 2014 and 2016, Parks Canada discovered The Erebus and The Terror, respectively—and it was the body of Inuit traditional knowledge, which had been passed down for decades, that defined the search area and eventually resulted in success.

I read this and all I could think of was ‘WTF—didn’t these guys read ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’?

The hulls of both ships were outfitted with iron plates to help them “cut” through the ice.

This interpretive material outlines alterations to prepare the expedition’s ships for travel.

Although researchers have a much better picture of how the tragedy unfolded, the solving of the mystery—of what actually happened during those frightening and arduous three years—is still underway. Now that the wrecks have been found, there is even more evidence to be studied (prior to this groundbreaking discovery, there had been some artifacts and three graves discovered on Beechey Island).

Examining the mummies on Beechey Island gave scientists an opportunity to consider factors which may have contributed to the sailors’ demise.

I was about to enter the portion of the exhibit that talks about the discoveries of human remains on Beechey Island.

In the 1980s, three graves were discovered on Beechey Island. In each was a man from the Franklin Expedition. Due to the environmental conditions, the bodies were mummified.

In the 1980s, three graves were discovered on Beechey Island. The remarkably preserved mummies revealed much information and spawned several theories about the seamen’s final fate.

Simulation of the cemetery on Beechey Island. There is a fourth grave there also, but it is thought to belong to a later expedition that had actually been sent out in search of the original Franklin Expedition.

This is a simulation of the grave of John Torrington, found on Beechey Island.

Simulation of John Hartnell grave on Beechey Island.

Simulation of William Braine grave at Beechey Island.

In the meantime, however, some of the artifacts have been curated and can be seen in various museums and collections. Recently, the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut hosted DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION.

A recreation of what some of the uncovered artifacts looked like before they were unearthed.

A model of the EREBUS on the bottom of the sea.

The bell from the HMS EREBUS. I believe this is one of the first items that was brought to the surface.

I was fortunate enough to visit (since scary sea mysteries have long been a part of my childhood thanks to my dad, this was a MUST SEE no matter what I had to do to get there). The exhibit was open this past winter.

It turns out that the TERROR bombed Stonington, Connecticut, during the War of 1812.

I’ve included some resources for further reading on the Franklin Expedition. If you are a big reader, there are many well-written books on the subject. I’ve listed one here I read that I liked, but don’t be shy about searching through the list of titles online for more.

ARTICLES

Parks Canada: The Franklin Expedition https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/franklin

National Geographic: “How the Discovery of Two Lost Ships Solved an Arctic Mystery,” by Simon Worrall, April 16, 2017

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/franklin-expedition-ship-watson-ice-ghosts/

Horror Fuel: “All That’s Left: The Only Remains of the Franklin’s Lost Expedition,” by Daniel S. Liuzzi, January 21, 2018 http://horrorfuel.com/2018/01/21/thats-left-remains-franklins-lost-expedition/

Amusing Planet: “Beechey Island and Franklin’s Lost Expedition,” by Kaushik https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/04/beechey-island-and-franklins-lost.html

BOOKS

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition, by Paul Watson https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393249387/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Hq4cDbEPYKTB4

Death in the Ice: The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition (Souvenir Catalogue series), by Karen Ryan

This is a catalogue of the artifacts in the Death in the Ice exhibit, which was at the Anchorage museum before arriving at Mystic. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0660078813/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_da5cDbB8GYF8T

VIDEO

Buried in Ice: The Franklin Expedition (1988) https://youtu.be/41ajloClO7U

Timeline: The Search for the Northwest Passage https://youtu.be/M1I79u5Y9n4

Revealed: Franklin’s Lost Expedition (2005) https://youtu.be/Wg9Z3EyJ5DU

Secret History: The Hunt for the Arctic Ghost Ship (2015) https://youtu.be/CAQusg8U4EQ

I’ll answer this question before it’s asked: AMC’s The Terror is based on Dan Simmons’ novel of the same name, which I found disappointing on a number of levels. I recommend spending ten hours on the series instead.

AMC’s The Terror

On Demand on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07BDQK1VV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_pv_wb_9oh0UgMilOViM

Blu-Ray/DVD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DKSPGP4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_.x7cDb3FF8JM5

A look back at DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION If, last year, you watched the first season of AMC’s The Terror, then you have an idea of what this post is about: an exhibit about the mysterious fate of 1845’s vanished Franklin Expedition, the most infamous of Britain’s attempts to find the Northwest Passage.