Existing comment:
Elisha Kent Kane, 1820-1857
In the 1850s, Elisha Kent Kane's two daring missions in search of missing British explorer Sir John Franklin were the first American-led Arctic expeditions. During Kane's second Arctic voyage in 1853, heavy ice trapped his ship. Icebound for a harrowing twenty-one-month period, Kane conducted geographical and meteorological surveys and developed a trade relationship with the region's Etah Inuit. After safely leading his party overland to Greenland in the fall of 1855, Kane returned to a hero's welcome in the United States. The published account of his expedition inspired future explorers and set an example for Arctic exploration and research.
Unidentified photographer, c 1855 |