Hey everyone! There's a big surprise at the end of the video, so make sure to listen to the outro! Also, I'm a huge fan of historic polar expeditions and this is one that I knew of but had never really looked at in depth. It's much crazier than I realized. Have a great Sunday!
Well it’s about damn time Sean!! I’ve been thinking and saying it all along. I’ve been a subscriber since you were at the 4000 mark so I’ve been thinking it for a while now. Best of luck to you!! On your way to the one million!!
You GOTTA watch The Terror (season 1)! Its a drama/thriller about this expedition. Its got a bit of supernatural to spice things up, though without it it would have been fine. Its a great series!
Crossing the Arctic in a passenger jet for the first time I was amazed by how cold, desolate and barren it appeared and it took hours to cross. I can't imagine the bravery or possibly insanity of people actually signing up to cross it back in the era of wooden ships.
Absolutely dude, even from that height it's still mind boggling. Around 12 years ago I was part of a far North "itinerant" court as a young criminal defense attorney (and also had to doubled as a marital civil law attorney). It's goal was to serve many of the most remote far North communities of Quebec (Canada). It involved traveling to via small prop planes and passenger sleds (etc.) from places like Ivujivik (it's just before it becomes Nunavut territory) to the Kangiqsualujjuaq area. To give you an idea it's all around the 60th parallel. It's a bit complicated since not all places are reachable all year long, so the trajectory can be a bit erratic. And I'm still as pissed as I was when I saw how unethical some stuff were (one prosecutor with one judge in particular, but they were out the next year). I still loved the experience and so went for a second year back to back, and with the stenographer (future ex wife) and a local friend, we went to a place called "Alert" in Nunavut after the mandate, instead of returning with the main group back South. I don't know if it's still the case, but back then it was the northernmost continuously inhabited place on Earth (to situate yourself, it's almost parallel to northernmost tip of it Greenland, but a bit to the West of there basically). Stayed there another 10 months after both left, and each morning I was told what manual and/or administratif labor I'd be the most helpful at. It was... IDK. Unique. It put stuff into perspective to say the least. Remote villages in Alaska are overpopulated oases in comparison lol :P
I really enjoy these stories. They are such great reminders to: never go mountain climbing, never go scuba diving, stay out of blue holes, stay out of caves, don't get drunk on cruise ships, don't jump off of cruise ships, don't go hiking alone, don't get into any situation where the "outside" pressure is different than 1 atmosphere, stay below 8000 meters, stay off the open ocean, stay well south of the arctic, and stay well north of the antarctic.
Yup there's a reason humans feel the emotion of fear. It's because fear protects us from endangering our lives by putting us in situations and environments inhospitable to human survival.
It's sad that one of the greatest Arctic explorers of the Victorian era is mentioned only in passing, despite the fact that he not only discovered the first physical evidence of the lost expedition but also connected the final segment of the fabled Northwest Passage. Dr. John Rae was vilified by no less a literary icon than Charles Dickens after his private report to the Admiralty was published, telling the tale of cannibalism amongst the survivors. He was the only Arctic explorer never to receive a knighthood in part because of Lady Franklin's smear campaign that started with the allegations of cannibal behavior. His name lives on with several Arctic map features such as Rae Strait, Rae River and the Rae Isthmus.
If you are interested in a good read about Rae the Ken McGoogan book "Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero that Time Forgot" is an excellent book.
Don't hold the English public accountable. Though modern society has diminished it as little more than a footnote, cannibalism was seen on the same level as incest in terms of taboos. Both could be accredited to a means of survival but both were acts that "stained" ones impression of the self. Abhorrent, simply put.
@@spencershaw4419he is insinuating that Dr. Rae wasn't credited and acknowledged due to him being connected with the thought of being a cannibalist. He then compare cannibalism to incest to point out that they are essentially greatly looked down upon and shunned. So basically he is saying incest/cannibalism were basically seen as one in the same at the time period. And dr.rae wasn't credited because his name was attached to the thought of cannibalism
I was also there at this time, and i can confirm this. Obviously only people who were around at the the time can comment on this. The local natives definitely had everything right, and they knew the entire time.
"Oh the poor men! Scattered upon the ice!! Where shall we even begin to look?!!!" Inuit: "Oh. They're over there. We saw 'em yesterday." "OH HOW WILL WE EVER FIND OUR MEN IT IS TRULY A MYSTERY!"
Racism is a hell of a drug! Also, I don't fault the Inuit of the time for having to leave the men. It was the middle of winter, their food stores were tight every year no matter what, and odds are good the Franklin crew weren't down to eat raw meat after their "superior" storage method of canning their rations had backfired (and as Sean mentioned, the whole botulism situation was a thing). It's definitely a shame it had to come to that, though.
@@forallthestupidshit3550the Inuit had told explorers like John Rae that the men had attempted to walk out and in the end had been forced to resort to cannibalism. This was disbelieved, and when it was finally acknowledged the men were dead it was thought more likely the Inuit had killed and ate them themselves. Nowadays we know the Inuit were correct-the large party fro m Terror, who they met around 1849-50 under the command of crozier at Washington bay, was in the end forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead ( though crozier apparently did not and was extremely weak when he and the last 3 survivors of this group were met with by another Inuit band later).
@@gabrielbruce1977 All those people claiming cannibalism was "abhorrent" would have munched down on some human bones themselves if put into that same type of desperate situation. Really hate the arrogant nature of humanity.
19th century is so fascinating. All the technological achievements, all the geographical discoveries, wars, disasters, literature, medical advancements, the invention of photography... So much in just 100 years.
'The Terror' by Dan Simmons is a fictional retelling of this lost expedition with some sci-fi elements blended in. It is an amazing book, one of my favorites.
I know of the Scottish surgeon, John Rae from the Orkney Islands. His reputation was destroyed thanks to Lady Franklin and her having Dickinson write those slander accounts on him when he reported the accounts and remains. Mercifully, the guy finally got recognition for his work and the Navy cut the guy slack so he's been memorialized in the islands plus in Westminster Abby a memorial was raised for him.
He really was a remarkable man. Learned about him through the documentary Ray Mears did on his life and involvement with the search for Franklin. He's generally regarded as the first Western explorer to give proper credence to Inuit techniques on survival in the high Arctic and spoke very highly of them in his writing. After learning about him he's become one of my personal heroes.
Aye he’s buried at St Magnus in Kirkwall, visited St Magnus and paid my respects to Doctor Rae when visiting (mainland Highlander), he was a truly remarkable man!
Sadly it wasn't unusual for historical expeditions to focus on entirely the wrong priorities. If you're watching this type of content I'm sure you'll be aware of the disastrous Darien Scheme - the incredibly ill conceived attempt at Scottish colonialism. You should have a look at what was taken on that expedition, bearing in mind that the Darien Gap is in Panama. A few highlights include heavy woolen clothes, wigs, large pieces of furniture and musical instruments, though there's much more besides. I've got no idea what these people were thinking they'd encounter, but they got it disastrously wrong, and there's a strong case to argue that Scotland is still paying the price.
@@ianmacfarlane1241 After the abandonment of the Erebus and the death of Franklin, my understanding is that the remaining men who traveled south towed at least one lifeboat including Franklin's desk from the ship. Dumb priorities.
These early explorers were built different man. You gotta be a special kind of human to hop on a ship in 1845 and head into an unknown arctic wasteland. Even with today's ships and technology this would still be an insane experience.
And then to imagine that the very last survivors may have made it on foot until 1852-1858, hundreds of kilometers and 2-8 years after abandoning the ships...
There’s one scene that sticks with me when I watched “The Terror”. That officer yelling “Forward Men!!!”. And they start pulling the boats. Going into certain death.
@@jedibrooks7235 Or more accurately the psycho that killed him and stole his identity. Which was a lot easier to do back then because unlike today they couldn't just type a name on a computer and get a picture.
I still remember crossing the very southern tip of Greenland coming back to America from Israel as a child, in a passenger airliner. The screen on the back of the seat in front of me showed our plane and where it was on our route map. I remember sitting there checking the screen and waiting for what felt like hours and looking out my window to see a vast expance of white snow and rocky peaks. It was like hell frozen over and gorgeous at the same time. Never in my life had I seen something so alien, and this white expanse truly seemed endless in every direction below us. I was terrified of our plane going down out there, knowing rescue would seemingly be impossible. I also thought about the first explorers of the region and what they must have felt. Like I said, we were barely scraping the southern-most tip of greenland on the route map. I could never have imagined what it could have been like farther north.
I've always had a morbid curiosity for mummies, the franklin expedition's frozen mummies always stuck in my mind for how well preserved and disturbing they looked. I never knew their full story so when i saw this it piqued my interest. Thanks for this!
I'm an Inuk from Coral Harbour, though I'm currently working in Cambridge Bay this week. I've been enjoying this channel for the cave diving stories which stress me out in a good way. Love that you covered the Franklin expedition as that just up the coast from me at the moment. It was a major step of progress to have Inuit oral accounts believed by the southerners. Oral tradition has always been the main way of intergenerational knowledge transfer and our culture values maintaining careful accuracy when conveying information. In the traditional context, accurate information would often be the difference between life and death and misleading someone out there could easily put their death on your soul.
This story fascinates me more than any other in our vast history. I grew up in a fishing family in washington and started working on boats in Alaska when i was still in highschool. I've seen and experienced some pretty wild stuff. I've been on a flooding boat. I've been charged by grizzlies. Ive seen 200 pound halibut pulled out of the ocean. Ive seen the northern lights. Ive gone two weeks without seeing land. I've experienced constant day and constant night. I could not imagine going through what these men did. Sailors are some of the most superstitious people around. Being apart of a crew can also get very... "dramatic". Being stuck with the same men for months in a confined space can cause tensions to rise. Being trapped in the middle of sea ice for years, with all of the medical problems, the dwindling food and dramatic swings of sunlight.... I can't imagine a single man being able to hold onto their sanity. Now imagine pushing that to the point of cannibalism. I truly believe this is the most insane story of what any humans have gone through. Now add to that the fact that many of these men would've grown up in some British port town never leaving europe until they stepped on to these boats. This story haunts me. It has been burned into my psychie.
As a Canadian, thanks for making this video. I remember being six years old seeing the wax dead bodies from the Franklin Expedition in the Victoria Wax Museum and besides the nightmares, I got really intrigued in the story. A lot of Canadians didn't like Stephen Harper's (our former Prime Minister's) obsession in finding the lost ships but I felt it was important to our history.
@@Rayrard That was kind of the idea, it was in an optional ages 16+ section called "The Chamber of Horrors" which also gory stuff like guillotines and the pit and the pendulum. At the end it had a non-gory display of just the Nazi leadership in their Hugo Boss uniforms to kind of make a point about their own horrors.
I'm Aussie and had similar nightmares in my childhood when my parents gave me a book about it (I loved history books as a child and they probably didn't check the content before giving me the book). The pictures of the ice 'mummies' were utterly terrifying for me given how well the bodies were preserved!
I love the tale of Franklin’s lost expedition. It’s so macabre and not much is known about what actually happened despite it being perhaps the most infamous arctic expedition of all time. My fascination with this expedition will never wane and I hope researchers and historians will be able to uncover more details about what happened in the future
Man you were born to narrate. You told the story so well. And you spoke with so much confidence in your voice. But never came across as arrogant. Can’t wait to watch more of your videos. I love looking into lost ship and tragedy’s of the sea. I wish I didn’t have them to read and everyone lived a happily long life. But the sea holds some great but tragic tales. With this story the most tragic thing was hindsight. They made some big changes for what was assumed for the better. And it is a massive contribution to their demise.
There are some fascinating etchings from the Arctic expeditions. Some look like psychedelic butterflies or veils. The paintings are truly beautiful in this video ❤
Of the two men that reached chesterfield inlet. It's quite unbelievable to imagine the 694 km hike they endured. Whether or not these were Francis Crozier and Alexander McDonald we will probably never know, but braving freezing temperatures, the contsant struggle to find food, risk of dying from that food and constant danger of polar bears just shows a testament to the human will to survive. These men hiked for three years straight but the arctic was just too much
@@MaDrung I don't have the answer but considering the bad situation in regards to the weather, clothing - and most important the food; no wonder they used long time.
@@MaDrungstarvation, malnutrition, illness, hiking through rugged terains with a boat, freezing and exhaustion. Given that they lasted so long they probably also tried hunting for food whenever possible.
@@MaDrung Starvation/lack of steady food supply, being able to only travel far for 1/3rd of the year (fall time they would be getting ready for winter and in winter they'd be busy trying to survive), freezing cold (frostbite causing damage to feet), rugged terrain, and conflict with sub-arctic first nations (there is a testimony that one group of survivors, probably the one the last 2 men were from, had a violent encounter with what appears to have been a more southernly inuit band or Chippewayans).
When the frozen bodies of Torrington and Hartnell were discovered, Beattie's expedition was extremely excited, as you can imagine. Everybody was so engrossed in the process of melting the ice away from the bodies that nobody was paying attention to the dogs barking like crazy. Finally, someone heard the dogs and looked up to see a polar bear! I can't remember if the bear was actually in the camp or very near, but the people that were supposed to be guarding were sent back to guard duty.
Lessons learned from the Franklin expedition helped space exploration (supposedly). The lunar modules and space shuttles used a ridiculously old and simple operating system…..though newer and easier systems existed. But the Franklin expedition showed why you don’t want brand new tech that isn’t fully vetted for isolated, no rescue exploration trips, and why you want old stuff that is fully tested and whose limits and bugs are all understood.
We have a Franklin Expedition exhibit at our nearest city’s museum. It doesn’t have much, but it was an eerie thing to see nonetheless. This story really sticks with you because it’s as creepy as it is fascinating.
It is gripping, as are nearly all cases where a group of people are in a “you might live, but probably you will all die” scenario. Then add the isolation and suffering of the Franklin expedition members….and it’s a compelling story that didn’t really need a half-man, half-bear magic monster to spice things up, as in the recent book and series.
@@Itried20takennames I think with The Terror books and series, you’re absolutely right that it doesn’t need a monster, but it’s a pretty fictional retelling to begin with. I think the creature is actually inspired by Inuit folklore, too, but it’s clearly added in for extra thrill and isn’t necessary. I still really liked the book and the series.
What I've always found morbidly ironic is the names of the ships seamed to pesage the fate of Franklin's expedition. Terror and darkness (Erebus) is what they came on and what they found.
👍A smart and surprising point, Melissa. Yes, and neo-Platonic philosophy would say that the names we choose say something about us. You deserve a 'best comment' award, here.👍
For anyone that wants to see a 'supernatural' dramatisation of the story of Franklin's expedition, I suggest you watch a two season series called appropriately enough, 'The Terror'. It stars Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies as Crozier (pronounced; Cro - zee - ah) and James Fitzjames respectively. It is definitely worth watching. Oh btw, the second season is a Japanese focused horror by Ridley Scott and the imdb page focuses on this season in the trailers but I'm sure there'll be some on youtube somewhere. Tightly acted and scripted, it's a really clever play on what was known of Franklin's expedition and what 'terror' actual form could take.
The first season of that show is actually based on a book with the same name, "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's a great book, I definitely recommend it if you like horror and/or historical fiction.
Awesome job! No idea that the wood from the expedition was used to make the Resolute Desk. Very well done with reporting on this fascinating chapter from history!
This is the best video I have seen on the Franklin. I'm so sick of people saying "no one knows what happened..." but we do, at least more than a massive mystery. I giggled when you said "spare no expense." Sorry I doubted your awesome research abilities. Btw, I've been working on an artwork about Franklin, but got stuck. You've just helped me finish it.
And the Donner Party was stuck for a single winter (the 2nd the Franklin Expedition endured) and people in California at least had an idea where they were.
I've learned almost all there is to learn about this story over the years, but I'm very happy to see this channel covering it. keep up this consistently solid work! one of the beat channels on the whole of UA-cam!
I want to share something I learned about scurvy a while back, that is just by itself a horrifying thing to know. Look at the scars on your body; they seem like a permanent fix for a time you got cut or scraped in some way, right? As it turns out, with lack of vitamin C, your scar tissue dissolves. That's why there's internal bleeding; any time a part of your body got hurt, and healed in the past - whelp, the "healed" tissue no longer exists, now it's an open wound the same as whenever you got it, however long ago you got that wound. I have a giant scar on my leg from when I slipped on gravel while riding my bicycle, and one of the metal parts of the bike straight-up stabbed me. I almost certainly should have had stiches for that, but I was a dumb kid and hid the fact that I got hurt, so the scar is much wider than it should have been. I was 10 when that happened, and my body healed much faster then, then it does now that I am 45. Much later, I had stomach surgery; if the scar tissue there disappears, my stomach opens up and I would die within a day. Of course, scurvy also means that you don't develop any new scar tissue, either, so if you bruise or cut yourself, those wounds are staying with you.
Okay, while true to its essence, there IS just a little more nuance to the condition than that. For one thing, ALL scar tissue "fades" over time, and the scars, themselves shrink away as our body ROUTINELY grows entirely new and healthy tissues. There's an old bit of medical "wit" (because it's not 100% true either) that you're body is brand new about every 7 or 8 years... BUT different tissues and parts get a little different access to blood-flow and thereby nutrients and materials to do the repairs and rebuilds... SO yeah, it's not that scurvy isn't egregious to suffer, but even with monumental old scars as described here, it'll be bad, but not necessarily an instant death sentence. For another part, malnutrition and the accompanying conditions are slow to onset, because your body is hardwired to preserve itself. All the earliest ancestors that didn't adopt that hardwiring apparatus genetically died out, so it won't be any other way. While we don't fully understand the mechanics, we DO understand that it DOES work out. As some of the tissues "die", they are also cannibalized by the living systems and tissues, AND your body WILL set certain priorities... trying as desperately in the various parts to keep surviving as you do as a whole being. Again, still more a cold comfort than exactly any reassurance, because if it gets "just that bad" scurvy really IS one of the worst ways you can possibly string out a slow, torturous death when you can't really do any damn thing to change your fate... BUT most cases in recent times (and there HAVE been cases) are relatively minor, finding causes more in ignorance or oversight than in the desperation of a legitimately resource-poor situation. It's also one of the EASIEST AND CHEAPEST such conditions to treat effectively. Return to reasonably healthy diet, and you're cured as quickly as your body starts making use of the Vitamin C... SO there's still never a need to lose hope. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 I guess I should have been more clear that yes, scurvy doesn't just hit you in a day. I meant specifically when you're to the stage where you're bleeding, that's because of dissolved scar tissue - that fact alone is terrifying to me. I also routinely look up what foraged plants contain vitamin C, in case I'm ever in a dire state of deprivation, I'll AT LEAST not get scurvy, lol.
@@cambiata Meh... The actual worry for scurvy most of the time is fleeting. I just thought it was opportune for an addendum. I don't know how much anyone would really misconstrue your original, but it's easily assumed that once you're diagnosable, it's almost "all over"... and that's not really how it works on a lot of even the worst conditions. AND not for nothing, learning a little about foraging and edible wild plants is a pretty great idea. Among the most recent cases of scurvy and a few other conditions, someone in the mass food packaging industry just screwed up the math or chemistry and nobody noticed... OR some folks got TOO rigid in their "fad dieting". A little foraging for higher iron can help anemia, B's are always a benefit, and of course C is damn nearly everywhere there's fruit... simple, effective, and when foraged, it can be FREE (which just doesn't get any better)... haha ;o)
Even when i know the story well, I enjoy your videos covering those stories. I've always been fascinated by The Franklin Expedition and will watch any documentary, long or short, telling the story. The same with the Ernest Shackleton story. There's just something about the Polar regions explorations of old that i find endlessly fascinating. As always, great video about a great subject. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos for us.
Thank you for yet another interesting episode. Those poor men. Disaster at every turn,. And I'm pleased you've produced podcasts so I can listen while out walking.
Canadian here. There is a awesome old folk song by stan rogers called northwest passage that you will all enjoy. Better yet an amazing band out of Vancouver did a cover of it . Unleash the archers is the band . You will all enjoy there version of the song its amazing 👏 cheers from Saskatchewan 🇨🇦
Aye! Barrett's Privateers is another beautiful one. The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald is from a different artist, but definitely good stuff. Then there's The Log Driver's Waltz and Blackflies, not naval songs but very Canadian indeed.
Yeah ! What an absolute banger it is ! (Both Rogers and UtA cover) It's actually the reason I watched this video, I was like, wait, that Franklin? Both Stan and Nathan Rogers makes me proud to be a canadian, even though I never set foot in Canada and that I don't recall ever having a canadian in my bloodline... So be proud my good lad to be a canadian, because I sure am jealous of you and your beautiful land Signed, a french lad that should probably go to sleep
John Ross's expedition got stuck out there for four years as well (1829-33), though in their case almost everybody survived since they traded with the local Inuit community. Getting stuck in the ice over the winter months was pretty much standard for arctic exploration and you had to assume it was going to happen sooner or later.
I remember reading about this expedition years ago practicing for an entrance exam, never did I imagine it would be fully expanded upon by one of my favorite channels. It's nice getting to fill in the gaps that passage left behind with the details of this video.
Awesome episode! And can’t wait for your podcast. I love your channel, especially learning about historical stories like this one that we aren’t taught in American or World history in the US. Thank you for all your hard work!
Sailors back in the day were some fucken brave souls, between these expeditions and the whale ships going to some truly inhospitable and remote areas aboard a wooden deathtrap i couldnt imagine anything worse
So proud of you made you're doing so well and giving so many people entertainment and insight to unique aspects of this world and humanity and science. I'm all the way in Australia and whenever I'm going on my 3-4 our drives to skiing or rock climbing or camping I'm always listening to your newest release and so I'm very excited that there is a podcast version where you will be able to make even more content. so thank you
Oh man I've been looking for a new podcast too! Really excited for when it launches! It's also really crazy hearing about such expeditions and how difficult they were. I really hope they find new info for the history books.
This is definitely your best video of the ones I've watched so far (started with the oldest uploads.) You are great at explaining what happened and laying out the facts and theories, providing just enough detail to keep watchers engaged while remained incredibly consise. This subject is absolutely fascinating as well and you told the story well.
Great job again. I’m excited for the podcast. I hope you keep doing videos for the stories bc I enjoy trying to visualize being there. Love your channel.
Oh! Good timing! I just watched “The Terror” on prime video. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Fantastic show starring Jared Harris (guy from Chernobyl). The show has these horror moments, it’s SO thrilling! I binge’d it last week. It actually feels very like the show “Chernobyl”, so if you liked that, you’ll love “The Terror”.
New subscriber from this. I watched a show on PBS in the 80s with my dad about the Franklin Expedition where they showed the famous ice mummies. I was young so it was particularly gruesome but fascinating. As a ship nerd already because of the relatively recent discovery of Titanic, I was drawn to the story of Franklin and many others. One of the first non-fiction books I absorbed like a sponge was the story of Shackleton on the other end of the world. This video told me new info. Well done and thanks for sharing.
This expedition fascinated me as a child. I saw images of the mummies in some eyewitness history book in my schools library. I was disturbed; for months I couldn’t use the restroom with the shower curtain closed and I would compulsively flatten my bedsheets out of the irrational fear the mummies would be right there with me. It wouldn’t be until my 20’s I learned of the updates of what happened to these sailors and how they ended up buried in the ice in the first place.
I'd love to know how long it takes to research all the material to create these videos, they're always so interesting and eye opening. Thanks for your hard work!
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, damn. Almost as if the expedition had been cursed. Or doomed from the very start. Great video! There's a miniseries called The Terror and it's absolutely fantastic, one of the best tv shows I've ever seen.
Don’t think it was doomed, just that….risky stuff is risky. The reason we respect explorers, test pilots, etc is due to the potential dangers of going first. Sometimes they succeed, but sometimes they die in the attempt.
There are very few youtube channels that keep my attention until the very end of their videos. Whether it is due to lack of story, repeating story to fill time, unimportant information that doesn't support the main story, or over explanation of simple ideas or happenings. Your videos capture the story, don't over tell, and captivate to the very last second. Well done.
I’ve spent a lot of years in the cold northlands deep in winter. -40c we call Tuesday. Whiteouts can last days with visibility a mere metre. You need a marked rope line to make it from building to building. Without the proper gear and winter war training you won’t last even days in this unforgiving ice world. The cold will take you out faster than a polar bear can pick up your scent 20 kilometres away.
Canning as a science was really just in its infancy then. If they had even slightly better food preservation techniques they might have been just fine. Or even if they had just spent a little more on the best cans available at that time!
@@misterb.s.8745its not even that the tech was so new. Its that the contractor cheaped out and instead of the required 7+ hours at i think 250 degrees he did it for 30ish mins at 212. Then as the deadline got closer he switched to bigger cans meaning a goodly chunk of the food itself was raw in the can as it couldnt fully cook. Pretty bad combination there. And thus you had defacto poisoned rations. Even the lead wasnt that bad (by comparson to the at the time in history standard to be clear by the way) as other samples of everyday people from the time period had simular levels of lead in them. If anything the levels of lead in later bodys was considerably lower then average as they were subsisting off wild game and had far less exposure.
I highly recommend the book The Terror to anyone interested in this story. It has a supernatural horror element added in, but everything is meticulously researched and the characters are really well rendered
Thanks! I loved this video. You should do Shackletons Endurance too. I know the ending differs but the amount of drama and tension would make for a good video.
I did a school project on the Erebus in 5th grade back in 2007 and got points taken away for theorizing cannibalism as a possible reason for there being no survivors and was told "that didn't happen according to news at the time" Here I am 17 years later, screw you Mrs. Hameister I WAS RIGHT!
This was a really cool video/topic it would be cool to see more like it in the future, especially since you state your own interest in arctic expeditions.
This is my all time favorite maritime disaster. If this fascinates you I HIGHLY recommend watching the series “the terror” it is so good it might be my all time favorite series because it shows how hard the men tried to survive even though the chances of survival were slim to none.
I remember reading about this as a wee lad in the far flung colonies of New Zealand during the 1990s, so I was astonished as an adult , by the recent discoveries.
National Geographic had a 1 hour documentary last night (8/24) about the effort to find John Franklin’s grave. Apparently one of the researchers who was in last night’s show saw a structure from the air a few years ago that he thinks is the spot where Franklin is buried. He did not take the geo-coordinates so when they traveled to the approximate spot by land they didn’t find much. This video is a nice complement to the National Geographic show.
Hey everyone! There's a big surprise at the end of the video, so make sure to listen to the outro! Also, I'm a huge fan of historic polar expeditions and this is one that I knew of but had never really looked at in depth. It's much crazier than I realized. Have a great Sunday!
Your loyal fans listen in full. Thanks for making great stuff!
LETS GOOOOO!!!!!!! Can’t wait to listen to the podcast
Well it’s about damn time Sean!! I’ve been thinking and saying it all along. I’ve been a subscriber since you were at the 4000 mark so I’ve been thinking it for a while now. Best of luck to you!! On your way to the one million!!
You GOTTA watch The Terror (season 1)! Its a drama/thriller about this expedition. Its got a bit of supernatural to spice things up, though without it it would have been fine. Its a great series!
OMG I love your content and I love horror podcast so this is such exciting news! Looking forward to it!
Crossing the Arctic in a passenger jet for the first time I was amazed by how cold, desolate and barren it appeared and it took hours to cross. I can't imagine the bravery or possibly insanity of people actually signing up to cross it back in the era of wooden ships.
Probably ignorance, too. I don't think they had any idea how big the area was or how harsh.
Absolutely dude, even from that height it's still mind boggling.
Around 12 years ago I was part of a far North "itinerant" court as a young criminal defense attorney (and also had to doubled as a marital civil law attorney).
It's goal was to serve many of the most remote far North communities of Quebec (Canada).
It involved traveling to via small prop planes and passenger sleds (etc.) from places like Ivujivik (it's just before it becomes Nunavut territory) to the Kangiqsualujjuaq area.
To give you an idea it's all around the 60th parallel.
It's a bit complicated since not all places are reachable all year long, so the trajectory can be a bit erratic. And I'm still as pissed as I was when I saw how unethical some stuff were (one prosecutor with one judge in particular, but they were out the next year).
I still loved the experience and so went for a second year back to back, and with the stenographer (future ex wife) and a local friend, we went to a place called "Alert" in Nunavut after the mandate, instead of returning with the main group back South.
I don't know if it's still the case, but back then it was the northernmost continuously inhabited place on Earth (to situate yourself, it's almost parallel to northernmost tip of it Greenland, but a bit to the West of there basically).
Stayed there another 10 months after both left, and each morning I was told what manual and/or administratif labor I'd be the most helpful at.
It was... IDK. Unique. It put stuff into perspective to say the least. Remote villages in Alaska are overpopulated oases in comparison lol :P
@@Unholy_Louiehaha future ex wife. touchè good sir
@@Unholy_Louiethanks for telling us about your experience, that part of the world is fascinating
And yet other people have lived there for centuries. That’s pretty impressive.
I really enjoy these stories. They are such great reminders to: never go mountain climbing, never go scuba diving, stay out of blue holes, stay out of caves, don't get drunk on cruise ships, don't jump off of cruise ships, don't go hiking alone, don't get into any situation where the "outside" pressure is different than 1 atmosphere, stay below 8000 meters, stay off the open ocean, stay well south of the arctic, and stay well north of the antarctic.
Haha too funny
Yup, nobody ever died on the slopes of Everest by staying put on the couch.
Yup there's a reason humans feel the emotion of fear. It's because fear protects us from endangering our lives by putting us in situations and environments inhospitable to human survival.
Just stay at home.😄
@@grmpEqweerplenty died from heart disease on the couch though
It's sad that one of the greatest Arctic explorers of the Victorian era is mentioned only in passing, despite the fact that he not only discovered the first physical evidence of the lost expedition but also connected the final segment of the fabled Northwest Passage. Dr. John Rae was vilified by no less a literary icon than Charles Dickens after his private report to the Admiralty was published, telling the tale of cannibalism amongst the survivors. He was the only Arctic explorer never to receive a knighthood in part because of Lady Franklin's smear campaign that started with the allegations of cannibal behavior. His name lives on with several Arctic map features such as Rae Strait, Rae River and the Rae Isthmus.
If you are interested in a good read about Rae the Ken McGoogan book "Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero that Time Forgot" is an excellent book.
Don't hold the English public accountable. Though modern society has diminished it as little more than a footnote, cannibalism was seen on the same level as incest in terms of taboos. Both could be accredited to a means of survival but both were acts that "stained" ones impression of the self. Abhorrent, simply put.
@@ARandomNerd88 your comment is very confusing. I’ll leave it at that
The royalty are all shapeshifting reptilians that partake in “cannibalism” anyway…
@@spencershaw4419he is insinuating that Dr. Rae wasn't credited and acknowledged due to him being connected with the thought of being a cannibalist. He then compare cannibalism to incest to point out that they are essentially greatly looked down upon and shunned.
So basically he is saying incest/cannibalism were basically seen as one in the same at the time period. And dr.rae wasn't credited because his name was attached to the thought of cannibalism
The local natives actually did know the whole time where the ships were. They were finally taken seriously, leading to the rediscovery of them.
I was also there at this time, and i can confirm this. Obviously only people who were around at the the time can comment on this. The local natives definitely had everything right, and they knew the entire time.
@@Mike_Dubayouare you autistic?
@@Mike_Dubayoulmao
@@Mike_Dubayou Well the place where they found HMS Erebus has an Inuit name that translates to "Ship sunk here" sooooo
The local natives? What century did you fall out of?
"Oh the poor men! Scattered upon the ice!! Where shall we even begin to look?!!!"
Inuit: "Oh. They're over there. We saw 'em yesterday."
"OH HOW WILL WE EVER FIND OUR MEN IT IS TRULY A MYSTERY!"
Racism is a hell of a drug!
Also, I don't fault the Inuit of the time for having to leave the men. It was the middle of winter, their food stores were tight every year no matter what, and odds are good the Franklin crew weren't down to eat raw meat after their "superior" storage method of canning their rations had backfired (and as Sean mentioned, the whole botulism situation was a thing). It's definitely a shame it had to come to that, though.
@@gabrielbruce1977racism? What? I missed something.
@@forallthestupidshit3550the Inuit had told explorers like John Rae that the men had attempted to walk out and in the end had been forced to resort to cannibalism. This was disbelieved, and when it was finally acknowledged the men were dead it was thought more likely the Inuit had killed and ate them themselves. Nowadays we know the Inuit were correct-the large party fro m Terror, who they met around 1849-50 under the command of crozier at Washington bay, was in the end forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead ( though crozier apparently did not and was extremely weak when he and the last 3 survivors of this group were met with by another Inuit band later).
@@gabrielbruce1977 All those people claiming cannibalism was "abhorrent" would have munched down on some human bones themselves if put into that same type of desperate situation. Really hate the arrogant nature of humanity.
Not white people ignoring wisdom from "lesser peoples" again...
19th century is so fascinating.
All the technological achievements, all the geographical discoveries, wars, disasters, literature, medical advancements, the invention of photography... So much in just 100 years.
I love the 18 hundreds as well!🎉
My favourite is the 16 hundreds
@@Aniket-g6d Your favourite is 1600s, reading about it from the 2000s.
"Aliens"
'The Terror' by Dan Simmons is a fictional retelling of this lost expedition with some sci-fi elements blended in. It is an amazing book, one of my favorites.
They also turned it into a mini series.
I really enjoyed the series! I'll need to check out the book.
I agree.
Did the miniseries include the supernatural element? @@DarkDragonDave
@@bluegreenglue6565 It did. There was also an unrelated second season.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terror_(TV_series)
I know of the Scottish surgeon, John Rae from the Orkney Islands. His reputation was destroyed thanks to Lady Franklin and her having Dickinson write those slander accounts on him when he reported the accounts and remains. Mercifully, the guy finally got recognition for his work and the Navy cut the guy slack so he's been memorialized in the islands plus in Westminster Abby a memorial was raised for him.
He really was a remarkable man. Learned about him through the documentary Ray Mears did on his life and involvement with the search for Franklin.
He's generally regarded as the first Western explorer to give proper credence to Inuit techniques on survival in the high Arctic and spoke very highly of them in his writing. After learning about him he's become one of my personal heroes.
@@Ross-zs4ztthat's why he was slated by the admiralty
That's the English for you. They celebrate Scott as a hero as well.
John Rae: You wanted answers, no one said they would be pretty.
Aye he’s buried at St Magnus in Kirkwall, visited St Magnus and paid my respects to Doctor Rae when visiting (mainland Highlander), he was a truly remarkable man!
“No expense spared.” Except when it came to the f-ing food.
Sadly it wasn't unusual for historical expeditions to focus on entirely the wrong priorities.
If you're watching this type of content I'm sure you'll be aware of the disastrous Darien Scheme - the incredibly ill conceived attempt at Scottish colonialism.
You should have a look at what was taken on that expedition, bearing in mind that the Darien Gap is in Panama.
A few highlights include heavy woolen clothes, wigs, large pieces of furniture and musical instruments, though there's much more besides.
I've got no idea what these people were thinking they'd encounter, but they got it disastrously wrong, and there's a strong case to argue that Scotland is still paying the price.
oh, that's very British, even today...
I can imagine the crew saying exactly that.
@@ianmacfarlane1241 After the abandonment of the Erebus and the death of Franklin, my understanding is that the remaining men who traveled south towed at least one lifeboat including Franklin's desk from the ship.
Dumb priorities.
Food schmood
These early explorers were built different man. You gotta be a special kind of human to hop on a ship in 1845 and head into an unknown arctic wasteland. Even with today's ships and technology this would still be an insane experience.
I concur totally..
And then to imagine that the very last survivors may have made it on foot until 1852-1858, hundreds of kilometers and 2-8 years after abandoning the ships...
check out Shackelton and his men
Hush. Thank you.
There’s one scene that sticks with me when I watched “The Terror”. That officer yelling “Forward Men!!!”. And they start pulling the boats. Going into certain death.
watched the terror an unhealthy amount of times and that moment always stands out....oh and fuck mr hickey
@@jedibrooks7235 Or more accurately the psycho that killed him and stole his identity. Which was a lot easier to do back then because unlike today they couldn't just type a name on a computer and get a picture.
😔
I still remember crossing the very southern tip of Greenland coming back to America from Israel as a child, in a passenger airliner. The screen on the back of the seat in front of me showed our plane and where it was on our route map.
I remember sitting there checking the screen and waiting for what felt like hours and looking out my window to see a vast expance of white snow and rocky peaks. It was like hell frozen over and gorgeous at the same time. Never in my life had I seen something so alien, and this white expanse truly seemed endless in every direction below us. I was terrified of our plane going down out there, knowing rescue would seemingly be impossible. I also thought about the first explorers of the region and what they must have felt.
Like I said, we were barely scraping the southern-most tip of greenland on the route map. I could never have imagined what it could have been like farther north.
I've always had a morbid curiosity for mummies, the franklin expedition's frozen mummies always stuck in my mind for how well preserved and disturbing they looked. I never knew their full story so when i saw this it piqued my interest. Thanks for this!
I dig milfs too.
Two things:
Great screen name 😉
I, too, share a fascination with mummies.
Your comment tickled me 😊
I shouldn't have google this. Damn.
They're the most terrifying things I've ever seen.
Everest has so many frozen corpses that they use some as landmarks. check it out.
I'm an Inuk from Coral Harbour, though I'm currently working in Cambridge Bay this week.
I've been enjoying this channel for the cave diving stories which stress me out in a good way. Love that you covered the Franklin expedition as that just up the coast from me at the moment. It was a major step of progress to have Inuit oral accounts believed by the southerners. Oral tradition has always been the main way of intergenerational knowledge transfer and our culture values maintaining careful accuracy when conveying information. In the traditional context, accurate information would often be the difference between life and death and misleading someone out there could easily put their death on your soul.
The show The Terror is an incredible dramatic retelling of this story. I would highly recommend it.
100% factually accurate as well.
The book that the TV series was based on was fantastic.
Yessir I did a report on this expedition with that show and it turned out fantastic! Got an A only slight comments on the drag shows though
@@robf1801wth are you talking about its not even close to being factually true. Put that crack pipe down
That show sucks
This story fascinates me more than any other in our vast history. I grew up in a fishing family in washington and started working on boats in Alaska when i was still in highschool. I've seen and experienced some pretty wild stuff. I've been on a flooding boat. I've been charged by grizzlies. Ive seen 200 pound halibut pulled out of the ocean. Ive seen the northern lights. Ive gone two weeks without seeing land. I've experienced constant day and constant night. I could not imagine going through what these men did. Sailors are some of the most superstitious people around. Being apart of a crew can also get very... "dramatic". Being stuck with the same men for months in a confined space can cause tensions to rise. Being trapped in the middle of sea ice for years, with all of the medical problems, the dwindling food and dramatic swings of sunlight.... I can't imagine a single man being able to hold onto their sanity. Now imagine pushing that to the point of cannibalism. I truly believe this is the most insane story of what any humans have gone through. Now add to that the fact that many of these men would've grown up in some British port town never leaving europe until they stepped on to these boats. This story haunts me. It has been burned into my psychie.
As a Canadian, thanks for making this video. I remember being six years old seeing the wax dead bodies from the Franklin Expedition in the Victoria Wax Museum and besides the nightmares, I got really intrigued in the story. A lot of Canadians didn't like Stephen Harper's (our former Prime Minister's) obsession in finding the lost ships but I felt it was important to our history.
Oops replied to the wrong comment 😂
Deleted
They remade the DEAD bodies for a wax museum? Geez, why not put those in a haunted house.
@@Rayrard That was kind of the idea, it was in an optional ages 16+ section called "The Chamber of Horrors" which also gory stuff like guillotines and the pit and the pendulum. At the end it had a non-gory display of just the Nazi leadership in their Hugo Boss uniforms to kind of make a point about their own horrors.
Oh man those uniforms are great. We should totally copy them@@mattblom3990
I'm Aussie and had similar nightmares in my childhood when my parents gave me a book about it (I loved history books as a child and they probably didn't check the content before giving me the book). The pictures of the ice 'mummies' were utterly terrifying for me given how well the bodies were preserved!
Can't even imagine the horror that these men went through.
I love the tale of Franklin’s lost expedition. It’s so macabre and not much is known about what actually happened despite it being perhaps the most infamous arctic expedition of all time. My fascination with this expedition will never wane and I hope researchers and historians will be able to uncover more details about what happened in the future
Man you were born to narrate. You told the story so well. And you spoke with so much confidence in your voice. But never came across as arrogant. Can’t wait to watch more of your videos. I love looking into lost ship and tragedy’s of the sea. I wish I didn’t have them to read and everyone lived a happily long life. But the sea holds some great but tragic tales.
With this story the most tragic thing was hindsight. They made some big changes for what was assumed for the better. And it is a massive contribution to their demise.
The art work is as phenomenal as the story. So captivating.
There are some fascinating etchings from the Arctic expeditions. Some look like psychedelic butterflies or veils. The paintings are truly beautiful in this video ❤
Of the two men that reached chesterfield inlet. It's quite unbelievable to imagine the 694 km hike they endured. Whether or not these were Francis Crozier and Alexander McDonald we will probably never know, but braving freezing temperatures, the contsant struggle to find food, risk of dying from that food and constant danger of polar bears just shows a testament to the human will to survive. These men hiked for three years straight but the arctic was just too much
"These men hiked for three years straight" this is absolutely insane
not to sound hipocritical, but that's like 0.7 km per day. What took them so long?
@@MaDrung I don't have the answer but considering the bad situation in regards to the weather, clothing - and most important the food; no wonder they used long time.
@@MaDrungstarvation, malnutrition, illness, hiking through rugged terains with a boat, freezing and exhaustion. Given that they lasted so long they probably also tried hunting for food whenever possible.
@@MaDrung Starvation/lack of steady food supply, being able to only travel far for 1/3rd of the year (fall time they would be getting ready for winter and in winter they'd be busy trying to survive), freezing cold (frostbite causing damage to feet), rugged terrain, and conflict with sub-arctic first nations (there is a testimony that one group of survivors, probably the one the last 2 men were from, had a violent encounter with what appears to have been a more southernly inuit band or Chippewayans).
When the frozen bodies of Torrington and Hartnell were discovered, Beattie's expedition was extremely excited, as you can imagine. Everybody was so engrossed in the process of melting the ice away from the bodies that nobody was paying attention to the dogs barking like crazy. Finally, someone heard the dogs and looked up to see a polar bear! I can't remember if the bear was actually in the camp or very near, but the people that were supposed to be guarding were sent back to guard duty.
Lessons learned from the Franklin expedition helped space exploration (supposedly). The lunar modules and space shuttles used a ridiculously old and simple operating system…..though newer and easier systems existed. But the Franklin expedition showed why you don’t want brand new tech that isn’t fully vetted for isolated, no rescue exploration trips, and why you want old stuff that is fully tested and whose limits and bugs are all understood.
Even the most recent mars rover uses a 20-year-old central computer due to it’s reliability and the ability to harden it against radiation
We have a Franklin Expedition exhibit at our nearest city’s museum. It doesn’t have much, but it was an eerie thing to see nonetheless. This story really sticks with you because it’s as creepy as it is fascinating.
If that's Victoria, BC I have toured that exhibit many times.
@@mattblom3990 it isn’t, but I bet the one there is WAY better than what we’ve got. I’m out by Pittsburgh, PA.
It is gripping, as are nearly all cases where a group of people are in a “you might live, but probably you will all die” scenario. Then add the isolation and suffering of the Franklin expedition members….and it’s a compelling story that didn’t really need a half-man, half-bear magic monster to spice things up, as in the recent book and series.
@@Itried20takennames I think with The Terror books and series, you’re absolutely right that it doesn’t need a monster, but it’s a pretty fictional retelling to begin with. I think the creature is actually inspired by Inuit folklore, too, but it’s clearly added in for extra thrill and isn’t necessary. I still really liked the book and the series.
There's nothing creepy about a bunch of restarts getting lost on ice, on purpose mind you.
What I've always found morbidly ironic is the names of the ships seamed to pesage the fate of Franklin's expedition. Terror and darkness (Erebus) is what they came on and what they found.
Right? It's like NASA and Apollo 13; why would you name your ship Odyssey if you want an uneventful trip?
👍A smart and surprising point, Melissa. Yes, and neo-Platonic philosophy would say that the names we choose say something about us. You deserve a 'best comment' award, here.👍
@@sophiegallinger8004because superstition is absurd.
For anyone that wants to see a 'supernatural' dramatisation of the story of Franklin's expedition, I suggest you watch a two season series called appropriately enough, 'The Terror'. It stars
Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies as Crozier (pronounced; Cro - zee - ah) and James Fitzjames respectively. It is definitely worth watching. Oh btw, the second season is a Japanese focused horror by Ridley Scott and the imdb page focuses on this season in the trailers but I'm sure there'll be some on youtube somewhere. Tightly acted and scripted, it's a really clever play on
what was known of Franklin's expedition and what 'terror' actual form could take.
The first season of that show is actually based on a book with the same name, "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's a great book, I definitely recommend it if you like horror and/or historical fiction.
It’s a fantastic show/season!
The show and book are soooo good!
One of my fav series, so good
You are thinking of Arthur 2 on the rocks starring Roger Moore
YES!!! I was so so hoping you would cover this eventually. One of the most haunting tales of history.
222
1
1
18:25 that Inuit baby outfit is crazy, like it's adorable but also shows how ridiculously harsh those conditions are(/were)
Awesome job! No idea that the wood from the expedition was used to make the Resolute Desk. Very well done with reporting on this fascinating chapter from history!
This is the best video I have seen on the Franklin. I'm so sick of people saying "no one knows what happened..." but we do, at least more than a massive mystery. I giggled when you said "spare no expense." Sorry I doubted your awesome research abilities. Btw, I've been working on an artwork about Franklin, but got stuck. You've just helped me finish it.
Probably the one known large expedition that makes the Donner Party look preferable.
They both ended pretty much the same with cannibalism
@@lTha208l the Donner Party did not have people roaming with lead poisoning in the barren wastes of the north for 3+ years.
😭
And the Donner Party was stuck for a single winter (the 2nd the Franklin Expedition endured) and people in California at least had an idea where they were.
I'd have to agree lol I would not want to be lost in the Artic Circle at any point
I've learned almost all there is to learn about this story over the years, but I'm very happy to see this channel covering it. keep up this consistently solid work! one of the beat channels on the whole of UA-cam!
I want to share something I learned about scurvy a while back, that is just by itself a horrifying thing to know. Look at the scars on your body; they seem like a permanent fix for a time you got cut or scraped in some way, right? As it turns out, with lack of vitamin C, your scar tissue dissolves. That's why there's internal bleeding; any time a part of your body got hurt, and healed in the past - whelp, the "healed" tissue no longer exists, now it's an open wound the same as whenever you got it, however long ago you got that wound. I have a giant scar on my leg from when I slipped on gravel while riding my bicycle, and one of the metal parts of the bike straight-up stabbed me. I almost certainly should have had stiches for that, but I was a dumb kid and hid the fact that I got hurt, so the scar is much wider than it should have been. I was 10 when that happened, and my body healed much faster then, then it does now that I am 45. Much later, I had stomach surgery; if the scar tissue there disappears, my stomach opens up and I would die within a day. Of course, scurvy also means that you don't develop any new scar tissue, either, so if you bruise or cut yourself, those wounds are staying with you.
😳. Well, that's . . . horrible. I'll just keep taking my twice-daily vitamin C, thank you.😂
Okay, while true to its essence, there IS just a little more nuance to the condition than that. For one thing, ALL scar tissue "fades" over time, and the scars, themselves shrink away as our body ROUTINELY grows entirely new and healthy tissues. There's an old bit of medical "wit" (because it's not 100% true either) that you're body is brand new about every 7 or 8 years... BUT different tissues and parts get a little different access to blood-flow and thereby nutrients and materials to do the repairs and rebuilds... SO yeah, it's not that scurvy isn't egregious to suffer, but even with monumental old scars as described here, it'll be bad, but not necessarily an instant death sentence.
For another part, malnutrition and the accompanying conditions are slow to onset, because your body is hardwired to preserve itself. All the earliest ancestors that didn't adopt that hardwiring apparatus genetically died out, so it won't be any other way. While we don't fully understand the mechanics, we DO understand that it DOES work out. As some of the tissues "die", they are also cannibalized by the living systems and tissues, AND your body WILL set certain priorities... trying as desperately in the various parts to keep surviving as you do as a whole being.
Again, still more a cold comfort than exactly any reassurance, because if it gets "just that bad" scurvy really IS one of the worst ways you can possibly string out a slow, torturous death when you can't really do any damn thing to change your fate... BUT most cases in recent times (and there HAVE been cases) are relatively minor, finding causes more in ignorance or oversight than in the desperation of a legitimately resource-poor situation. It's also one of the EASIEST AND CHEAPEST such conditions to treat effectively. Return to reasonably healthy diet, and you're cured as quickly as your body starts making use of the Vitamin C... SO there's still never a need to lose hope. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 I guess I should have been more clear that yes, scurvy doesn't just hit you in a day. I meant specifically when you're to the stage where you're bleeding, that's because of dissolved scar tissue - that fact alone is terrifying to me. I also routinely look up what foraged plants contain vitamin C, in case I'm ever in a dire state of deprivation, I'll AT LEAST not get scurvy, lol.
@@cambiata I'm getting back into my stasis box now, tyvm!
@@cambiata Meh... The actual worry for scurvy most of the time is fleeting. I just thought it was opportune for an addendum. I don't know how much anyone would really misconstrue your original, but it's easily assumed that once you're diagnosable, it's almost "all over"... and that's not really how it works on a lot of even the worst conditions.
AND not for nothing, learning a little about foraging and edible wild plants is a pretty great idea. Among the most recent cases of scurvy and a few other conditions, someone in the mass food packaging industry just screwed up the math or chemistry and nobody noticed... OR some folks got TOO rigid in their "fad dieting". A little foraging for higher iron can help anemia, B's are always a benefit, and of course C is damn nearly everywhere there's fruit... simple, effective, and when foraged, it can be FREE (which just doesn't get any better)... haha ;o)
genuinely love how you tell these stories and moments in history like these, can’t get enough of your videos
Great episode. Really like these historical events. A nice change of pace from another caving or scuba dive gone wrong.
I was obsessed with this in the 3rd grade... So amazing how the bodies were still so intact!
Grade 3? Obsessed ? |LOL
@@bobabooey4537what’s so funny
Thank goodness they brought along theater costumes.
Quite right. Could've been a complete disaster if they'd forgotten those.
what about drag overland heavy and useless shit like silverware, soap and books instead of pack as light as possible?
"Where'd they die?"
"Starvation Cove."
"Hmmm. I wonder what could have happened."
Frostbite
Even when i know the story well, I enjoy your videos covering those stories. I've always been fascinated by The Franklin Expedition and will watch any documentary, long or short, telling the story. The same with the Ernest Shackleton story. There's just something about the Polar regions explorations of old that i find endlessly fascinating. As always, great video about a great subject. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos for us.
EVERYTHING YOU PRESENT TO US TO WATCH IS WELL DONE!!!!
Love Shackleton
Thank you for yet another interesting episode. Those poor men. Disaster at every turn,. And I'm pleased you've produced podcasts so I can listen while out walking.
Canadian here. There is a awesome old folk song by stan rogers called northwest passage that you will all enjoy. Better yet an amazing band out of Vancouver did a cover of it . Unleash the archers is the band . You will all enjoy there version of the song its amazing 👏 cheers from Saskatchewan 🇨🇦
Aye! Barrett's Privateers is another beautiful one. The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald is from a different artist, but definitely good stuff. Then there's The Log Driver's Waltz and Blackflies, not naval songs but very Canadian indeed.
Yeah ! What an absolute banger it is ! (Both Rogers and UtA cover)
It's actually the reason I watched this video, I was like, wait, that Franklin?
Both Stan and Nathan Rogers makes me proud to be a canadian, even though I never set foot in Canada and that I don't recall ever having a canadian in my bloodline...
So be proud my good lad to be a canadian, because I sure am jealous of you and your beautiful land
Signed, a french lad that should probably go to sleep
I'm still perplexed that someone though that a monkey was an appropriate gift for a nautical artic expedition.
Well there weren't any women aboard.
“The Terror” miniseries did such a good job telling this story (with some added supernatural elements).
This is one of my favourite exploration stories ever and had never heard about the resolute desks origin until this video, such a cool fact
Can't imagine being stuck in the Arctic for YEARS
John Ross's expedition got stuck out there for four years as well (1829-33), though in their case almost everybody survived since they traded with the local Inuit community. Getting stuck in the ice over the winter months was pretty much standard for arctic exploration and you had to assume it was going to happen sooner or later.
Inuit thrive there. Tons of whales, fish and seals.
Better than working 45 hours aweek tobe taxed almost to death and live a boring life with no sence of adventure.
@@davejenvey3598 ...
That's the most asinine thing I've ever heard
@@davejenvey3598 My condolences, brother. I am having a blasting living in our day and time
Apparently this is how my parents got to school
that help with the search poster just put into perspective how expensive it was having a boat and crew and supplies back in the day
I remember reading about this expedition years ago practicing for an entrance exam, never did I imagine it would be fully expanded upon by one of my favorite channels. It's nice getting to fill in the gaps that passage left behind with the details of this video.
Always happy to see you upload!!
I'm so glad that they brought such a wonderful artist with them!
I visited the fridtjof nansen museum in Oslo several times. It's crazy with how small boats they tried to reach the goals
As always, Sean does an awesome job!
Awesome episode! And can’t wait for your podcast. I love your channel, especially learning about historical stories like this one that we aren’t taught in American or World history in the US. Thank you for all your hard work!
Talk tuah better
The amount of detail you include is amazing! Literally had my jaw hanging open at points,very well told!
Just in time to finish my late night scary interesting marathon
Your doc is excellent. A lot of information I had not heard previously. A haunting, ongoing tale.
Sailors back in the day were some fucken brave souls, between these expeditions and the whale ships going to some truly inhospitable and remote areas aboard a wooden deathtrap i couldnt imagine anything worse
Brave is understatement!
But such bravery walks hand in hand with stupidity.....
So proud of you made you're doing so well and giving so many people entertainment and insight to unique aspects of this world and humanity and science.
I'm all the way in Australia and whenever I'm going on my 3-4 our drives to skiing or rock climbing or camping I'm always listening to your newest release and so I'm very excited that there is a podcast version where you will be able to make even more content.
so thank you
Oh man I've been looking for a new podcast too! Really excited for when it launches!
It's also really crazy hearing about such expeditions and how difficult they were. I really hope they find new info for the history books.
This is definitely your best video of the ones I've watched so far (started with the oldest uploads.) You are great at explaining what happened and laying out the facts and theories, providing just enough detail to keep watchers engaged while remained incredibly consise.
This subject is absolutely fascinating as well and you told the story well.
Great job again.
I’m excited for the podcast. I hope you keep doing videos for the stories bc I enjoy trying to visualize being there. Love your channel.
Oh! Good timing! I just watched “The Terror” on prime video. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Fantastic show starring Jared Harris (guy from Chernobyl). The show has these horror moments, it’s SO thrilling! I binge’d it last week. It actually feels very like the show “Chernobyl”, so if you liked that, you’ll love “The Terror”.
The inspiration behind the tv series "The Terror". Awesome freaky story, especially since it really occurred.
Im watching the series now 😊
New subscriber from this. I watched a show on PBS in the 80s with my dad about the Franklin Expedition where they showed the famous ice mummies. I was young so it was particularly gruesome but fascinating. As a ship nerd already because of the relatively recent discovery of Titanic, I was drawn to the story of Franklin and many others. One of the first non-fiction books I absorbed like a sponge was the story of Shackleton on the other end of the world. This video told me new info. Well done and thanks for sharing.
I love the background information you provided, thank you for your time and dedication!
thank GOD they had those lifesaving theatre costumes
This expedition fascinated me as a child. I saw images of the mummies in some eyewitness history book in my schools library. I was disturbed; for months I couldn’t use the restroom with the shower curtain closed and I would compulsively flatten my bedsheets out of the irrational fear the mummies would be right there with me. It wouldn’t be until my 20’s I learned of the updates of what happened to these sailors and how they ended up buried in the ice in the first place.
Ditto
I'd love to know how long it takes to research all the material to create these videos, they're always so interesting and eye opening. Thanks for your hard work!
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, damn. Almost as if the expedition had been cursed. Or doomed from the very start. Great video! There's a miniseries called The Terror and it's absolutely fantastic, one of the best tv shows I've ever seen.
Don’t think it was doomed, just that….risky stuff is risky.
The reason we respect explorers, test pilots, etc is due to the potential dangers of going first. Sometimes they succeed, but sometimes they die in the attempt.
There are very few youtube channels that keep my attention until the very end of their videos. Whether it is due to lack of story, repeating story to fill time, unimportant information that doesn't support the main story, or over explanation of simple ideas or happenings. Your videos capture the story, don't over tell, and captivate to the very last second. Well done.
I’ve spent a lot of years in the cold northlands deep in winter. -40c we call Tuesday. Whiteouts can last days with visibility a mere metre. You need a marked rope line to make it from building to building. Without the proper gear and winter war training you won’t last even days in this unforgiving ice world. The cold will take you out faster than a polar bear can pick up your scent 20 kilometres away.
This is fantastic! Thank you for going in depth on the ship reinforcements for relaunch for arctic duty.
The days of early exploration and expedition must've been really rough.
I honestly i can't imagine traveling without today's technology.
Canning as a science was really just in its infancy then. If they had even slightly better food preservation techniques they might have been just fine. Or even if they had just spent a little more on the best cans available at that time!
@@misterb.s.8745its not even that the tech was so new. Its that the contractor cheaped out and instead of the required 7+ hours at i think 250 degrees he did it for 30ish mins at 212. Then as the deadline got closer he switched to bigger cans meaning a goodly chunk of the food itself was raw in the can as it couldnt fully cook. Pretty bad combination there. And thus you had defacto poisoned rations.
Even the lead wasnt that bad (by comparson to the at the time in history standard to be clear by the way) as other samples of everyday people from the time period had simular levels of lead in them. If anything the levels of lead in later bodys was considerably lower then average as they were subsisting off wild game and had far less exposure.
Yay!! A podcast? From a favorite channel? Hell yeah! Excited to hear what's next
I highly recommend the book The Terror to anyone interested in this story. It has a supernatural horror element added in, but everything is meticulously researched and the characters are really well rendered
Best novel I've ever read.
One of the best Dokumentations about the Franklin-Expedition. Short, clear, good pictures, structured chronologically
Thanks! I loved this video. You should do Shackletons Endurance too. I know the ending differs but the amount of drama and tension would make for a good video.
I did a school project on the Erebus in 5th grade back in 2007 and got points taken away for theorizing cannibalism as a possible reason for there being no survivors and was told "that didn't happen according to news at the time"
Here I am 17 years later, screw you Mrs. Hameister I WAS RIGHT!
Come back Zinc! Oh....it was all a dream. Thank goodness I still live in a world of telephones, car batteries, handguns, and many things made of zinc.
This was a really cool video/topic it would be cool to see more like it in the future, especially since you state your own interest in arctic expeditions.
Oh yeah scary interesting Sunday drop!
Thank you for covering and i hope you'll give us an update on this story if more information comes to light from the expeditions
Great video as usual!
Just watched the terror last night!
can't imagine the feeling when the whole ship Is going down due to somebody's negligence...
This is my all time favorite maritime disaster. If this fascinates you I HIGHLY recommend watching the series “the terror” it is so good it might be my all time favorite series because it shows how hard the men tried to survive even though the chances of survival were slim to none.
Watch The Terror if you havent yet. I just binged it a week ago. No clue why I waited so long. It was great.
"So finally the fifth choice was Sir Danny DeVito"
I am so proud of how far this channel has come!!
I've been with you since your 2nd video!
I remember reading about this as a wee lad in the far flung colonies of New Zealand during the 1990s, so I was astonished as an adult , by the recent discoveries.
Finally been waiting for the podcast
National Geographic had a 1 hour documentary last night (8/24) about the effort to find John Franklin’s grave. Apparently one of the researchers who was in last night’s show saw a structure from the air a few years ago that he thinks is the spot where Franklin is buried. He did not take the geo-coordinates so when they traveled to the approximate spot by land they didn’t find much. This video is a nice complement to the National Geographic show.
Your channel has become well established. Well done. Keep up the good work.
Their suffering was unimagineable...May they rest in peace🙏
We had the museum exhibit for this here in 2019. It was incredible.
"no drinkin', fellas. but take it easy loading that 40,000 gallons of liquor though..."
I'm always looking for more podcasts to listen to at work. This is a 10/10 announcement for me! Keep up the great work!
I love this channel and you do a great job.
Anyone else watch AMCs “ The terror” Series after watching this video. I got so much more out of the series thanks to this vid.