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85-469: It was explored by John Rae in 1847 and named for Sir George Simpson . 68°45′N 089°10′W  /  68.750°N 89.167°W  / 68.750; -89.167  ( Simpson Peninsula ) This Kitikmeot Region , Nunavut location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Rae (explorer) John Rae FRS FRGS ( Inuktitut : ᐊᒡᓘᑲ , [aɡluːka] ; 30 September 1813 – 22 July 1893)

170-745: A Californio statesman and general. He sailed to the HBC post in Hawaii (then known as the Sandwich Islands ) in February 1842, and back to Sitka, where he took a Russian ship to Okhotsk in June. He went on horseback to Yakutsk , up the Lena River by horse-drawn boat, visited Lake Baikal , went by horse and later carriage to Saint Petersburg and reached London by ship at the end of October. This trip

255-599: A British commitment to recognize the independence of the islands. On 17 March 1843, King Louis Philippe I of France recognized Hawaiian independence at the urging of King Leopold I of Belgium , and on 1 April, Lord Aberdeen on behalf of Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that: "Her Majesty's Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign." By then, Simpson and his wife had

340-468: A boat south. Their leader was a tall, stout man with a telescope, thought to be Francis Crozier , Franklin's second-in-command. They communicated by gestures that their ships had been crushed by ice and that they were going south to hunt deer. When the Inuit returned the following spring they found about 30 corpses and signs of cannibalism . One of the artefacts Rae bought was a small silver plate. Engraved on

425-400: A brief courtship he married his first cousin, Frances Ramsay Simpson , in February 1830, and returned with his new wife to New York, Montreal, Michipicoten, Ontario , for the annual meeting, York Factory, and Red River. Here his wife gave birth to his first legitimate child, who soon died. In 1832, John Jacob Astor approached Gov. Simpson for talks to restrain liquor from the fur trade, and

510-602: A daughter by half-Cree washerwoman Betsy Sinclair. Betsy Sinclair was soon passed to an accountant whom he promoted. The daughter married an English botanist and died in a canoe accident on her honeymoon. James Keith Simpson (1823–1901) is poorly documented. Ann Simpson, born in Montreal in 1828, is known only from her baptismal record. Simpson fathered two sons, George Stewart (1827) and John Mackenzie (1829), with Margaret (Marguerite) Taylor. George married Isabella Yale (1840–1927), daughter of fur trader James Murray Yale , of

595-653: A degree from the University of Edinburgh and was licensed by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh at age 19 in 1833. Two months after graduating he accepted a post for a season as the ship's surgeon aboard the Prince of Wales , a supply ship for the Hudson Bay fur trading settlements. During his first voyage the ship was kept from its return home to Great Britain by an early winter 1833 and pack ice closing

680-754: A large house on the Lachine Canal across from the depot from which the fur brigades started west. He also owned other estates such as a Manor in Coteau-du-Lac that he sold to the Comte de Beaujeu and Adélaïde de Gaspé , and another estate in Dorval where he received and entertained Prince Edward VII , of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The Manor's estate included the Fur Trade Depot , and

765-578: A limestone facade in the Classical Greek style , consisted of a row of nine luxurious houses, and was inhabited by Sir William Christopher Macdonald and Mcgill University 's Principal William Peterson . It was later demolished to make room for Samuel Bronfman 's pavilion, which was seen by Alcan CEO David Culver as an unforgivable act of vandalism. A street was named in his honor, called Simpson Street, next to Parc Percy-Walters, McGregor Street, and Maison John-Wilson-McConnell . The park

850-517: A ship intended for polar exploration , the Iceberg . The ship was built at Kingston , Canada West . Rae moved to Hamilton , Canada West, also on Lake Ontario , in 1857, where his two brothers lived and operated a shipping firm on the Great Lakes . The Iceberg was launched in 1857. Rae intended to sail her to England the following year to be outfitted for polar voyages. In the meantime, she

935-488: A statue was erected to Rae at the pierhead. In December 2013, The John Rae Society, a registered charity under Scottish law, was formed in Orkney to promote Rae's achievements. In 2014, Historic Environment Scotland awarded a plaque to commemorate Rae. It can be found at Hall of Clestrain, Orphir, Stromness, Orkney. George Simpson (HBC administrator) Sir George Simpson ( c.  1792 – 7 September 1860)

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1020-552: Is nearly always impassable. On 21 August, he found two pieces of wood that had clearly come from a European ship. These were probably from Franklin's ship, but Rae chose not to guess. On 29 August, he reached Lady Franklin Point and crossed to the mainland. He worked his way up the swollen Coppermine and reached Fort Confidence on 10 September. He had traveled 1,080 miles (1,740 km) on land, 1,390 miles (2,240 km) by boat, charted 630 miles (1,010 km) of unknown coast, followed

1105-589: Is now called Rae Strait . A few miles west, on the south side of the bay, he reached what he believed was the Castor and Pollux River , which Simpson had reached from the west in 1839. He then turned north along the western portion of the Boothia Peninsula , the last uncharted coast of North America, hoping to reach Bellot Strait and so close the last gap in the line from Bering Strait to Hudson Bay. The coast continued north instead of swinging west to form

1190-596: Is now occupied by Sir George Simpson Tower . Both Simpson Street and Prince of Wales Terrace were in the Golden Square Mile , a neighbourhood of Downtown Montreal where nearly 3/4 of all the wealth in Canada was held by its inhabitants. During that era, most Canadian enterprises were either owned or controlled by approximately fifty men. As the most important man in the North American fur trade , he

1275-1019: The Bank of Montreal , as well as of the Bank of British North America , the Montreal and Lachine Railroad , the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad , the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , the Grand Trunk Railway , and the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company . His business partners included Canada's richest man Sir Hugh Allan , Sir John Rose , Sir Alexander Mackenzie , President David Torrance , minister Luther H. Holton , Senator George Crawford , Senator Thomas Ryan , banker John Redpath , and bankers John Molson and William Molson . With Governor Drummond , Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion , and John Young , they founded

1360-835: The King of the Fur-trade , the Emperor of the North , the Emperor of the Plains , the Emperor of Lachine , the Birch-bark Emperor , and the Little Emperor . Simpson also had a passion for Napoleon , and was living during his lifetime. It was one of the passions of his life, collecting writing relating to his hero, covering his walls with Napoleonic prints at Lachine Depot , Norway House and Fort Garry , and infecting

1445-741: The Mackenzie River district. A week later William Pullen showed up, having sailed east from the Bering Strait and up the Mackenzie River. In June 1850, Rae and Pullen went east up the Mackenzie with that year's furs. On 25 June, just short of Great Slave Lake, he was met by an express canoe. Pullen was promoted to captain and told to go north and try again. Rae received three letters from Sir George Simpson, Francis Beaufort , and Lady Jane Franklin all telling him to return to

1530-645: The Missinaibi River , and took the usual voyageur route west. When he reached the Red River Colony on 9 October, he found his instructor seriously ill. After the man died, Rae headed for Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario to find another instructor. The two-month, 1,200-mile (1,900 km) winter journey was by dog sled along the north shore of Lake Superior . From there, Sir George told him to go to Toronto to study under John Henry Lefroy at

1615-681: The National Film Board of Canada . He is the subject of the song 'John Rae's Welcome Home' by Scottish folksinger Malcolm MacWatt. In June 2011, a blue plaque was installed by English Heritage on the house where John Rae spent the last years of his life, No. 4 Lower Addison Gardens, in Kensington , west London. After a conference in September 2013 in Stromness , Orkney to celebrate the 200th anniversary of John Rae's birth,

1700-717: The Oregon country , a sign of what would soon destroy his fur trade empire. Instead of taking the usual route, he went to what is now Banff, Alberta , made the first recorded passage of the pass named after him in August, and went down the Kootenay River to Fort Vancouver . Guessing that the 49th parallel border would be extended to the Pacific and considering the difficulties of the Columbia Bar , he proposed to move

1785-489: The Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory . Returning from Toronto, he received final instructions at Sault Ste. Marie. Rae finally departed on the voyage to Simpson's furthest-east on 5 August 1845, taking the usual voyageur route via Lake Winnipeg and reaching York Factory on 8 October, where he wintered. On 12 June 1846, he headed north in two 22-foot (6.7 m) boats and reached Repulse Bay at

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1870-483: The confederation of western and eastern Canada , which later created the Dominion of Canada . He was noted for his grasp of administrative detail and his physical stamina in traveling through the wilderness. Excepting voyageurs and their Siberian equivalents , few men have spent as much time travelling in the wilderness. Simpson was also the first person known to have "circumnavigated" the world by land, and became

1955-567: The Admiralty headquarters and inside Westminster Abbey still inaccurately describe Franklin as the first to discover the [North West] passage, and calls on the Ministry of Defence and the Abbey authorities to take the necessary steps to clarify the true position." In October 2014, a plaque dedicated to Rae was installed at Westminster Abbey . Rae is depicted in the 2008 movie Passage from

2040-585: The Americans. He left in March 1825, and crossed the snow-covered Athabasca Pass. From Fort Assiniboine he went on horseback 80 miles (130 km) south to Fort Edmonton on the North Saskatchewan River . He had ordered this new road laid out on his outward voyage. It was a major saving over the old Methye Portage route. He went 500 miles (800 km) on horseback from Fort Carlton to

2125-535: The Arctic coast by dragging a boat to the Back River . He went to New York, Montreal, and then Sault Ste. Marie by steamer, Fort William by canoe, and reached York Factory on 18 June 1853, where he picked up his two boats. He left on 24 June and reached Chesterfield Inlet on 17 July. Finding a previously unknown river, he followed it for 210 miles (340 km) before it became too small to use. Judging that it

2210-492: The Arctic. Simpson promised supplies and left the route to Rae's discretion. Pullen left immediately with most of the equipment. Rae escorted the furs as far as Methye Portage and returned to Fort Simpson in August. En route he wrote Sir George a letter outlining his complex but ultimately successful plan. That winter he would go to Fort Confidence and build two boats and collect supplies. Next spring he would use dog sleds to cross to Wollaston Land and go as far as he could before

2295-554: The Gulf of Boothia was a bay. He sailed partway up the east coast of the Gulf, but has soon turned back because he needed to make preparations for winter. He became one of the first Europeans to winter in the high Arctic without the aid of a depot ship . By December he had learned how to build igloos , which he later found warmer than European tents. Rae's second journey began on 5 April 1847. He crossed to Committee Bay, travelled up its west coast for four days and then headed west across

2380-571: The HBC headquarters to what is now Victoria, British Columbia , a suggestion that earned him the enmity of John McLoughlin , who had done much to develop the Columbia district. Simpson took the Beaver north along the Pacific coast to the Russian post at Sitka , and then another boat as far south as Santa Barbara , stopping at the HBC post of Yerba Buena . At some point he met Mariano Vallejo ,

2465-617: The Hudson Bay Company's chief representative on the Orkney islands when it came to hiring workers amongst the Orkney men that had a reputation of being hardy and skilled labourers. Already in his childhood the young John Rae learned many skills that would become useful to his later explorations. By the age of fifteen, Rae had become an excellent musket hunter, rock climber and hiker, enjoying hobbies like fishing and boating. After studying medicine in Edinburgh , he graduated with

2550-652: The North , was of the view that Simpson should be counted among Canada’s founding fathers for his role as Governor-in-chief of Rupert's Land , and its later merger in 1867 to form the Dominion of Canada . Rupert's Land territory was Canada's largest land acquisition to form modern Canada , and included land in Quebec , Ontario , Manitoba , Saskatchewan , Alberta , the Northwest Territories , Nunavut , Montana , Minnesota , and North and South Dakota . In newspapers and books, he has been referred as

2635-629: The Northwest Passage as followed in the following century by Roald Amundsen , although Arctic historian William Barr has disputed that claim, citing the uncharted 240 kilometres (150 mi) between Ross's discoveries and the Bellot Strait. With only two men fit for heavy travel, Rae turned back. Reaching Repulse Bay on 26 May, he found several Inuit families who had come to trade relics. They said that four winters ago some other Inuit had met at least 40 kabloonat who were dragging

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2720-673: The Red River settlements, Rock Depot for the annual meeting, the posts on James Bay to inspect his new domain, and back to Montreal. In May 1828, he started his second trip to the Pacific along with his dog, mistress and personal piper, going first to York Factory and then using the Peace River route. This 5,000-mile (8,000 km) trip remains the longest North American canoe journey ever made in one season. He returned via Athabasca Pass to Moose Factory and Montreal and immediately went south to New York and took ship to Liverpool. After

2805-519: The Red River settlements, and then by boat to York Factory. During this trip his servant, Tom Taylor, became separated on a hunting trip. After searching for half a day, Simpson left Taylor to his fate. Taylor reached the Swan River post after 14 days in the wilderness with no proper equipment. In 1825, he returned to Britain and learned that William Williams had retired, thereby adding the eastern area to his domain. Returning to Montreal , he went to

2890-653: The Scottish explorer and fur trader Thomas Simpson sailed along much of the northern coast of Canada. His cousin Sir George Simpson proposed to link the furthest-east point Thomas Simpson had reached by sending an overland expedition from Hudson Bay. Rae was chosen because of his well-known skill in overland travel, but he first had to travel to the Red River Colony to learn the art of surveying . On 20 August 1844 , Rae left Moose Factory , went up

2975-555: The Southern Department south of Hudson Bay. In December 1821, the HBC monopoly was extended to the Pacific coast. After the meeting he returned downstream to take up his duties at York Factory. In December 1821, he set out on snowshoes for Cumberland House and then the Red River Colony . By July 1822, he was back at York Factory for the second meeting of the Northern Council, the first that he chaired. After

3060-670: The Transmundane Telegraph Company, but the venture later failed. In the spring of 1845, he went to Washington, D.C. , to discuss the Oregon boundary with the Americans, which he had already done with Sir Robert Peel . In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the current border. His wife contracted tuberculosis in 1846 and died in 1853. In 1854, he was able to travel by rail to Chicago before he boarded his voyageur canoe at Sault Ste. Marie . In 1855, he

3145-624: The United States, via Mexico, on 8 July. The Hawaiian delegation, while in the United States, secured the assurance of President John Tyler of its recognition of Hawaiian independence on 19 December, and then proceeded to meet Simpson in Europe and secure formal recognition by Great Britain and France. He was instrumental in arranging conferences between Hawaiian representatives and the British Foreign Office which resulted in

3230-534: The action of Englishmen but surely the Inuit themselves. This campaign likely prevented Rae from receiving a knighthood for his efforts. 20th century archaeology efforts in King William Island later confirmed that Franklin Expedition members had resorted to cannibalism. With the prize money awarded for finding evidence of the fate of Franklin's expedition, Rae commissioned the construction of

3315-579: The area in 1848. Rae was noted for his physical stamina, skill at hunting, boat handling, use of native methods, and ability to travel long distances with little equipment while living off the land. Rae was born as the sixth of nine children at the Hall of Clestrain in Orkney in the north of Scotland with family ties to Clan MacRae . His father managed up to 300 tenant farmers for a local nobleman, Sir William Honyman, Lord Armadale and worked for many years as

3400-514: The attempt, but after 8 miles (13 km) they were caught in fog and moving ice and spent three hours rowing back to their starting point. Rae waited as long as he could and turned back, reaching Fort Confidence on the first of September. On the return journey their boat was lost at Bloody Falls and Albert One-Eye, the Inuk interpreter, was killed. They reached Fort Simpson to the west of Yellowknife in late September 1849, where Rae took charge of

3485-476: The back was "Sir John Franklin, K.C.H". With this important information, Rae chose not to continue exploring. He left Repulse Bay on 4 August 1854, as soon as the ice cleared. Upon his return to Britain, Rae made two reports on his findings: one for the public, which omitted any mention of cannibalism, and another for the British Admiralty , which included it. However, the Admiralty mistakenly released

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3570-537: The base of the Simpson Peninsula to Pelly Bay . He went north and from a hill thought he could see Lord Mayor Bay , on the west side of the Gulf of Boothia, where John Ross had been trapped in ice from 1829 to 1833. He circled much of the coast of the Simpson Peninsula and returned to Repulse Bay. His third journey began on 13 May 1847. He crossed from Repulse Bay to Committee Bay and went up

3655-493: The beliefs of many 19th-century Europeans that most native peoples were too primitive to offer anything of educational value. In July 2004, Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael introduced into the UK Parliament a motion proposing, inter alia , that the House "regrets that Dr Rae was never awarded the public recognition that was his due". In March 2009, he introduced a further motion urging Parliament to formally state it "regrets that memorials to Sir John Franklin outside

3740-409: The boat arrived, he set off down the Kendall River and Coppermine River with 10 men. He waited several times for the ice to clear and in early July he started east along the south coast of Coronation Gulf. In late July he crossed the mouth of Bathurst Inlet and reached Cape Flinders at the western end of the Kent Peninsula . He reached Cape Alexander at its east end on 24 July, and on 27 July crossed

3825-426: The coast of Greenland in 1845, had been lost in the Arctic. Three expeditions were sent to find him: one from the east, one through the Bering Strait , and one overland to the Arctic coast, this last led by Sir John Richardson . Most of the Arctic coast had been traced a decade earlier by Thomas Simpson . North of the coast were two coastlines called Wollaston Land and Victoria Land (Victoria Island). Franklin's crew

3910-496: The coast swung to the northeast and on 24 May, he could look north across Prince Albert Sound . Unknown to Rae, just 10 days earlier, a sledge party from Robert McClure 's expedition had been on the north side of the sound. He turned south, crossed Dolphin and Union Strait safely and on 5 June turned inland. The journey to camp on the Kendall River was the least pleasant part of the journey since he had to travel over melting snow and through meltwater. On 15 June 1851, two days after

3995-419: The company, treating both European and indigenous employees, Rae became known for his prodigious stamina and skilled use of snowshoes . He learned to live off the land like a native and, working with the local craftsmen, designed his own snowshoes. This knowledge allowed him to travel great distances with little equipment and few followers, unlike many other explorers of the Victorian era . From 1836 to 1839,

4080-406: The dead of the Franklin expedition meant that Rae, who had discovered evidence suggesting a much less noble fate, was shunned somewhat by the British establishment. Although he found the first clue to the fate of Franklin, Rae was never awarded a knighthood , nor was he remembered at the time of his death, dying quietly in London. In comparison, fellow Scot and contemporary explorer David Livingstone

4165-401: The east arm of Great Bear Lake . Richardson and Rae traveled down the Mackenzie River and turned east along the coast. They hoped to cross north to Wollaston Land, as southern Victoria Island was then known, but ice conditions made this impossible. Through worsening ice, they rounded Cape Krusenstern at the west end of Coronation Gulf (not Cape Krusenstern in Alaska ), and turned south. By

4250-512: The east coast hoping to reach the Fury and Hecla Strait , which William Edward Parry 's men had seen in 1822. The weather was bad and they began to run short of food. On 28 May, Rae turned back at a place he called Cape Crozier which he thought was about 25 miles (40 km) south of the strait. He left Repulse Bay on 12 August, when the ice broke up, and reached York Factory on 6 September 1847. He soon left for England and Scotland. Although he had not reached Simpson's furthest-east, he had reduced

4335-403: The east side of Athabasca Pass . He crossed the pass on horseback to Boat Encampment and then down the Columbia River , reaching its mouth on November 8 at Fort George , previously named Fort Astoria . This 80-day journey was 20 days faster than the previous record. He moved the headquarters of the Columbia District to Fort Vancouver , guessing that the south side of the river might fall to

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4420-497: The factors and fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company with them. Simpson sired at least eleven children by at least seven women, only one of whom was his wife. While in London he produced two daughters by two unknown women. When he left for Canada they were sent to Scotland to be cared for by his relatives. The eldest, Mary Louisa Simpson, was given a £500 dowry on her marriage and moved to Canada. She has at least 111 descendants. The other daughter died early. In 1817, he produced

4505-436: The first of September it was clear that they had run out of time, so they abandoned their boats and headed overland. They crossed the Rae River and Richardson River and on 15 September reached their winter quarters at Fort Confidence at the northeast end of Great Bear Lake. In December 1848 and January 1849, Rae made two trips northeast to find a better route to Coronation Gulf. On 7 May, Richardson and Bell left with most of

4590-453: The gap to less than 100 miles (160 km). From 1848 to 1851, Rae made three journeys along the Arctic coast. The first took him from the Mackenzie River to the Coppermine River , which had been done before. On the second he tried to cross to Victoria Island but was blocked by ice. On the third he explored the whole south coast of Victoria Island. By 1848, it was clear that Sir John Franklin 's expedition, which had traveled west from

4675-406: The ice melt made it impossible to recross the Strait. Meanwhile, his men would have hauled the boats overland to Coronation Gulf. When the ice melted he would follow the coast by boat as long as there was open water. He reached Fort Confidence in September and spent the winter there. On 25 April 1851, he left the fort. On 2 May he crossed the frozen strait via Douglas Island to Lady Franklin Point ,

4760-456: The meeting he went by water to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse and then by dog sled to Fort Chipewyan and Fort Resolution on the Tıdeè Lake . He then went south to Fort Dunvegan on the Peace River and then Fort Edmonton and after the thaw, back to York Factory. In August 1824, he left York Factory for the Pacific, taking the unorthodox Nelson – Burntwood River route, and ascended the Churchill River and Athabasca Rivers to Jasper House at

4845-470: The men. Rae left on 9 June with seven men. Hauling a boat overland they reached the Kendall River on 21 June. The next day they reached the Coppermine River and waited a week for the ice to break up. They descended the Coppermine and waited again for the ice to clear on Coronation Gulf. It was 30 July before they reached Cape Krusenstern on Coronation Gulf. From here they hoped to cross the Dolphin and Union Strait to Wollaston Land. On 19 August, they made

4930-463: The most powerful man of the North American fur trade during his lifetime. Born at Dingwall , Ross-Shire , Scotland, as the illegitimate son of George Simpson, Writer to the Signet , he was raised by two aunts and his paternal grandmother, Isobel Simpson (1731–1821), daughter of George Mackenzie, 2nd Laird of Gruinard —grandson of George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth —and Elizabeth, daughter of Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden . Simpson's father

5015-428: The non-hereditary title of Sir on 25 January 1841. He left London in March 1841, and went by canoe to Fort Garry (now the site of Winnipeg ). On this part of the trip he was accompanied by James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon , who left to hunt on the prairie and later published a journal. Travelling on horseback to Fort Edmonton , Simpson caught up with James Sinclair 's wagon train of over 100 settlers heading for

5100-458: The prominent Beaver Club . He went by ship to New York, by boat and cart to Montreal and left by the usual route for York Factory on Hudson Bay . He met Williams at Rock Depot on the Hayes River . Since Williams had not been arrested he was William's subordinate and was sent west to Fort Wedderburn on Lake Athabaska . There he spent the winter learning about, and reorganizing, the fur trade. On his return journey in 1821, he learned that

5185-469: The route. The ship's crew had to spend the winter on the deserted Charlton Island . Rae's skills as a hunter and doctor, as well as his knowledge about fauna and its pharmaceutical merits managed to keep most men alive throughout the winter and heavy cases of scurvy, that took two lives among the crew. He went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company as a surgeon, accepting a post at Moose Factory , Ontario , where he remained for ten years. While working for

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5270-472: The second report to the press, and the reference to cannibalism caused great outcry in Victorian society. Franklin's widow Lady Jane enlisted author Charles Dickens , who wrote a tirade against Rae in his magazine Household Words deriding the report as "the wild tales of a herd of savages", and later attacked Rae and the Inuit further in his 1856 play The Frozen Deep . Arctic explorer Sir George Richardson joined them, stating that cannibalism could not be

5355-499: The south end of the Melville Peninsula in July. The local Inuit told him that there was salt water to the northwest, so he chose this as his base. On his first journey, which began on 26 July, he dragged one of his boats 40 miles (64 km) northwest to Committee Bay in the south of the Gulf of Boothia . Here he learned from the Inuit that the Gulf of Boothia was a bay and that he would have to cross land to reach Simpson's furthest-east. In 1830, John Ross had also been told that

5440-401: The south shore of King William Land . On 6 May, he reached his furthest north, which he named Point de la Guiche after an obscure French traveller he had met in New York. It appeared that King William Land was an island and the coast to the north was the same as had been seen by James Clark Ross in 1831. Author Ken McGoogan has claimed that Rae here effectively discovered the final link in

5525-403: The southwestern-most point on Victoria Island. Heading east he passed and named the Richardson Islands and passed what he thought was the westernmost point reached by Thomas Simpson on his return journey in 1839. Heading west he passed Lady Franklin Point and followed the coast north and west around Simpson Bay, which he named. The coast swung north but it was getting late. He made a final push,

5610-560: The strait to Victoria Island. He explored Cambridge Bay which he found to be a better harbour than Dease and Simpson had reported. He left the bay and went east along an unknown coast. The coast swung north and the weather got worse. By August he was in Albert Edward Bay . Blocked by ice, he went north on foot and reached his furthest on 13 August. Returning, he left a cairn which was found by Richard Collinson 's men two years later. He then made three unsuccessful attempts to cross Victoria Strait east to King William Island . Victoria Strait

5695-444: The summer of 1838, he went to Saint Petersburg to negotiate with Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel of the Russian-American Company . The Russians recognized the HBC posts and the HBC agreed to supply the Russian posts. He then went to Montreal, Red River, Moose Factory, the Saint Lawrence posts, and down the Hudson to New York, where he took ship to England. Simpson received the title of Knight Bachelor from Queen Victoria , giving him

5780-434: The telegraph line to America, visiting Iceland and Greenland. In 1864, he made a further telegraph survey in the west of Canada. In 1884, at age 71, he was again working for the Hudson's Bay Company, this time as an explorer of the Red River for a proposed telegraph line from the United States to Russia. John Rae died from an aneurysm in Kensington , west London, on 22 July 1893. A week later his body arrived in Orkney. He

5865-432: The two companies had merged. This put an end to a ruinous and sometimes violent competition and converted the HBC monopoly into an informal government for western Canada. He escorted that year's furs to Rock Depot and returned upriver to Norway House for the first meeting of the merged companies. There he learned that he had been made governor of the Northern—that is, western—Department and Williams had been made his equal in

5950-461: The two met in New York, but a binding agreement never ensued. In May 1833, he suffered a mild stroke. He and his wife returned to Scotland, where she remained for the next five years and gave birth to a baby girl. In the spring of 1834, he returned to Canada and attended the Southern Council at Moose Factory in May and the Northern Council at York Factory in June, inspected posts on the Saint Lawrence , and arrived back in England in October 1835. In

6035-547: The whole south coast of Victoria Island, and proved that Wollaston Land and Victoria Land were part of the same island, but had not found Franklin. Rae headed south to Fort Chipewyan in Alberta , waited for a hard freeze, travelled by snowshoe to Fort Garry in Winnipeg , took the Crow Wing Trail to Saint Paul, Minnesota , and then travelled to Chicago , then Hamilton, Ontario , New York, and London, which he reached in late March 1852. In England he proposed to return to Boothia and complete his attempt to link Hudson Bay to

6120-683: Was a Scottish surgeon who explored parts of northern Canada . He was a pioneer explorer of the Northwest Passage . Rae explored the Gulf of Boothia , northwest of the Hudson Bay , from 1846 to 1847, and the Arctic coast near Victoria Island from 1848 to 1851. In 1854, back in the Gulf of Boothia, he obtained credible information from local Inuit peoples about the fate of the Franklin Expedition , which had disappeared in

6205-520: Was a Scottish explorer and colonial governor of the Hudson's Bay Company during the period of its greatest power. From 1820 to 1860, he was in practice, if not in law, the British viceroy for the whole of Rupert's Land , an enormous territory of 3.9 millions square kilometres corresponding to nearly forty per cent of modern-day Canada . His efficient administration of the west was a precondition for

6290-433: Was a first cousin of Sir Alexander Mackenzie 's father-in-law. In 1808, he was sent to London to work in the sugar brokerage business run by his uncle, Geddes Mackenzie Simpson (1775–1848). When his uncle's firm merged with that of Andrew Colvile-Wedderburn in 1812, Simpson came into contact with the Hudson's Bay Company , as Colvile was a company director and brother-in-law of Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk . This

6375-654: Was at the time of conflict between the HBC and the North West Company . Governor William Williams, who had been sent out in 1818, had arrested or captured several North West Company men. The Nor'Westers replied with a Quebec warrant for Williams' arrest. The London governors were unhappy with Williams' clumsy management and both companies were under British pressure to settle their differences. The locum tenens in Simpson's title meant that if Williams had been arrested, Simpson would take his place. In 1820, he joined

6460-588: Was buried at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall , Orkney . A memorial to Rae, lying as in sleep upon the ground, is inside the cathedral. The memorial by North Ronaldsay sculptor Ian Scott, unveiled at Stromness pierhead in 2013, is a statue of Rae with an inscription describing him as "the discoverer of the final link in the first navigable Northwest Passage." Rae Strait , Rae Isthmus , Rae River , Mount Rae , Point Rae , and Rae-Edzo were all named for him. The outcome of Lady Franklin's efforts to glorify

6545-561: Was buried with full imperial honours in Westminster Abbey . Historians have since studied Rae's expeditions and his roles in finding the Northwest Passage and learning the fate of Franklin's crew. Authors such as Ken McGoogan have noted Rae was willing to adopt and learn the ways of indigenous Arctic peoples, which made him stand out as the foremost specialist of his time in cold-climate survival and travel. Rae also respected Inuit customs, traditions, and skills, which went against

6630-400: Was documented in his book, An overland journey round the world . During his visit to Hawaii, he met with King Kamehameha III and his advisers. Simpson, along with Timoteo Haʻalilio and William Richards were commissioned as joint Ministers Plenipotentiary on 8 April 1842. Simpson, shortly thereafter, left for England, via Alaska and Siberia , while Haʻalilio and Richards departed for

6715-598: Was in Washington, D.C., and discussed Oregon affairs, and in 1857, defended the HBC monopoly in London. In May 1860, he went by rail to Saint Paul, Minnesota ; decided that his health would not bear the trip to Red River; and returned to Lachine. In August 1860, he entertained the Prince of Wales at Lachine, who came for the inauguration of Victoria Bridge , in honour of his mother Queen Victoria . Simpson built Prince of Wales Terrace in his honour. The building, made of

6800-497: Was later sold to Senator Lawrence Alexander Wilson and Lt. Col. W. A. Grant of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery . Lord Donald Smith of Knebworth House , Co-Premier of Canada Sir Francis Hincks , and other leading members of Montreal's society would attend Simpson's banquets. He began investing in banks, railroads, ships, mines and canals. He became a board director and shareholder of Canada’s first bank,

6885-652: Was one of them. Shortly after the Princes of Wales's visit, Governor Simpson suffered a massive stroke and died six days later in Lachine. At his death in 1860, he left an estate worth over £100,000, which in relation to GDP, amounted to half a billion dollars in 2023 Canadian money. The amount is also very similar to Harlaxton Manor 's building cost. Simpson also gave money to the general endowment of McGill University in 1856, along with Peter McGill and Peter Redpath , among others. James Raffan, author of Emperor of

6970-407: Was previously occupied by one of his houses, and was part of his 15 acre estate on Mount Royal . It was then occupied by Rosemount House, which was built on the land of Governor Simpson and was the home of Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet , and later William Watson Ogilvie . Galt House was also built on Simpson Street by Canadian Founding Father Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt . The entrance of Simpson Street

7055-824: Was put to use as a cargo ship. She was lost with all seven men on board in 1857, on her first commercial trip, hauling coal from Cleveland, Ohio , to Kingston. The wreck, somewhere in Lake Ontario, has never been located. While in Hamilton, Rae became a founding member of the Hamilton Scientific Association, which became the Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art, one of Canada's oldest scientific and cultural organizations. In 1860, Rae worked on

7140-443: Was thought to be somewhere in the unexplored area north of that. The 61-year-old Richardson chose Rae as his second-in-command. The Rae–Richardson Arctic Expedition left Liverpool in March 1848, reached New York , and took the usual voyageur routes west from Montreal . On 15 July 1848, the expedition reached Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake . John Bell was sent downriver to establish winter quarters at Fort Confidence on

7225-532: Was too late to drag the boat north to the Back River, he turned back and wintered at his old camp on Repulse Bay . He left Repulse Bay on 31 March 1854. Near Pelly Bay he met some Inuit, one of whom had a gold cap-band. Asked where he got it, he replied that it came from a place 10 to 12 days away where 35 or so kabloonat had starved to death. Rae bought the cap-band and said he would buy anything similar. On 27 April, he reached frozen salt-water south of what

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