Before I leave this place, had to visit the famous "Boat Place". It is truly a remarkable spot. A finger of land jutting out to the ocean, surrounded by brown sandy colored muck tidal flats. The icepack looming out in the open ocean. I could her the occasional booms of the ice shifting and cracking. To me it sounded like duck hunters in the distance - shotguns unloading.
As I stood there and looked out in all directions, I could just imagine the desperation and despair. For me, just after a few days of hiking this land, it is unthinkable to imagine being stuck here for even weeks, let alone months or years. And here I am hiking and camping in the good weather. How much suffering did they endure through the winter after leaving the ships? Unthinkable.
They all must have certainly died here that very first winter, after all leaving the ships for the last - that desperate march towards the Back River.
Pictures and a video of Boat Place below.
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| The tomb at "Boat Place" © 2012 - Ron Carlson (King William Island) |
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| The plaque at "Boat Place" © 2012 - Ron Carlson (King William Island) |
Video - The Tomb at "Boat Place" (click here)
hey ron, great blog - thank you! out of all the research i'm doing you've already helped me in more practical ways than you could even know. (though, i so wished you'd panned the camera round to the south of the boat place - the inlet there is of particular interest to me right now!) ...i have so many more questions to ask you! anyway, just saw your bio: don't suppose your agency needs a 'writer in residence' for a while? i'm a london-based cd and taken some time off to write a novel about what really happened to the franklin expedition (esp given last september's find). my very great uncle was frm crozier so may have a little extra to add to the utter twaddle that is peddled about the expedition. anyway, i reckon i have another two months before my book is fit for the editors. my advertising work and email is at anguswardlaw.carbonmade.com cheers, angus
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