The Arctic Journals of John Rae

By (author): John Rae
Introduction by: Ken McGoogan
ISBN 9781927129746
Softcover | Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Book Dimensions: 5.5 in x 8.5 in
320 Pages

About the Book

Scottish doctor and explorer John Rae is a controversial figure in the history of the Arctic. He began his career with the Hudson’s Bay Company as a surgeon in Moose Factory, Ontario, where he learned to survey, live off the land, and travel great distances on snowshoes. These skills served him well when, in 1846, he was charged with completing the geography of the northern shore of North America and set out on his first expedition. Some years later, while exploring the Boothia Peninsula in 1854, Rae obtained information about the rather shocking fate of the Franklin expedition, which had been missing since 1845. Upon his return to England, however, Rae was discredited by Charles Dickens and shunned by the British establishment, never receiving proper recognition for his roles in finding the Northwest Passage and discovering the fate of Franklin and his crew.

The Arctic Journals of John Rae is the definitive collection of John Rae’s writings, from his only published work, Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847, to obscure notes and journals and reports of his controversial findings in 1854. An accomplished explorer who had great respect for the customs and skills of the peoples native to the Arctic, John Rae is a fascinating figure and an important part of the history of the North.

About the Author(s)

John Rae was a Scottish doctor and explorer born on September 30, 1813, in Orkney. As a child, he enjoyed sailing, climbing, hunting, and fishing—skills that would serve him well in his future exploits. In 1833, shortly after graduating from medical school, Rae was appointed surgeon of the Prince of Wales, a Hudson's Bay Company ship. He had great respect for the peoples native to northern Canada and adopted many of their survival skills. He learned to hunt caribou, store meat, construct shelter, and walk using snowshoes. He was particularly known for this last skill, once walking 1,200 miles in snowshoes through winter forest in order to learn how to survey.Rae embarked on his first expedition in 1846. Over the next decade, he explored much of northern Canada's coastline and, in fact, discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. However, his achievements have gone largely unrecognized due to the discovery he made in 1854. While exploring the Boothia Peninsula, Rae obtained the first information about the fate of the Franklin expedition, which had been missing since 1845. He met a group of Inuit who claimed to have seen the missing men four years earlier. Through their reports, Rae concluded that the last survivors of the Franklin expedition had resorted to cannibalism, before perishing in 1850.John Rae retired from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1856 but retained his love of exploration. In 1860, he was hired to explore Iceland and Greenland in an effort to establish a telegraph line to America. And in 1884, at the age of seventy-one, he was hired by the HBC to survey another telegraph route, in the west of Canada, from Red River to Victoria.John Rae died in London on July 22, 1893. He was the only major explorer of his time not to receive a knighthood.

The award-winning author of ten books, Ken McGoogan is best known for Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Explorer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin. That work won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, the CAA History Award, and an American Christopher Award for "a work of artistic excellence that affirms the highest values of the human spirit." With his related book, Lady Franklin's Revenge, Ken added the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography and the Pierre Berton Award for History. He writes a column for Canada's History magazine, recently published How the Scots Invented Canada, and teaches a creative non-fiction course through the University of Toronto and the New York Times Knowledge Network. Ken also makes a cameo appearance in the acclaimed docudrama Passage, which is based on Fatal Passage. Please visit kenmcgoogan.blogspot.com.