Midnight to the North: The Untold Story of the Woman who Saved the Polaris ExpeditionIn 1871, Charles Francis Hall's Polaris expedition set out to be the first official American party to reach the North Pole. Five months later, the Polaris had become locked in ice and Hall was dead-likely murdered. The expedition members were set adrift for six months on the icy seas: a fifteen-hundred-mile journey that all survived, thanks to the skills of Hall's translator, Tookoolito, a thirty-four-year-old woman subsequently referred to as the "Sacagawea of the Ice." In "Midnight to the North," Sheila Nickerson brings to life the emotional struggle of a wildly various group of people forced to stay together-despite one another's self-centered failings-during circumstances of extreme desperation. Imaginatively re-creating Tookoolito's life, she describes the Inuit woman's decades-long relationship with Hall; her presentation to the English court and experience as an exhibit in P. T. Barnum's museum; and the undermining of her sturdy faith in her native heritage by Hall's stern and often treacherous world. A meticulously researched, gripping story of awesome peril and fascinating insight, "Midnight to the North" debunks contemporary Polaris accounts and reveals an untold side of Arctic exploration. |
From inside the book
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Page 78
... Herron commented . It provided a mouthful for each of seven men . Hans constructed an ice trap and caught one of the small white foxes as well . Hans also made a hole in the ice and set a seal net , to no avail . The daily allowance was ...
... Herron commented . It provided a mouthful for each of seven men . Hans constructed an ice trap and caught one of the small white foxes as well . Hans also made a hole in the ice and set a seal net , to no avail . The daily allowance was ...
Page 122
... Herron noted , " cuts like gelatine . " The men par- ticularly enjoyed making sausages from the tender and tasteful meat . Then , the wind sprang up fiercely from the northwest , and the respite was over . Soon the wind had become a ...
... Herron noted , " cuts like gelatine . " The men par- ticularly enjoyed making sausages from the tender and tasteful meat . Then , the wind sprang up fiercely from the northwest , and the respite was over . Soon the wind had become a ...
Page 142
... Herron , Robert Kruger , Frederick Jamka , Gustavus Lindquist , William Linderman , Peter Johnson , Frederick ... Herron's diary fills the remainder of the text . Of the 154 pages , only 89 are testimony , mostly Tyson's and Meyer's ...
... Herron , Robert Kruger , Frederick Jamka , Gustavus Lindquist , William Linderman , Peter Johnson , Frederick ... Herron's diary fills the remainder of the text . Of the 154 pages , only 89 are testimony , mostly Tyson's and Meyer's ...
Common terms and phrases
Arctic Baffin bear became become boat body born brought Budington called Captain carried Center Chapter Charles cold continued crew Cumberland Sound dark death died dogs drift Ebierbing expedition exploration feet finally five floe followed Franklin friends frostbite frozen George give Hall Hall's hands head Henry hope hunters hunting icebergs igloo Inuit Island journal keep King known land later light live look lost March meat Meyer miles months mother moved named Navy never night notes once party piece Polaris Pole Punny reach record rescue returned sailed saved seal ship skin snow sometimes soon story thought took Tookoolito traveling trip turned Tyson United wanted weather whaling wind winter woman women York young