“A glimmer on the polar sea” refers to Robert. E. Peary’s description of an unknown land he saw across the Arctic Sea from Cape Thomas Hubbard, on Axel Heiberg Island, in the spring of 1906. He called this land Crocker Land after one of his financial backers.
In the summer of 1913, Peary’s protogé Donald B. MacMillan set out with six other men on an expedition to find Crocker Land and conduct scientific research in the High Arctic. Planned as a 2-year expedition, mishaps with relief ships meant that many of the men stayed for four years.
This blog will document our adventures as we research the expedition in preparation for an exhibit to mark the centennial.
Susan Kaplan is an archaeologist and Director of The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Bowdoin College. She has conducted extensive archaeological research on historic and prehistoric Inuit sites in Labrador.
Genevieve LeMoine is an archaeologist and Curator of The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College. She has conducted archaeological research on a variety of prehistoric and historic sites in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland.
A Glimmer on the Polar Sea: Crocker Land 1913-17 