Explore the trails Eco-tourists, history buffs and photographers are sure to
enjoy one of the four hiking trails and diving opportunities provided by tour operators. Te first trail travels along Deadman's Island, named for the numerous graves of whalers from ships such as the Or- ray Taft, Ansel Gibbs, and Abbie Bradford, three vessels that sought shelter on the island in 1873. Te numbered graves overlooking Whaler's Harbour are
marked to identify the dead. Monuments tell their stories, but many tales retain an air of mystery. Deadman’s Island was used by whalers to unload supplies to enable their ships to traverse the shallow waters to the harbour. Circling Whaler's Harbour, the second trail explores the wildlife, artifacts and geology of the island. A pressure fault, sea cave, the remains of a theatre that the whalers had erected and interesting tales from the late 1800s when it was common for several vessels to overwinter on Marble Island makes this trail fascinating to explore. Quartzite Island is the location of the third trail where visitors can learn more about the tragic Knight Expedition, view amazing geological formations, and camps of Inuit who used the island for hunting in the summer months. Adventurous divers can even view the nearby shipwrecks. Te fourth trail that visitors can explore upon will lead them to the site of another Inuit camp and a "mystery cave" that collapsed long ago, a hidden valley with in- credible photography opportunities and a "chimney cave" which when crawled up will lead to the top of a cliff. Te islands’ stark beauty, mysterious past and role in
history have made it a destination for many travellers to Rankin Inlet.
The mysterious disappearance of the Knight Expedition
What exactly happened to the Knight Expedition, no one really knows.
James Knight, a director of the Hudson's Bay Company and wealthy British explorer led an expedition in search of a North West Passage to the Orient that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Two ships, the Albany with Captain George Berley and the Discov- ery with Captain David Vaughan, along with a crew of approximately 40 men set off in 1719. They never returned, but what happened to the ill-fated expedi- tion remains one of the mysteries that surround Marble Island.
It is believed the crew were on Marble Island in 1721; it seems likely the vessels became shipwrecked in the shal- low waters surrounding the island. Evidence suggests that they were able to successfully offload large quanti- ties of coal, cannons and provisions onto Marble Island. Curiously, the Hudson's Bay Company post at Churchill was unaware of any shipwreck. By 1722 John Scroggs found an Inuit camp with items most likely belonging to the Knight Expedition, and reported that the crew was killed by the island natives. Forty-five years later explor- ers would find a harbour on the eastern end of the island with a crumbling building, coal and other supplies indi- cating the crew had stayed there for one winter. Local Inuit reported having interacted with men on the island at that time but were not sure what fate had befallen them. Samuel Herne later discovered a great number of graves and the hulls of two ships later identified as belonging to the Albany and Discovery. Elders recalled only five men living in the settlement in the summer of 1722, and it was thought the crew had died from either starvation or disease. In the late 1980s to early 1990s researchers found fragmentary human remains on Marble Island; however, all the graves appeared to be Inuit. Coal stores, evidence of hunting and the remains of a building indicated the crew had survived the winter. The crew of 39 men had been on Marble Island but what happened to them? Theories abound. Some believe that perhaps the men used the ship's boats and left the island but where they went and what happened to them has not been uncovered to this day. Tales of the crew's death on the island have been unsubstantiated as their graves have never been found. Owen Beattie, a researcher who investigated the mystery, wonders why an experienced arctic explorer and his entire crew would die with land in sight and only four days from the last Hudson's Bay post.
thehubwinnipeg.com Spring 2015 • 65
Photo by Doug/Karen McLarty.
Image courtesy of Robert Hale Ltd.
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