Volume CXXXIII, Number 12 January 30, 2004

Sailors start new arctic journey in pursuit of science
KATHRYN OSTROFSKY
COLUMNIST

The year was 1891. The country was at the height of a "golden age" of capitalism where America was governed by a string of weak presidents and strong robber barons. But amid Bowdoin's whispering pines, not all the young men were caught up in the capitalist fever. Some had their sights on heights other than fortune. Professor Leslie Alexander Lee was preparing an expedition of Bowdoin students and recent alumni to sail north on a scientific expedition to Labrador.

As Bowdoin slowly emerged from underneath the ice of a Maine winter, the men prepared to leave their homes and their school for a journey of discovery and adventure. Ralph H. Hunt, class of 1891, proudly graduated, waving his class colors, blue and orange, amid cries of his class yelling, "Rah rah rah rah second to none, Eta Theta Kappa Lambda Bowdoin ninety-one!" The 1891 Bowdoin Bugle printed lists of clubs, some still available today, such as the Orient, Debating, and the Boating Association; others quaintly nineteenth century, such as the Tug of War team. The Bugle's editor, C.F.S. Lincoln '91, looked retrospectively over the academic year he documented and then looked forward to the excitement the summer would bring. Dennis Moore Cole '88, an assistant in Chemistry at Bowdoin, prided his athletic ability which had served him well in Bowdoin track and would be useful in his upcoming excursion. Dr. John C. Parker '86 had just completed his degree at the Maine Medical School in Adams Hall and was looking forward to the first months of his practice-treating Indians, Esquimaux, and seasick Bowdoin men. He wrote his parents on May 10, "Now comes the question as to the proposed Labrador trip. What to you think about my going and what are your wishes about the matter." They approved, but remained concerned.

Most of the men had some limited experience sailing. In 1887-88, assisted by Dennis Cole, Professor Lee had charge of the scientific staff on the USS Albatross on her voyage from Washington, around the tip of South America, to San Francisco. Austin Cary '87 had logged, hunted, and fished near his home in Machias. Mervyn A. Rice '89 was a yachtsman from Rockland. Fred J. Simonton '91, Walter M. Spear (non-graduate, class of '94), Jonathan P. Cilley '91, Ernest B. Young '92, Charles S. Rich '92, and Rupert H. Baxter '93 had all grown up on the coast of Maine. Only one man, by the name of Newbegin '91, was not a Mainer. The rest of the men on the expedition were Walter R. Hunt '90, as well as John M. Hastings '91, Gould A. Porter, '91, Paul I. Andrews (non-graduate, class of '92), and Warren R. Smith '90. They seemed seaworthy, but were by no means an expert sailing team.

This team of 19 Bowdoin men planned to sail a small schooner, the Julia A. Decker, up the Canadian coastline for several scientific and exploratory aims. Most of the men would stay with the ship to trade with natives, excavate sites,and build a collection of geological, botanical, and ornithological specimens.

Meanwhile, a party consisting of Cary, Cole, Smith and Young were to travel 300 miles up the Grand River in an attempt to "re-discover" Grand Falls (on modern maps as Churchill Falls). Austin Cary wrote of the Grand River party's aim in an article for the American Geographical Society.

"Current ideas of Labrador," he explained, "are derived from reports of the coast. Of the interior, little is known except that it is a plateau, netted with lakes and flowages, which drain off the edges of the country in a number of very swift, rough rivers."

Grand Falls had been seen by two members of the Hudson Bay Company, but no detailed descriptions, measurements, or maps had been made.

In 1887, Englishman Randle F. Holmes failed to reach it, but mapped part of the river, recorded history of the region, and brought attention to the elusive falls. With the pressure of complete failure if they did not reach the waterfall and "with the example too of Holmes's failure before us," the boys set out for Grand Falls, "uncertain then of their distance and of the obstacles to be met."

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