Greely Arctic Expedition | Farthest North | 1

In 1881, Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greely embarked with a team of men on a dangerous and ambitious journey over 1,000 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Their official mission was to collect scientific data on the Arctic climate, but Greely also harbored plans to break the record for reaching farther north than any human in recorded history. To prepare, Greely studied previous Arctic expeditions extensively and made meticulous plans to keep his men safe. But after arriving at their base, the remote location and harsh Arctic conditions soon made it clear that their mission would be more difficult than they imagined. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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• 0:00Lindsay Graham?

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• 0:17Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's the middle of the night on August 15, 1883. You're a US Army surgeon, and you're huddled in a rowboat which is banked on a large formation of sea ice roughly 1,000 miles north of the Arctic Circle. All around you, the ice creaks and groans. For the past two years, you've been part of an Arctic expedition based at Fort Conger, currently the northernmost human outpost in the world. But for two summers in a row now, scheduled relief ships have failed to reach you. So your expedition leader, Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley, ordered you all to retreat south where you'll have a better chance of being resupplied. You left the fort a week ago, but so far, you've only made it about

• 1:00Lindsay Graham?

  80 miles. Across from you sits Lieutenant David Kislingberry, one of the only people on this expedition you see eye to eye with. You're careful to speak in a whisper so you won't be overheard by the other men hunkered down in their own boats. Next time we face it, Greeley is unfit to lead. He's made one bad decision after another. I agree. It was madness to leave Fort Conger. We still had enough supplies to get us through another winter, and now this latest idea of his. I know. I thought he was joking, but he keeps suggesting it. It's suicide. Abandon the steamship? Yeah, but what can we do? He's the commander. Orders are orders. Well, that's what I want to discuss. As the expedition doctor, I could officially

• 1:42Lindsay Graham?

  declare Greeley insane. Most importantly, unfit to lead. Kislingberry's eyes go wide. You mean, remove him from command? That would be mutiny. He could be executed for it. Well, it seems to me the alternative is that we all die on an ice floe. Kislingberry nods, but doesn't look convinced. He places a hand on the shoulder. Look, just think this through with me. You're still the second highest ranking officer in the company. If I declare Greeley unfit, that would put you in command, and you can lead us back to Fort Conger. We can make it back before polar night begins, and we'll be able to ride out the winter and shelter with plenty of food. No. We need to be certain we have the support of the enlisted men before we try to anything like that. Otherwise, they might try to stop us.

• 2:26Lindsay Graham?

  Yeah, I know. But if we got Sergeant Brainerd's support, enlisted men will follow. He's their commanding officer. Brainerd's an army man through and through. He'll never support mutiny. Yeah, Brainerd's loyal, but he's no fool. He can see that Greeley is making poor decisions. That's risky. Well, look, either we take over command, or we follow Greeley to our death. Those are the two options. After a long moment, Kislingberry nods. All right. If we get Brainerd on board, then I'm on board too.

• 3:00Lindsay Graham?

  You clap him on the shoulder. For the first time in weeks, you feel a sense of hope. Ousting Greeley won't be easy, but if you're successful, you might just get out of the Arctic alive.

• 3:15Speaker 01

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• 5:05Lindsay Graham?

  From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American History Tellers: Our History, Your Story.

• 5:28Lindsay Graham?

  On our show, we'll take you to the events, the times, and the people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. We'll put you in the shoes of everyday people as history was being made, and we'll show you how the events of the times affected them, their families, and affects you now. Since the late Middle Ages, explorers have been trying to reach the top of the world. By the late 19th century, Great Britain and the United States alone had sent dozens of expeditions aiming to set the record for reaching the farthest northern latitude. But the Arctic was a brutal and unforgiving place. These expeditions frequently ended in tragedy, when ships became stuck in the ice and the men aboard succumbed to scurvy

• 6:10Lindsay Graham?

  and starvation. Then, in early 1881, US government officials agreed to fund a different kind of mission. Twenty-five men, led by an ambitious 37-year-old Civil War veteran named Adolphus Greeley, would not only explore the Arctic, they would be tasked with establishing an outpost from which they would collect scientific data. This would benefit not only the United States, but every nation. Knowing the danger in their mission presented, Greeley put in place multiple contingency plans to ensure that the expedition would be successful and that he and his men would return home. But in the end, poor decisions in both the Arctic and in Washington DC would lead to disaster. This is episode one of our three-part

• 6:52Lindsay Graham?

  series on the Greeley Arctic Expedition: Farthest North.

• 7:00Lindsay Graham?

  In the late 1870s, several European countries, including Russia, Germany, Sweden, and France, pledged to set up a ring of research stations in the Arctic. For the first time, exploration of this mysterious and inaccessible region would be collaborative, not competitive. Although researchers and explorers would continue trying to reach ever farther north, now they would be doing it for science and not glory. And in the United States, a captain in the Army Signal Corps named Henry Howgate soon took up the cause for this new approach to Arctic exploration. Howgate was obsessed with the Arctic. Like many others at the time, he believed a prevailing theory that if explorers could get across the frozen Arctic

• 7:41Lindsay Graham?

  Ocean and reach the North Pole, they would find a land rich in flora and fauna, and perhaps even an undiscovered tribe of humans. So Howgate had been pushing for Congress to fund Arctic expeditions for years, but he had failed to secure much support. So when he heard about the international call for research stations, he saw an opportunity. At the time, the Signal Corps was responsible for providing the country's weather forecasts. Howgate pushed Congress to provide the funds for a US research station that would measure the climate and meteorology of the Arctic, which might improve the understanding of weather patterns over the United States. And much to Howgate's delight, in early 1880, Congress agreed, passing an act authorizing the establishment of a research station at

• 8:25Lindsay Graham?

  Lady Franklin Bay on the northeastern coast of Elsmeer Island, more than 1,000 miles above the Arctic Circle. Plans got underway for a two-year expedition to Elsmeer Island, which Howgate decided to oversee from Washington. As expedition leader, he named his close friend Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley. Greeley was born in Massachusetts in 1844. At age 17, he enlisted in the Union Army, fighting in several major Civil War battles, including Yorktown and Antietam. And as a result of his service, he was commissioned an officer in 1863.

• 9:00Lindsay Graham?

  After the war, Greeley remained in the Army, and in 1870, he was assigned to the Signal Corps. As part of his duties, he traveled the country, including through the frontier west, installing and inspecting telegraph offices. At this time, observers stationed at these offices collected meteorological data and transmitted it back to Signal Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC. Army scientists would then interpret the data and use it to issue weather reports. Greeley devoted himself to this work, often completing assignments in far less time than the Army had allocated. But in 1876, Greeley was on furlough in England when the British explorer George Nairz returned home from a polar expedition. In a remarkable feat of exploration, he and his men had reached

• 9:44Lindsay Graham?

  the farthest northern point ever recorded, though Nairz had been forced to return home after several of his men began suffering from scurvy. The British papers were full of articles about Nairz's successes and failures, and Greeley was riveted by the stories. So after returning to the US, Greeley read every book he could find on the Arctic and spent hours discussing the subject with his friend Henry Howgate. So when Howgate offered the Arctic Research Station project to Greeley, he happily agreed to take it. He and Howgate hoped to be able to launch that summer, but the whaling ship Howgate had secured to take the expedition failed its inspection, delaying the mission a whole year. Then, in December 1880, Howgate abruptly resigned from the Army. It was later revealed that for years,

• 10:29Lindsay Graham?

  he had been embezzling funds from the Signal Corps and using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle for his mistress. Howgate feared that the newly-elected President James Garfield would install a new head of the Signal Corps who would scrutinize the books and discover his crime. But with Howgate's resignation, Greeley's Arctic expedition lost its biggest champion, just as it was gaining a powerful new opponent. After assuming office, President Garfield had named Robert Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln's son, as his Secretary of War. In this role, Lincoln was responsible for overseeing the country's various military branches, including the Army, and the funds that had been approved for the Arctic mission flowed through his office. But Lincoln had little interest in polar exploration,

• 11:14Lindsay Graham?

  which he viewed as a waste of money. So he simply ignored the plans for the mission, which meant by the spring of 1881, Greeley was growing impatient. Lincoln had not released any funds for supplies or issued any orders authorizing Greeley to move forward, and the summer months were the only time of year that Greeley could depart. For the rest of the year, thick sea ice made the Arctic impenetrable. And with every day that was wasted, Greeley grew increasingly concerned that if he didn't find a way to convince Lincoln to release the funds, his mission would be delayed another year, or worse, never happen at all.

• 11:52Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's early spring 1881 in Washington, DC. You're pacing the floor of your living room while your wife Henrietta, eight months pregnant, rests on the couch. You notice Henrietta's eyes fluttering with exhaustion. You don't like to burden her with your frustrations, but right now, you need her advice. I've implored Lincoln to take action, and yet he does nothing. Darling, why are you surprised? He's made it clear he has no interest in Arctic exploration for its own sake. But Congress designated these funds. He can't just ignore that. Well, clearly, he thinks he can. It's not going to work to keep battering him. You have to find a reason to make him care. No, I've tried. I've explained how this is an opportunity to collect scientific data that could change our very understanding of the weather.

• 12:37Lindsay Graham?

  Plus, we intend to establish the northernmost research station in the world. There would be national pride in Manny. None of this moves him. Oh, darling, those ambitions are what motivate you. You need to think about what motivates him. I'm not sure anything motivates him. He seems determined to do as little with his office as possible. Well, maybe it's for the best. I've been reading about that lost expedition, you know, the Jeanette. I don't want that fake to befall you, especially now with another child on the way. Your wife rubs her belly protectively, and a pang of guilt hits you. The USS Jeanette was another Arctic expedition that departed two years ago and is now missing. Articles have been appearing frequently in newspapers about it. Oh, God, those poor men. I'm sure the Jeanette is not helping.

• 13:22Lindsay Graham?

  Lincoln probably wants to avoid any possibility of another failed Arctic mission hitting the papers. Or, maybe he could redeem that black eye if he somehow managed to arrange for the rescue of the Jeanette. Well, hey now, that's a thought. You know, not terribly far from where we're supposed to set up our station is a mountain, thought to be 2,300 feet high. I could propose to Lincoln that we would send a party to climb it, to see if we could spot any sign of the Jeanette. Yes, you could. I mean, it would be a long shot that we'd find them, but if Lincoln wanted to show the American people that he was doing everything in his power to find the Jeanette, he might appreciate the offer. You jump up from your seat, newly inspired. Yes, that's it. I'm going to write him immediately.

• 14:06Lindsay Graham?

  You lean down and kiss Henrietta on the forehead. Thank you, darling. You're brilliant, as always.

• 14:14Lindsay Graham?

  You head to your office, already drafting your letter to Lincoln in your head as you walk. You hope that this might push him to move forward, and your expedition can finally be on its way.

• 14:27Lindsay Graham?

  On April 11, 1881, after Greeley repeatedly wrote to Lincoln asking him to release the funding for the expedition, the Secretary of War finally relented. Greeley was thrilled to begin preparing for this hugely ambitious mission. Its main objective would be for Greeley, along with nearly two dozen other men, to travel to the Arctic in order to collect scientific data. But Lincoln had added a secondary goal, to search for signs of the missing men of the USS Jeanette. So Greeley and the majority of his team planned to meet in St. John's, Newfoundland, in Canada. From there, they would travel by ship 1,800 nautical miles to Lady Franklin Bay on the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island. An unadministered part of Canada, Ellesmere was a large island over 500 miles long

• 15:12Lindsay Graham?

  and lay entirely above the Arctic Circle. Once they arrived there, Greeley and his men would become the northernmost human outpost in recorded history. They planned to spend at least two years on Ellesmere Island, where they would be tasked with taking approximately 500 scientific measurements a day and collecting samples of plants, animals, and minerals. At the same time, research stations set up by other countries would be collecting the same types of data in other parts of the Arctic. There was a lot to do to prepare for this journey. So over the next several months, Greeley worked furiously to get his supplies and personnel in order. But while he was thrilled that the mission was on, his wife Henrietta was less enthusiastic. She had never wanted Greeley to go on the trip, and now she had even more reason to want him to stay at home.

• 15:58Lindsay Graham?

  Around the same time that Robert Lincoln had authorized the mission, Henrietta had given birth to triplets, a girl and twin boys. Although the girl survived, the boys were stillborn, and a grieving and devastated Henrietta was still recovering from the ordeal even as Greeley rushed to make his preparations. Nevertheless, Henrietta did her best to help her husband. She rallied other Army wives to donate supplies and wrote letters that she tucked into Greeley's luggage for him to find while he was away. Then finally, on July 7, 1881, Greeley and his team departed for Newfoundland aboard a ship called the Proteus. The vessel was approximately 200 feet long and powered by a steam engine. Its bow was made of iron and specifically crafted to cut through ice.

• 16:43Lindsay Graham?

  Along with Greeley, there were 21 other members of the expedition onboard, 18 Army men and three civilian specialists, including an astronomer and a photographer. They were accompanied by the captain and crew of the Proteus, who had dropped Greeley and his men off and attempted to sail back before the sea ice became impassable. Overall, Greeley was pleased with his team. His second-in-command was Lieutenant Frederick Kisslingberry, a hero of the Indian Wars, but a man reeling from the death of two wives in quick succession. He hoped that his time in the Arctic would distract him from his grief. Another veteran of the Indian Wars, Sergeant David Brainard, would be in charge of the enlisted men. It was a good crew, and as the Proteus headed north, Greeley was giddy with anticipation. At long last, his polar dreams were coming true,

• 17:29Lindsay Graham?

  and along the way, he had conceived another goal. He was determined to see a member of his team beat the British record for reaching the farthest point north. Still, before Greeley could achieve anything, he would have to make it to Ellesmere Island, which lay just 16 miles west of Greenland. The journey there, through 1,800 nautical miles of icy water, would be his expedition's first major test.

• 17:56Speaker 04

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• 18:41Speaker 04

  big imaginations, and plenty of heart for the whole family. Listen to the Cat in the Hat podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all 20 episodes early and ad-free right now.

• 18:56Speaker 05

  There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and the Fire Next Time to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead, the president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create.

• 19:40Speaker 05

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• 20:01Lindsay Graham?

  In mid-July 1881, the steamship Proteus arrived in Godhoun, Greenland, having traveled over 1,000 nautical miles from its departure point in Canada. In port, Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley added a key member to his 21-man team, Dr. Octave Pauvy. Originally from Louisiana, Pauvy had spent the past year living in a Danish settlement not far from Godhoun. He was an Army surgeon and a trained naturalist, who Greeley was bringing aboard to serve as the expedition's doctor and lead scientist. So after picking up Pauvy and loading on some additional supplies, the Proteus continued on, stopping next in Ubrunavik, 245 miles north. There Greeley hired two local hunters and dog sled drivers,

• 20:45Lindsay Graham?

  one a Greenlandic Inuit man named Thorleip Christiansen, the other a Greenlander named Jens Edward. The expedition also purchased two packs of sled dogs. With his crew now complete, Greeley ordered the captain of the Proteus to go full steam ahead into the northern waters of the Canadian Arctic. They were approximately three-quarters of the way through their journey to reach the shores of Lady Franklin Bay on Elsmeer Island, where they planned to establish their primary base. But before they could reach that final destination, they would first have to traverse Melville Bay, a 300-mile stretch of treacherously icy water that even seasoned whalers dreaded. During one whaling season, 19 ships had been lost in that bay. Some were crushed by massive icebergs,

• 21:29Lindsay Graham?

  while others had been capsized by the tremendous winds and waves. But in late July, as they sailed north, Greeley was surprised to find that the water was relatively calm. The Proteus easily made its way through, managing to cross the bay in just 36 hours, a record for the fastest crossing. So finally, on August 11, 1881, the Proteus reached the entrance of Lady Franklin Bay. Although it was still late summer, the men found the bay already covered with ice, some of it 10 feet thick. So over the next seven hours, the captain of the Proteus rammed the iron bow of the ship at full steam into the ice, attempting to cut through it. Greeley and his men ran back and forth on the deck, rocking the ship to help prevent it from getting stuck.

• 22:13Lindsay Graham?

  With extraordinary effort, the ship reached within 100 yards of shore. Greeley made his way across the ice to the beach, and not far from the shoreline, he saw a windswept bluff covered in rocks, wildflowers, and lichen. Beyond that, in all directions were mountains, towering up to 3,000 feet high, their slopes piled with snow, birds circled overhead, and Greeley could hear wolves howling, a sign that there would be game to hunt for food. He also noticed a brook rushing down a nearby mountain slope, providing fresh water. And the earlier British explorer George Nairz had reported that there was a coal seam not far away, so they'd have a source of fuel for warmth. This land may have been harsh, but Greeley was confident that they would have everything they needed to survive.

• 22:58Lindsay Graham?

  Still, he knew that to turn this windswept bluff into a place where 25 men could live and conduct research would take an enormous amount of work. The men had brought with them over 350 tons of supplies, enough to survive for three years. This included preserved meat of all kinds, salmon, pork, crab, mutton, and more. There were 2,000 pounds of potatoes, along with canned vegetables and fruit to prevent scurvy, and many casks of rum. In addition to these provisions, the expedition had over 200 scientific instruments, which the men would use to take their readings. There were also supplies to build an observatory, and after the Proteus departed, they would be left with a steam launch, a 28-foot boat powered by a steam engine, as well as three other small boats.

• 23:44Lindsay Graham?

  Most important of all, though, was the pre-cut lumber that they brought to build a longhouse where the men would live. It would be relatively small, measuring just 65 feet by 21 feet, but it wouldn't be a rudimentary building. They had brought stoves, ovens, and a boiler to outfit the kitchen, along with supplies to build camitré and bunk beds. It would even be a full bathroom, complete with a bathtub. The northern end of the building would hold the officers' quarters. The enlisted men would sleep in the southern end. And in between was the common area, with the kitchen, bathroom, and an area for scientific work. There would also be structures to house their sled supplies and kennel the dog teams. And now that they'd arrived, time was of the essence. Everything had to be unloaded off the Proteus as fast as possible.

• 24:29Lindsay Graham?

  The ice was already closing in around the ship as it was anchored in the bay, so the Proteus would need to depart soon, or the ship and its crew could be stranded on Elsmeer Island with Greeley's team for the winter, a long and brutal season. In just two months, at the end of October, polar night would begin, meaning that for 137 days, the sun wouldn't rise, and the day would not get any brighter than twilight. During that time, the temperature would drop as low as -75 degrees Fahrenheit, and fierce wind and snow would blow constantly. This gave Greeley a hard deadline for when their longhouse had to be complete and their weather reading station set up. But thankfully, it was still late summer, the time of year when the sun never fully set.

• 25:12Lindsay Graham?

  So Greeley assigned teams of men to work in shifts around the clock, allowing the longhouse to be completed in just two weeks. He dubbed their new home and the land surrounding it "Fort Conger", after a senator who had long been supportive of the expedition. And throughout all these preparations, Greeley was pleased by the work ethic and diligence shown by his men. But there was one man who was already disobeying orders.

• 25:39Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's 8 o'clock in the morning on August 25, 1881. You're in the dining area of your longhouse, eating breakfast alongside your men, when you notice someone's missing, your second-in-command Lieutenant Frederick Kizlingberry. This gets you fuming. Breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. sharp, and you've made it mandatory for both officers and enlisted men to report for it. But this is the third time Kizlingberry has failed to attend. You put your fork down and stride across the longhouse to the small room that serves as the officers' sleeping quarters. And that's where you find Kizlingberry, in his bunk, eyes closed. Attention! Kizlingberry's eyes fly open, and he scrambles out of bed, standing at attention. Lieutenant, you are late for breakfast again. You're supposed to be setting a good example for the others,

• 26:24Lindsay Graham?

  not disobeying orders. Sir, with all due respect, no one expects an officer to rise at the same time as enlisted men or eat breakfast with them. I doubt any of them even notice or care that I'm not there. We are 25 men, cut off from the rest of the world. Of course they notice. And when they see one of the officers bucking my orders, it's bad for morale. Sir, I just don't understand why it's important to you whether or not I have breakfast. I don't care if you have breakfast. I just care that you show up at the time I have ordered everyone to show up. Kizlingberry shrugs, reminding you of a child pouting. I have to say, I'm very surprised by your attitude, Lieutenant. After all, you begged me to come on this expedition. And I took you on, despite my concerns that you may not be entirely fit for the mental rigor of this journey.

• 27:09Lindsay Graham?

  Mental rigor? Sir, you mean my grief, which any man would feel after losing two wives in three years? What I am trying to say is that I will not tolerate disobedience. If you refuse to follow my orders, then perhaps you should resign from this expedition and return home with the Proteus. It will be departing imminently. Kizlingberry gives you a steely glare. Well, I will consider it. You look at Kizlingberry in surprise. That's not the reaction you expected. You thought he would promise to do better, determined to stay on. You don't actually want him to leave. He's one of the most skilled hunters in the group. But now you realize that you'll look weak and indecisive if you beg him to stay, so you merely shrug. Well, you let me know what you decide. Maybe at breakfast, 7:30 tomorrow.

• 27:56Lindsay Graham?

  You turn and re-enter the main room of the longhouse. You try to reassure yourself that Kizlingberry will come to his senses. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. He'd be a fool to leave now. But there's an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can't shake. This man may be trouble.

• 28:15Lindsay Graham?

  On August 26, 1881, the day after Greeley confronted Kizlingberry about his failure to appear at mandatory breakfast, Kizlingberry penned his resignation letter. He felt that Greeley no longer had faith in his abilities, that he had made a mistake leaving his four young sons. He had joined the expedition in hopes of distracting himself from the grief of losing two wives, but instead of distraction, he'd found the starkness of the Arctic only worsened his mood. But despite his frustration with Kizlingberry, Greeley was loath to let him go. Still, after their tense confrontation, he felt he had no choice. He told Kizlingberry to pack his bags and board the Proteus, which was still anchored offshore. The captain was waiting for a pathway, called a lead, to form in the ice,

• 29:00Lindsay Graham?

  which would allow the ship to make its way through. But just as Kizlingberry was trudging toward the boat, his luggage in hand, the ship began to pull away. A lead had finally opened up, and realizing the Proteus was leaving without him, Kizlingberry dropped his bags and ran as fast as he could over the rocks and ice, shouting for the captain to wait. But it was no use; the ship was soon out of reach. Kizlingberry knew that another supply ship was not due until the following summer. He was now stuck at Fort Conger. But Kizlingberry's pride prevented him from apologizing for his insubordination. After returning to the fort, he refused to ask Greeley for his command back. So instead, Greeley relegated Kizlingberry to a kind of limbo. He would no longer be considered a member of the expedition

• 29:46Lindsay Graham?

  and was to be treated as someone temporarily at the fort awaiting transport. While he would be permitted to hunt alongside the Greenlandic men, Kizlingberry would not be allowed to give orders to any other members of the expedition and had no official duties. Meanwhile, over the next six weeks, the rest of the men continued their work. They set up two observation huts, each about 100 yards from the longhouse, which were outfitted with scientific instruments that the men checked every hour. They took measurements of the air temperature, humidity, depth of snow cover, wind speed, and other readings. They even had a 100-pound brass pendulum that they used to measure fluctuations in the Earth's gravity. But along with their scientific endeavors, they were expected to look for the long ship, the USS Jeanette. To that end, a few of the men climbed a nearby mountain

• 30:31Lindsay Graham?

  and scanned the horizon for any signs of the boat or its crew, but they saw nothing to indicate the Jeanette had been in the area. Still, in just six weeks, the expedition had established their base and begun their scientific mission. Then, on October 14, 1881, the men watched the sun set behind the mountains to their west. They knew they wouldn't see daylight again until February the following year. And Greeley knew that the long polar night had driven other explorers to madness. He had no idea how he or his men would react to the long, dark months ahead.

• 31:10Speaker 06

  I'm Gemma Whelan, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we tell the story of the original femme fatale, the spy who was Mata Hari. A famous dancer turned World War I secret agent accused of seducing Allied officers to uncover their plans. But was she a temptress or a scapegoat for French failures? Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Was Mata Hari, early and ad free on Audible.

• 31:41Lindsay Graham?

  Hi, I'm Kenia Barris.

• 31:42Speaker 07

  And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.

• 31:48Lindsay Graham?

  We'll sit down with extraordinary guests from the worlds of art, film, literature, comedy, and wellness to hear from their unexpected stories of success.

• 31:56Speaker 07

  And who do we have this season? Well, we'll talk with Grammy winning artist Anderson Paak, athlete Rich Roll, portrait artist Amy Sherald, Oscar winning director Ron Howard, legendary writer David Sedaris, and many more. These conversations are more intimate than last season, wouldn't you say?

• 32:12Lindsay Graham?

  I would. Listen to season one of The Unusual Suspects wherever you get your podcasts and sign up for a free trial Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing to Apple Podcasts.

• 32:34Lindsay Graham?

  In early November 1881, Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley and his team of 24 men settled into their longhouse to wait out the long polar night. They were 250 miles north of the next closest known human settlement in one of the harshest environments in the world. And between the permanent darkness and the fierce weather, the men were confined to the immediate area around the longhouse. The farthest they were able to venture was to the observation huts 100 yards away to take their hourly weather readings. And when a freak storm came in, blowing winds 65 miles per hour, the six strongest men tied themselves together so that they could push through the gale and make it to these observation

• 33:15Lindsay Graham?

  huts. But for the most part, the men were stuck inside their 1,200 square foot longhouse together. Greeley knew that enduring nearly five months of cold and darkness would be a challenging psychological feat. So to help the men make it through, he had brought along games, musical instruments, and a variety of magazines and books, almost all on the subject of the Arctic. And to keep their minds engaged, he and Dr. Pavey gave lectures on various topics, including math, meteorology, and the history of polar exploration. One of the men, Second Lieutenant James Lockwood, published a newspaper for the fort called The Arctic Moon. The holidays also provided a distraction from the monotony.

• 33:56Lindsay Graham?

  On Thanksgiving, Greeley organized a series of contests, including snowshoe and sled races and a shooting competition. He also opened up the stores and allowed the men to feast and drink rum. Christmas and New Year's Eve featured similar extravagances. Still, despite Greeley's attempts to keep morale up, many of the men sunk into depression. They were irritable, and petty fights broke out. Some grew paranoid, convinced that the others were out to get them. One man ran into the snowy expanse in the middle of the night, gone for hours before anyone noticed. Luckily, he was rescued. But finally, around noon on February 28, 1882, the sun reappeared. It was just a small outline above the horizon,

• 34:41Lindsay Graham?

  but it was enough. The men had survived their first polar night. Throughout this Arctic winter, Greeley and his men had been focusing on collecting scientific data. But with the promise of spring, their excitement and preparations turned to exploration. Greeley was determined that members of his team break the record for reaching the farthest northern latitude ever recorded, and the men were galvanized as well. The British had long held the record, and if America could seize it, it would be an incredible feat. To prepare for the attempt, Greeley created precise supply lists, down to the ounce of meat, based on his knowledge of previous expeditions. Meanwhile, the men turned the main room of the longhouse into a carpentry and fabrication shop. They built

• 35:22Lindsay Graham?

  sled supplies and travel cookstoves. They also sewed boots and three-man sleeping bags so that their shared body heat would prevent hypothermia while they slept. Then in March, Greeley announced that two teams would be heading out to attempt to break the British record. One team, led by Dr. Pavey, would travel along the east coast of Elsmer Island then head north toward Cape Joseph Henry. The other team would be led by Second Lieutenant James Lockwood. He and his men would travel across the frozen Robeson Channel between Elsmer and Greenland, then north along the Greenlandic coast. Both teams would travel by sled and were tasked with pushing as far north as they safely could. Greeley's hope was that between these two routes, one of them would break the record for farthest

• 36:07Lindsay Graham?

  north, and he promised the team that did so a reward of $900. And by early April, both teams had headed out. Within a few weeks, Pavey's team reached Cape Joseph Henry, but they discovered open water on the other side of it, which was notable. Previously, no one had known what lay beyond Cape Joseph Henry, land or sea. But without a boat, it was impossible for Pavey's team to go any farther north. So on May 3, 1882, Pavey and his team returned to Fort Conger. Pavey was disappointed, but Greeley was secretly relieved. Over their many months of confinement, he'd come to find Pavey pompous and difficult, so he was quietly rooting for Lockwood's team to beat the record. And accompanied by

• 36:50Lindsay Graham?

  Sergeant Brainerd and Greenlandic-inuit Hunter Thorlepp Christiansen, Lockwood trekked northwards up the west coast of Greenland. It was an arduous journey. They suffered from snow blindness from the sun reflecting off the ice, and the wind blew so hard it was impossible to start a fire to heat their food. Sometimes all they ate was pemmican, a mixture of fat and dried meat and berries, which they washed down with lime juice to prevent scurvy. But despite these difficulties, on May 4, 1882, Lockwood's team managed to reach Cape Britannia. British explorer George Nares and his crew had spotted this point in 1876, but they had turned back before setting foot on it. That meant that Lockwood and his men had

• 37:32Lindsay Graham?

  succeeded. By reaching the Cape, the Americans now held the record. But determined to make it even farther, Lockwood's team continued on around steep cliffs and across unstable ice. But by May 14, a storm was approaching, and they were nearly out of rations. They took careful measurements of their location and determined that they had beat the previously held record by four miles. Exhausted, they planted a small American flag that Henrietta Greeley had made. Then they built a rock cairn and tucked a written report of their journey inside before turning back for Fort Conger. On June 1, 1882, Lockwood's team trudged back into camp. They were hungry and could barely see from snow blindness,

• 38:14Lindsay Graham?

  but they returned triumphant. They had been gone for 60 days and traveled 1,000 miles, and they had mapped the coast of Greenland for 100 miles past what had previously been documented. Greeley and the entire crew of the expedition reveled in what Lockwood and his team had accomplished. They would all go down in history. And now, with summer in full swing, the men looked forward to the arrival of their scheduled relief ship. Beyond additional supplies, this ship would bring news from home, and Frederick Kislingberry was looking forward to finally being able to leave the expedition and return to his sons. But their relief ship had not yet even left St. John's, Newfoundland. General William Hazen, the man now in charge of the Signal Corps, was responsible for organizing the

• 38:57Lindsay Graham?

  relief mission, but once again, Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln dragged his feet, and the relief ship, the Neptune, didn't depart for the Arctic until July 8, 1882, late into the summer season. A Signal Corps clerk named William Beebe was in charge of the mission, and General Hazen gave him clear instructions. He was to proceed to Lady Franklin Bay onboard the Neptune and deliver eight tons of supplies for Greeley and his men, including additional food, equipment, and warm clothing. But by the time the Neptune reached Gondau, Greeley's first stop in Greenland the previous year, the channel was already choked with ice. It was clear that they would not be able to reach Lady Franklin Bay that

• 39:38Lindsay Graham?

  year. Fortunately, Greeley had left contingency plans, but even those would be hard to execute.

• 39:48Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's late August 1882. You're a member of the Army Signal Corps and you're standing on the rocky, frozen shore of Cape Sabine on Elsmer Island, 250 miles south of your original destination of Lady Franklin Bay. But the sea ice is too thick for you to continue any farther, so you and your crew have come to this agreed-upon spot to drop off a cache containing rations of food and supplies for Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley and his men. The wind is bitingly cold and your hands are freezing through your mittens, but you've never been so grateful to stand on dry land. There's a reason you joined the Army and not the Navy. You don't like boats. You've spent much of the past six weeks seasick. You look out at the water.

• 40:30Lindsay Graham?

  Giant icebergs are floating by, and you're unnerved by the unearthly sounds they make as they crash into each other. You squint, noticing something, and then turn to a member of your crew. Does it seem like there are more icebergs than there were before? He studies the channel. It does. We need to get back to the Neptune and get out of here. We don't want to get trapped in by the ice. But we've only unloaded 250 sets of the rations so far. The contingency plans left by Lieutenant Greeley called for 10 times that number. I know, but I don't think we have time. Besides, he'll only need these supplies if a ship doesn't reach him next year. But make sure General Hazen knows that they need to send a ship much earlier so that the ice won't be as bad. I think we should try to leave a little more.

• 41:13Lindsay Graham?

  We still have to leave a cache on the other side of the channel in case Greeley's forced to retreat on the Greenland side. Don't you, don't you think it's better to leave some supplies in both places than a lot in one and none in the other? I don't know. Look, if we risk staying here much longer, we're gonna need those rations, and they'll do Greeley and his men no good at all. We need to get back to the ship. The crew member hesitates, and in the channel, two icebergs collide with a loud, grating shriek. Look, I'll leave Greeley a note explaining. Well, sir, you're the expedition leader. Do you think that's what's best? I do. You perch on a rock and scribble a note to Greeley apologizing for not fulfilling his

• 41:54Lindsay Graham?

  instructions and promising to tell Hazen to send the boat earlier next year. Then you hurry back to the Neptune, eager to leave this inhospitable land. You just hope Greeley and his men have enough food where they are to survive another winter. At Fort Conger, Greeley and his men kept watch for the relief ship through the end of August, but by then the bay was so packed with ice that they realized no ship could make it through. Greeley could only hope that a relief ship had been able to leave caches of provisions at Cape Sabine and across the channel at Littleton Island on the western coast of Greenland. At least they might be able to retrieve those in the spring. Still, the men were disappointed.

• 42:37Lindsay Graham?

  The days were growing shorter, and soon they would be facing down a second polar night. Greeley wasn't sure games, books, and lectures would be enough this time. Already in the first winter, men had exhibited signs of madness. He had managed to get them through the ordeal, but he wasn't sure they would all survive a second. With the Arctic darkness closing in on them again, Greeley knew the decisions he made in the months ahead would mean the difference between survival and disaster. From Audible Originals, this is episode one of our three-part series on the Greeley-Arctic Expedition for American History Tellers. In the next episode, Greeley and his men must endure another Arctic winter, putting

• 43:19Lindsay Graham?

  all their hopes on a relief boat reaching them in the summer of 1883. But under stress, deep fissures begin to form between the men, and Greeley makes a risky decision. American History Tellers is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American History Tellers on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com.

• 44:04Lindsay Graham?

  That's historyishuman.com. If you'd like to learn more about the Greeley Expedition, we recommend Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy, The Arctic Grail by Pierre Burton, and Ghosts of Cape Sabine by Leonard F. Gutridge. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsay Graham, for Airship. This episode is written by Austin Rackless, edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producers Alita Rozansky and Andy Herman. Managing producer Desi Bleylock. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazib. Music by Thrum. Sound design by Molly Baugh. Executive producer for Audible, Jenny Lauer Beckman. Head of creative development at Audible, Kate Navin. Head of Audible Originals North America, Marshall Louis. Chief content officer, Rachel Gianns.

• 44:49Lindsay Graham?

  Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals LLC. Sound recording copyright 2026 by Audible Originals LLC.

• 45:15Speaker 05

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• 45:58Speaker 05

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