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Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Northern Vignettes

Arctic Harpoons

Beechey Island

Crystal II

Deline/Fort Franklin

Fort Hope

Fox Moth

Kellet's Storehouse

Naujan

Old FortProvidence

Old Fort Reliance

Stone Church

Thule Village

YellowknifeFort Journal

After the Napoleonic Wars of the earlynineteenth century, Britain's Royal Navyrenewed its efforts to explore the world's

oceans for its expanding commercial trade.A major initiative was the charting of theNorthwest Passage, a navigable routebetween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceansthrough the Canadian Arctic.

Sir John Franklin, on three separate forays,was one of the central figures in this dramaof exploration and scientific discovery,beginning in 1819. His considerableaccomplishments in mapping vast territoriesunknown to Europeans are played against abackdrop of severe suffering and privation.

First Arctic Land Expedition of 1819-22Second Arctic Land Expedition of1825-27Third Expedition of 1845-48

It was on the secondexpedition that FortFranklin came into being asthe staging area and winterquarters for a party ofnearly fifty people. FactorPeter Warren Dease of theHudson's Bay Company

selected one of the mostproductive Dene fisheriesin the Mackenzie Riverdrainage as the location ofthe Fort. It was knownlocally as Dline ("where

the water flows"), on Sahtu (Great Bear Lake), near the present-daycommunity of the same name.

The expedition came intoclose contact with theDogrib who wintered there,and with the Hare-Slaveyand Gwich'in who

journeyed from along thenorth shore of Sahtu totrade meat and furs. Themeat trade with the Dene ofGreat Bear Lake wasessential to the expedition'sfood supply. Without thisexchange, the expeditionmight well have faced the privation which had befallen the first. Inexchange, Dr. Richardson, a naval surgeon, provided medical care.

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Archaeological excavationsof the original fort wereconducted by the Prince ofWales Northern HeritageCentre with the cooperationand assistance of thepeople of Dline, in thesummer of 1987. Theinformation from the

excavation has led to afuller understanding of therole played by the nativepeople of Great Bear Lakein Franklin's secondexpedition. Recovery ofquantities of beads, rings,and buttons verify the importance of the trade between the Dene andEuropeans.

There is still much to be learned from this site. Its fragile remains areprotected from any disturbance by the Northwest Territories ArchaeologicalSites Regulations.