Editing John Rae (explorer) (section)

=== Arctic coast ===
From 1848 to 1851, Rae made three journeys along the Arctic coast. The first took him from the [[Mackenzie River]] to the [[Coppermine River]], which had been done before. On the second he tried to cross to [[Victoria Island (Canada)|Victoria Island]] but was blocked by ice. On the third he explored the whole south coast of Victoria Island.<ref>McGoogan 2002, §§7–8.</ref>
 
By 1848, it was clear that Sir [[John Franklin]]'s expedition, which had traveled west from the coast of Greenland in 1845, had been lost in the Arctic. Three expeditions were sent to find him: one from the east, one through the [[Bering Strait]], and one overland to the Arctic coast, this last led by [[John Richardson (naturalist)|Sir John Richardson]]. Most of the Arctic coast had been traced a decade earlier by [[Thomas Simpson (explorer)|Thomas Simpson]]. North of the coast were two coastlines called [[Wollaston Peninsula|Wollaston Land]] and Victoria Land (Victoria Island). Franklin's crew was thought to be somewhere in the unexplored area north of that. The 61-year-old Richardson chose Rae as his second-in-command.

==== First journey ====
The [[Rae–Richardson Arctic Expedition]] left [[Liverpool]] in March 1848, reached [[New York City|New York]], and took the usual voyageur routes west from [[Montreal]]. On 15 July 1848, the expedition reached [[Fort Resolution]] on [[Great Slave Lake]]. [[John Bell (explorer)|John Bell]] was sent downriver to establish winter quarters at [[Fort Confidence]] on the east arm of [[Great Bear Lake]]. Richardson and Rae traveled down the Mackenzie River and turned east along the coast.

They hoped to cross north to Wollaston Land, as southern Victoria Island was then known, but ice conditions made this impossible. Through worsening ice, they rounded Cape Krusenstern at the west end of [[Coronation Gulf]] (not [[Cape Krusenstern]] in [[Alaska]]), and turned south. By the first of September it was clear that they had run out of time, so they abandoned their boats and headed overland. They crossed the [[Rae River]] and [[Richardson River (Canada)|Richardson River]] and on 15 September reached their winter quarters at Fort Confidence at the northeast end of Great Bear Lake.

==== Second journey ====
In December 1848 and January 1849, Rae made two trips northeast to find a better route to Coronation Gulf. On 7 May, Richardson and Bell left with most of the men. Rae left on 9 June with seven men. Hauling a boat overland they reached the [[Kendall River]] on 21 June. The next day they reached the [[Coppermine River]] and waited a week for the ice to break up. They descended the Coppermine and waited again for the ice to clear on Coronation Gulf.

It was 30 July before they reached Cape Krusenstern on Coronation Gulf. From here they hoped to cross the [[Dolphin and Union Strait]] to Wollaston Land. On 19 August, they made the attempt, but after {{convert|8|mi}} they were caught in fog and moving ice and spent three hours rowing back to their starting point. Rae waited as long as he could and turned back, reaching Fort Confidence on the first of September. On the return journey their boat was lost at [[Bloody Falls]] and Albert One-Eye, the Inuk interpreter, was killed.

==== Third journey ====
They reached [[Fort Simpson]] to the west of [[Yellowknife]] in late September 1849, where Rae took charge of the [[Mackenzie River]] district.<ref>{{cite web |title=RAE, JOHN (1813-93) |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rae_john_1813_93_12E.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval |first= R. L. |last=Richards |date=1990 }}</ref> A week later [[William Pullen]] showed up, having sailed east from the [[Bering Strait]] and up the Mackenzie River. In June 1850, Rae and Pullen went east up the Mackenzie with that year's furs. On 25 June, just short of Great Slave Lake, he was met by an express canoe. Pullen was promoted to captain and told to go north and try again. Rae received three letters from Sir George Simpson, [[Francis Beaufort]], and Lady [[Jane Franklin]] all telling him to return to the Arctic. Simpson promised supplies and left the route to Rae's discretion. Pullen left immediately with most of the equipment.

Rae escorted the furs as far as [[Methye Portage]] and returned to Fort Simpson in August. En route he wrote Sir George a letter outlining his complex but ultimately successful plan. That winter he would go to Fort Confidence and build two boats and collect supplies. Next spring he would use dog sleds to cross to Wollaston Land and go as far as he could before the ice melt made it impossible to recross the Strait. Meanwhile, his men would have hauled the boats overland to Coronation Gulf. When the ice melted he would follow the coast by boat as long as there was open water. He reached Fort Confidence in September and spent the winter there.

On 25 April 1851, he left the fort. On 2 May he crossed the frozen strait via Douglas Island to [[Lady Franklin Point]], the southwestern-most point on Victoria Island. Heading east he passed and named the [[Richardson Islands]] and passed what he thought was the westernmost point reached by Thomas Simpson on his return journey in 1839. Heading west he passed Lady Franklin Point and followed the coast north and west around Simpson Bay, which he named. The coast swung north but it was getting late.

He made a final push, the coast swung to the northeast and on 24 May, he could look north across [[Prince Albert Sound]]. Unknown to Rae, just 10 days earlier, a sledge party from [[Robert McClure]]'s expedition had been on the north side of the sound. He turned south, crossed Dolphin and Union Strait safely and on 5 June turned inland. The journey to camp on the [[Kendall River]] was the least pleasant part of the journey since he had to travel over melting snow and through meltwater.

On 15 June 1851, two days after the boat arrived, he set off down the Kendall River and Coppermine River with 10 men. He waited several times for the ice to clear and in early July he started east along the south coast of Coronation Gulf. In late July he crossed the mouth of [[Bathurst Inlet]] and reached [[Cape Flinders]] at the western end of the [[Kent Peninsula]]. He reached Cape Alexander at its east end on 24 July, and on 27 July crossed the strait to Victoria Island. He explored [[Cambridge Bay]] which he found to be a better harbour than Dease and Simpson had reported.

He left the bay and went east along an unknown coast. The coast swung north and the weather got worse. By August he was in [[Albert Edward Bay]]. Blocked by ice, he went north on foot and reached his furthest on 13 August. Returning, he left a cairn which was found by [[Richard Collinson]]'s men two years later. He then made three unsuccessful attempts to cross [[Victoria Strait]] east to [[King William Island]]. Victoria Strait is nearly always impassable. On 21 August, he found two pieces of wood that had clearly come from a European ship. These were probably from Franklin's ship, but Rae chose not to guess.

On 29 August, he reached Lady Franklin Point and crossed to the mainland. He worked his way up the swollen Coppermine and reached Fort Confidence on 10 September. He had traveled {{convert|1080|mi}} on land, {{convert|1390|mi}} by boat, charted {{convert|630|mi}} of unknown coast, followed the whole south coast of Victoria Island, and proved that Wollaston Land and Victoria Land were part of the same island, but had not found Franklin.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coleman|first=E.|year=2006|title=The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott|publisher=Tempus Publishing|isbn=9780752436609}}</ref>