CAPTAIN ROBERT ABRAM BARTLETT

WALK OF FAME

BY: JAIME CLIFTON-ROSS

"I have been shipwrecked twelve times. Four times I have seen my own ships sink, or be crushed to kindling wood against the rocks. Yet, I love the sea as a dog loves its master who clouts it for the discipline of the house."

-Captain Robert Abram Bartlett

Every couple of years, I visit my 200-year-old family home in Newfoundland, and explore the creaky old attic upon my arrival. Surrounded by family mementos and various household objects, is a 75 year old bearskin coat that somehow always lunges off the wall into my direction causing me to jump out of my socks! This frightening coat was worn by my maternal grandfather during his expeditions through the Arctic with his first cousin, Captain Bob Bartlett (1875-1946). For this particular post, I would like to talk about Captain Bob and one of his noteworthy expeditions. 

Samuel Bartlett in his glorious bearskin coat, courtesy of Jane Clifton

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/peary25.html

He was born in the town of Brigus, Newfoundland to a family of traditional seafarers. Despite his mother’s insistence on becoming a minister, he perpetuated family traditions and obtained his mariner’s papers before the age of 23. He travelled to the north for the first time in 1898 with his Uncle, Captain John Bartlett on an expedition led by Captain Robert Peary. Thus began his love affair with Arctic exploration. What makes his life so remarkable, is the number of times in which he sailed through the frigid environment of the north (and survived): over 40 expeditions! Not to mention, he was the first person to sail as far as 88°47’ north, only 150 miles away from the North Pole!

Captain Bob navigating with a sextant.
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/images/green_057_600.jpg

An expedition to Greenland on the Effie M. Morrissey

THE FATEFUL JOURNEY OF THE KARLUK

One story that my grandfather shared with me, many years ago, was the expedition that forced Captain Bob to travel across the icy region of Siberia for 700 miles. In 1913, he led an ill-fated expedition to the Canadian Arctic across the Bering Strait on the Karluk. The unruly northern waters trapped the ship in an icy path thus leading it aimlessly adrift for months. One evening, the Karluk sustained a large puncture to the hull and subsequently forced the crew to abandon the ship. They worked tirelessly overnight to salvage as many supplies as they could before the ship was crushed by the ice and sucked into the freezing waters. My grandfather told me that his cousin played Chopin’s Funeral March on a phonograph as a final goodbye to his beloved ship, before he fled for safety. 

The Karluk
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/green152.html

After sending the surviving crew members to Wrangel Island, he set out with Kataktovic, an Inuit hunter whom he had employed for the expedition. Hoping to find help along the Siberian landscape, the two men travelled for 37 days via dogsled and eventually on foot after they ran out of food for their dogs. They eventually came across a hospitable Chukchi village within the remote Russian region. From there, they travelled to Emma Harbour where Captain Bob sailed to Alaska with a whaling crew. Upon arrival, he sent a radio message to the Government of Canada informing them of the predicament of his crew. An American walrus-hunting ship rescued the 14 remaining survivors (nearly 6 months after taking residence on the island), before meeting up with Captain Bob, who had travelled to the region on a US Maritime enforcement ship. He was both praised and criticized for his handling of the mission, despite his relentless commitment to his crew. Click here to read a detailed account. 

Dogsled team that travelled across Siberia
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/peary80.html

Whenever I come across my grandfather’s bearskin coat, I am reminded of his thrilling tales of Captain Bob and of his own Arctic adventures. His coat is a testament to the affective nature of artifacts as it carries authentic cultural knowledge and complex memories. By exploring the past, we can better understand our own identities and subsequently reconstruct the valuable heritage that shapes us.  

* If you would like to read a detailed log, written by Captain Robert Bartlett himself, click here for publication details.