The U.S.-backed, Henry Grinnell–financed search led by Edwin J. De Haven returned to New York without finding Sir John Franklin’s missing expedition. Elisha Kent Kane served as senior surgeon and used the experience to argue for a new search route farther north. The unresolved mystery kept public and private support alive for another attempt.
Elisha Kent Kane departed New York commanding the brig Advance on a second Grinnell-funded expedition. The mission aimed to find evidence of Franklin and to gather scientific observations (such as weather and magnetism) while pushing into the high Arctic via Smith Sound. This departure marked the start of Kane’s best-known Arctic fieldwork and the relief efforts that later followed.
After moving north through Baffin Bay, Advance reached Smith Sound, the gateway between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. This was a strategic choice: Kane believed the Smith Sound route might lead both to Franklin clues and to the theorized “open polar sea.” From here, the expedition began operating in more hazardous ice conditions and higher latitudes.
Kane secured Advance for the winter in Rensselaer Harbor (Rensselaer Bay area) near the Greenland coast. The ship became trapped by ice, turning the expedition into a long stationary base-and-sledging operation. This wintering choice enabled over-ice scientific work and surveying, but also increased the risk of scurvy and supply shortages.
A depot party became stranded during extreme cold, triggering an urgent rescue after some men returned weakened. Although the missing men were recovered, Jefferson Baker later died from the ordeal. The episode showed how quickly short overland trips could become life-threatening and foreshadowed larger relief actions later in the expedition.
Kane led a major sledge journey toward the Humboldt Glacier, using pre-set depots to extend his reach. The effort was undermined when animals destroyed cached supplies and scurvy weakened the team, forcing a retreat. Crew member Peter Schubert died during the return, highlighting the expedition’s mounting medical crisis and diminishing margin for error.
As supplies tightened, Kane attempted a risky boat-and-ice journey toward Beechey Island, hoping to meet other rescue expeditions and gain provisions. Pack ice and severe weather stopped the party short, forcing them back to the still-icebound Advance. The failure effectively ended hopes of external resupply and raised the stakes for surviving another winter.
By late August, Kane accepted that Advance was unlikely to break free of the ice. Part of the crew tried to head south toward Upernavik, but conditions soon deteriorated. The split foreshadowed a wider relief problem: getting people out was becoming as urgent as the original search mission.
Inuit assistance helped bring back weakened members of the group that had attempted to travel south. Kane’s remaining crew shared scarce supplies and coordinated with local Inuit to stabilize the situation. This was a turning point: survival increasingly depended on cooperation, hunting, and adapting to Inuit knowledge rather than shipboard provisions alone.
With the ship still fixed in ice and a third winter judged impossible, Kane and his men set out hauling boat-sledges over the ice. They formally ended the Franklin search to focus on survival and evacuation, carrying key records and instruments. The departure launched a long, exhausting retreat that became the expedition’s central relief effort.
After weeks of slow progress over rough ice, the party reached open water at the edge of the floe near Cape Alexander. This shift allowed them to rely more on boats than on dragging sledges, changing the pace and risks of travel. It also marked tangible progress in the relief journey toward Danish settlements on Greenland’s west coast.
Kane led the remaining crew to Upernavik, Greenland, after an 83-day retreat combining ice travel, hunting, and boating. Reaching a settlement meant access to shelter, food, and transport—and confirmed that most of the party had survived scurvy and exposure. This arrival effectively ended the immediate life-or-death phase of Kane’s relief effort.
Kane and the survivors reached New York, closing the expedition’s field phase. Although the mission did not resolve Franklin’s fate, it contributed new mapping and observations and became a widely discussed survival narrative. The return also set the stage for Kane to publish a major account that shaped later Arctic exploration culture.
Kane published his two-volume narrative, Arctic explorations: the second Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, ’54, ’55. The work documented the expedition’s scientific aims, daily survival problems, and the escape south, making its lessons available to later explorers and the public. As a closing outcome, the publication helped fix Kane’s expedition in the broader history of 19th-century scientific Arctic travel and relief logistics.
Elisha Kent Kane's Arctic Explorations and Relief Efforts (1853–1855)