Sŭ-pung-er’s pillar: The recent significant discovery of a relic related to the Franklin Expedition

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Taichman, Russell S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2023
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Pillar; Bonanza; King William Island; William Island; Pelly Bay; The Pillar; Williams Island; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000177; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000177

Abstract In 1866, Charles F. Hall recorded testimony from a Pelly Bay native named Sŭ-pung-er who reported that together with his uncle, they had visited the Northwest coast of King William Island 4 years prior in search of materials abandoned by the Franklin Expedition. Sŭ-pung-er told Hall that he had identified a site which Hall believed was a “vault” which might contain documents and speculated that it could have been a burial site for a high-ranking officer. Sŭ-pung-er’s testimony also included the description of a wooden “pillar, stick or post” which marked the spot of the vault. The location of this site and the pillar have never been found. Yet they remain sought-after for both their significance and the potential bonanza of information about the expedition. Any clue or artefact, which could provide clarity for this site, is therefore of great value. This paper describes a model of the pillar seen on King Williams Island, replicated by Sŭ-pung-er, which Hall brought back from the Arctic and included in his list of Franklin relics. The model, now housed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, was first featured in a drawing of relics appearing in 1869 in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The fact that this artefact has been in plain sight for so long, but unrecognised for what it is, is significant. The pillar model both provides clarity and continues the mystery surrounding the Franklin Expedition.