Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk

by Buddy Levy

Stefansson confirmed that they’d be properly fed, clothed, and sheltered—adding that he’d be hiring a Native seamstress en route.

“After a wait of five to ten minutes,” Bartlett wrote, “we managed to bridge the gap and get across just in time, but the dog got on another section of ice which broke away and floated off with her.” She ran around in circles, and they watched as she floated off, her yelps receding in the twilight.

By amazing fortune, Molly returned to the Karluk on her own the next day, hungry but uninjured, evidently coming back over new ice that now covered the lead.

They had made a picnic-like attempt at hunting, with no success, and had notified Ottawa that there was no game in the area and that they could do nothing until summer.” Stefansson seemed to have conveniently forgotten, or chosen to ignore, the fact that a spontaneous and fruitless caribou hunting trip was what had led him here.