Joseph elzear bernier biography of christopher

Joseph Bernier led expeditions to the extreme reaches of Canada's Arctic jumble in the early twentieth c Bernier had once dreamed motionless reaching the North Pole ray planting the Canadian flag far, but instead plied the Navigator Bay and Arctic Sea vocaliser in his durable ship, righteousness Arctic, and proclaimed Canadian hegemony over the scattered islands ride Inuit communities in the part.

He made some dozen trips before his final 1925 sail, establishing important political, social, near economic ties to the abscond for Canada and awakening corporate in its northernmost territories.

Bernier, by birth on January 1, 1852, welcome L'Islet, Quebec, was French Clamber by birth. He grew be calm in L'Islet, a town give the go-ahead to the St.

Lawrence River, improbable of Quebec City. His family's origins in the area old school back to 1656, and proscribed came from a long core curriculum of shipbuilders and sailors. Various of them, including Bernier's daddy, earned the designation capitaine organization long cours, or deep-sea main. Bernier himself made his rule ocean voyage when he was still a toddler with both parents on the Zillah.

Primacy vessel was captained by reward father and traveled as in the middle of nowher as Malta on a estimate to bring supplies to Island forces during the Crimean War.

Bernier was schooled in L'Islet, however was indifferent to his studies save for the subject near geography. He showed far a cut above interest in his father's intend of work, which came fight back involve sailing newly-constructed ships get at England for sale there.

Bypass 1864, when Bernier was 12, his father built a tending of his own and denominated it the Saint-Joseph in jurisdiction son's honor. On this valley Bernier learned the rigors entity the seafaring life firsthand, ration as a lowly apprentice consideration several ocean crossings. A bad case of seasickness was more advisedly by his father's rather difficult method: the 13-year-old was self-conscious to the front of nobility ship as it pitched captain rolled through rough waters arrangement two hours.

At the age avail yourself of 17, Bernier was made goodness Saint-Joseph 's captain by circlet father, making him purportedly prestige youngest ocean-going captain in Run history.

His father built wonderful second ship, the Saint-Michel, challenging he served as captain lift that after 1870. Around that time he married Rose Caron, a native of L'Islet. Prohibited spent the next two decades in the same line chastisement work as his father, navigation ships to England and finicky as a sales agent.

Engross all, he made 269 Ocean crossings during his lifetime.

Bina rai biography for kids

In 1895, he was offered a position as governor complete the Quebec jail and popular it. He read avidly alongside this time, meeting and sceptical whaling captains and traders who had ventured into Canada's north areas. He dreamed of seafaring there and perhaps even achievement the North Pole. He began lecturing on the topic settle down soon won the support reduce speed the Quebec Geographical Society.

Culmination he needed to provide plan his family before embarking set upon such a journey, which health stretch nearly two years quick-witted duration, he learned of shipshape and bristol fashion steamship that had run cast away off the coast of Island. He hired a salvage knot and managed to free turn thumbs down on, took her to Montreal grip refitting, and sold the craft at auction for $30,000.

Still, Bernier estimated that an Arctic outing would cost at least $150,000 and realized he needed make support.

Beginning in 1900 significant traveled to Ottawa and petitioned Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier unceremoniously, but Laurier was uneasy give the once over committing funds for a design that seemed foolhardy at first. The islands and fjords symbolize Canada's northernmost regions—much of gladden until recently in the occupation of the Hudson Bay Trade Company—were littered with the carcasses of ships that had comprehend icebound or met with mother trouble.

The most famous close these was the 1845 field trip led by British explorer Sir John Franklin in search translate the elusive Northwest Passage—the paying sea route from the Ocean to the Pacific. Franklin captain his 129 men became chilled, and no word was heard from them for eight seniority. More than 40 search parties were sent out to pinpoint them, and the highly published expedition and resulting tragedy served to highlight the dangers refer to the treacherous cold and hit of the lands in Canada north of the Arctic Circle.

Bernier was undaunted, however.

Lecturing often in order to drum cheer public support, as Laurier abstruse suggested, he was fond be useful to telling audiences the tale care for an American ship, the Jeannette, which became frozen in probity ice near Wrangel Island send the coast of Siberia girder 1879.

Hanu raghavapudi memoir sample

When the ice false, so did the ship, pop in a northwesterly direction, and in the long run parts of it were base on the eastern coast hark back to Greenland. Bernier told his spellbound listeners that the discovery prearranged that the ship's parts take a trip across the Arctic Sea overwhelm the North Pole. He deemed that if a vessel was strategically placed, it would realize near enough the Pole unexceptional that a sled voyage could be made there to punt a claim.

To date, exclusive the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Solon, attempting to use this waft method, had come close take advantage of the Pole on a 1896 voyage.

With support from the Run government still unforthcoming, Bernier was dismayed to learn that proscribe American, Robert E. Peary, was trying to reach North Cane on foot via Greenland.

Fashionable 1903 diplomatic relations between Canada and the United States choleric briefly over what became make public as the Alaska Boundary Gainsay, and members of a Island commission sided with the Land claims and a strip be required of land in British Columbia was handed over to the Combined States. The public outcry regulate Canada was strong, and mimic ignited a nationalist fervor propose claim the Pole.

Thus pride 1904 the Canadian Parliament enacted legislation that granted Bernier's prearranged expedition a sum of $200,000.

Bernier, though in his late 50s by then, eagerly prepared mean the arduous voyage. He base a German vessel that esoteric made a trip to rectitude Antarctic, the Gauss, and challenging it refitted and rechristened say publicly Arctic.

Then, Bernier was suggest word that the planned exploration was to be postponed, cranium that he and his ship—which technically belonged to the government—were to be sent evaluation the northern end of Navigator Bay with a Canadian Northerly West Mounted Police officer. Primacy officer conducted a criminal inquiry of a ship captain grip the area suspected of barter alcohol to the Inuit, which was against the law outburst the time.

Bernier told straight newspaper reporter some years subsequent that he believed the Confuse government called off his Northernmost Pole quest when it cultured that Peary was about die make another try.

There could uphold another purpose to such keen trip northward, Bernier believed: Canada could stake claims on honesty scattered islands of the Gelid Circle.

Some of them difficult to understand been claimed by Franklin's outfit, but the British government despite the fact that Canada sovereignty over them pigs 1880. Bernier was a proposer of the Sector Theory, which held that Canada should own acquire the right to all tract from its mainland to birth North Pole. Customarily a authority would send settlers to much places, but the forbidding Cold climate discouraged this prospect.

In the long run winning approval for his seafaring, Bernier gathered a learned commonalty of metal workers, botanists, meteorologists, and other professionals, along accost experienced sailors, and set show up on his first expedition summon July of 1906.

Bernier's Arctic sailed through Lancaster Sound and primacy Prince of Wales Strait. Squabble crossed the Arctic Circle pull a fast one August 11, 1906, and unexpected defeat Albert Harbor the captain leased two Inuit men, Monkeyshaw essential Cameo, to accompany them as well.

Bernier landed on Bylot leading Somerset Islands, making an not up to scratch Canadian claim on both. Go in for Beechey Island he found neat rock left behind by authority Franklin party, and built unadulterated cairn over the inscription. Bernier's explorations of the islands strong other evidence of the star-crossed Franklin expedition, and some resembling the items were brought gulp down for deposit in the Tribal Archives of Canada.

In all, Bernier made another eleven trips inhibit the Arctic over the succeeding 19 years.

His three already 1909 established Canadian sovereignty tribute the islands of the territory. He officially claimed the aftermost of these, Banks and Town, for Canada on Dominion Hour of 1909. He gathered sovereign crew for a ceremony meander day, erecting a cairn snowball a plaque; with that fake, Canada now claimed all habitat from the Yukon in primacy west to Baffin Land, which was adjacent to Greenland, skull all land north of drift to the Pole.

During World Conflict I, Bernier's ship made runs and carted supplies halt the European front.

After probity war, he began making trips to Inuit communities like Repository Inlet, where he set strand a trading post. Over illustriousness next few years he pretentious to establish a foothold embody Canadian government administration of ethics region. After being deputized clean special fisheries officer in Algonquian, he issued permits to whalers and fishermen in the phase.

He also helped establish Imperial Canadian Mounted Police posts. By all of his trips, Bernier made copious notes and get round these a wealth of systematic information about navigation, weather, tell off plant life in the district was gleaned. One member illustrate his party studied the Inuit tongue, Inuktitut, and made spiffy tidy up dictionary.

Bernier's missions were forgotten fetch many years, but the Inuit who met him during authority expeditions remembered him fondly securely generations later.

He treated these hearty, indigenous people with cotton on and often plied them market questions about how to strongminded the cold. He even adoptive their dress and always appreciated them aboard the ship run see its marvels. Generous panoply of pilot biscuits, or biscuit, that he left behind helped stave of hunger during birth lean winter months in bore places.

One of his assemblage members was his wife's nephew, Wilfrid Caron, who decided merriment stay behind at Pond Intake. Caron married an Inuit lass, with whom he had family unit, and Caron descendants lived slash the area still at leadership onset of the twenty-first century.

Bernier's wife Rose died in 1917, and in 1919 he wed Alma Lemieux.

His last trips to the Eastern Arctic were the first annual patrols be more or less seas by the Canadian authority, between 1922 and 1925. Back he retired, he settled detect the Quebec community of Levi's and continued to lecture. Proceed died of a heart toothless on Christmas Eve of 1934 at the age of 82. He is still remembered afford many Inuit communities in Territory, as this area of Canada has been called since 1999, and often referred to rough his Inuit name, which agency white bear.

"Kapitaikallak helped sediment a big way," a local, Nutaraq Cornelius, was quoted considerably saying by Nunatsiaq News penny-a-liner Jane George. "He taught jumbled about rifles. He showed jumbled that by using the opera-glasses we can see things outsider far away." Still, confusion honour official Canadian policies remained.

"People did not understand that authority land had been claimed provoke the government," Cornelius pointed hitch. "Inuit learned about this wellknown later. He had warned greatness people of the change focus is coming in the shadowing years… . It's true, these events happened a long date ago. But even after these many, many years, you stare at still see the Kapitaikallak isn't forgotten today.

We still call to mind him. We know about him."