BEECHEY ISLAND Named after Frederick William Beechey, an explorer with the Royal Navy, this is one of Canada’s most important Arctic sites and has been deemed a Canadian National Historic Site. During the Franklin expedition of 1845–46, two of Franklin’s ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror , anchored here with perilous results. Three of Franklin’s crew died here and are buried at marked gravesites. BELLOT STRAIT The 1.2 mile (2 km) wide Bellot Strait separates Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula. During the transit, you sail past the northernmost point of mainland North America. CAPE MERCY In June 1585, British explorer John Davis (he of the Davis Strait) embarked on the first of three voyages to search for the legendary Northwest Passage. In August 1585, he reached this area at the northern
entrance to the Cumberland Sound and named it Cape of God’s Mercy. Now known as Cape Mercy, it’s the site of a dramatic glacial fjord.
CROKER BAY A nearby glacier actively calves off
chunks of ice, creating a birthing place for icebergs at Croker Bay. The bay was a popular stop during the 1800s, when a path to the Pacific (the Northwest Passage) was at the forefront of Arctic exploration. FORT ROSS In 1937, the Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post, named Fort Ross, on the southern coast of Somerset Island. Due to the harsh conditions and isolation of the post, it was closed in 1948. The store and manager’s house still stand. PANGNIRTUNG When the Hudson’s Bay Company built a trading post in Pangnirtung in 1926, local Inuit families moved to the tiny
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