Hall Charles Francis 
(1821–08.11.1871)

American journalist, arctic explorer. 
Born in Rochester, New Hampshire into a blacksmith family. 
Through hard work, Hall achieved recognition of his abilities: at the age of 30 he became the publisher of a major newspaper in Cincinnati.The man of a lively and energetic character. Hall was ardently interested in the report about the discovery by F. McClintock of theremnants of the missing expedition of J. Franklin. Not without the participation of G. Grinnell, he became a staunch opponent of the opinion that none of this expedition was left alive. 
After the McClintock expedition, the Admiralty and the British government considered that the question of searching for Franklin could be removed from the agenda, and they stopped to subsidize new attempts. In this regard, Hall said that the place of the British will now be taken by enterprising Americans. 
Using his position as a publisher, Hall began to propagate the need to equip a new search expedition, but he could not collect the necessary amount of funds. This did not stop him, and he developed a plan according to which participants should live as a local population, Eskimos, using only what the Arctic can provide. In addition, life among the Eskimos will allow you to perfectly study their language, which is necessary for inquiring about the missing expedition. Hall did not trust the information received by McClintock through translators, believing that poor knowledge of the language could lead to a misinterpretation of the information transmitted by the Eskimos. 
On March 8, 1860, Hall made a report at a meeting of the American Geographical and Statistical Society about the plan for his expedition. The report elicited universal approval. Two residents of New London donated the ship "Joseph Henry" to Holl. 
On May 29, 1860, the Hall ship under the command of Captain S. Baddington left New London and more than forty days after the tedious route arrived on Baffin Land. After visiting several points on its east coast, they entered the Frobisher Strait (later Hall found it to be a bay), where they were going to make a stop, but it so happened that they were forced to stay there for the winter. 
Hall quickly made friends with the locals, among whom, fortunately, was a married couple who spoke English. It was very useful, since the only translator taken by Hall suddenly died on the way from America. 
In early January 1861, Hall set off on his first trip, which lasted more than a month and took place in extremely difficult conditions. With the onset of spring, Hall began to make regular trips to the wintering areas and, with the help of his wonderful translators, obtained information about the visits of white people from the natives. Along the way, he himself studied the local language. 
From the Eskimos, Hall learned of the existence of the remains of some big expedition and at the end of May made a trip to the indicated place. The trip was extremely successful. Hall discovered the site of a large expedition that visited the western coast of Baffin Earth about 300 years ago. Comparing the stories of the Eskimos with the data of his reference book, Hall was convinced that this was an expedition of the famous English sailor M. Frobisher who visited Baffinov Earth three times during 1576–1578. In the Eskimo traditions, a lot of information was kept about these long-term visits, which instilled in Hall confidence to receive even more complete information about the Franklin expedition. 
According to his plan, Hall intended in the autumn of 1861 to take a boat trip to  King-William Island, but the captain convinced him of the riskiness of such a long hike. Hall decided to postpone it for a year, return to the United States and start preparing a new expedition. 
However, it was not possible to return. The Davis Strait was clogged with ice, and the travelers, to their inexpressible chagrin, remained for the second wintering. During her no significant trips did not take place. People suffered severely from hunger and cold and were not capable of active actions. The only exception was Hall himself, fully adapted to the life of the Eskimos. He ate their food, recognizing it as excellent, while everyone else refused it, disgusted, preferring to endure the pangs of hunger. 
Finally, in early August 1862, the ship was freed from ice, and as early as September 13, the Hall arrived in New London. An Eskimo couple came with him, who then took an active part in the preparation of the new expedition. 
July 1, 1864 on the ship "Monticello" under the control of the same captain Baddington Hall went on the second expedition. At home, he realized that very few people in the world are already engaged in clarifying the fate of the Franklin expedition. This caused him sadness, but at the same time it strengthened in an effort to find out as much as possible. In his diary, Hall wrote: "Again, I am returning to their country, but now I can talk with them, I can live among them ... I can patiently study all the countries where one can assume that Franklin's people passed and died". 
Through the Hudson's Bay "Monticello" arrived in the Ros-Welcom Strait. Hall landed in the mouth of a narrow  Wedger Bay, where with his Eskimo assistants built snow huts, in which they spent the winter. 
After wintering, Hall moved to the north to Repulse Bay. He was not particularly in a hurry, as on the eve of the big trip to King-William Island he wanted to get used to the situation and the people with whom he was to act. In the summer, limited to boat inspection hall. Repals, and in the fall, they began preparations for the trip planned for the next spring. 
During the winter, Hall successfully hunted deer and seals, fishing with the Eskimos, collecting food and clothing for the upcoming long trip. 
It turned out to be very difficult to negotiate with the Eskimos regarding their participation in the campaign. They did not understand all the responsibility of the upcoming enterprise and treated it very lightly, then agreeing, then refusing. As a result, the expedition included a married couple devoted to Hall, as well as two families with women and small children. Hall learned the nature of the Eskimos and loved them, knowing that they would help him out in a difficult situation, but he was not deceived about their obedience. They were not his subordinates, which can be ordered, moreover, he himself depended on them. 
We performed on March 31, 1866 and moved north through the Isthmus Rae. They moved very slowly, the frequent bad weather, the illness of one of the small children created permanent delays. Only on April 26, was it possible to pass the isthmus and reach the very uneven ice of Kommitti Bay. Two days later they reached Cape Wayton.Hall recalled with regret that Rae spent only five days on the same passage in 1854. 
Not far from Cape Wayton, they met Eskimos, who had things from Franklin's ships. On the spoons were the letters "F.R.M.C" - the initials of Captain F. Crozier, whom the Eskimos called Agluk. It turned out that they were visiting the “Big Head”, Franklin, after spending spring and summer near the ships. They described Franklin as a broad-shouldered old man, full, with gray hair and baldness, glasses in front of his eyes. During the last meeting, he limped and seemed ill. 
Later the ship on which they saw the “Big Chief” was crushed by ice. People headed by the new “Big Head”, Agluka, did not have time to unload all the food and then died of starvation on the way to the Big Fish River. The other ship was not destroyed. When the Eskimos took the risk to enter him, they didn’t find people and seized everything they could with him, first of all guns, gunpowder and bullets. Hall also learned that last year the Eskimos wandering in the area found two sledges on the sleigh, in which there were dead white people. 
Hall was very satisfied with the information received. From the items available to the Eskimos, he bought a mahogany case from a barometer, spoon, fork and other trifles. 
Other news from the Eskimos turned out to be detrimental to his enterprise. The Eskimos told that where the expedition goes, people die of starvation or die at the hands of cannibals. This message completely demoralized Hall's satellites, and they refused to go further. 
On May 5 we went back and, having laid two food warehouses for the next year, returned to the Repuls Bay on May 25.  
Summer 1866 Hall devoted to the examination  Repuls Bay.  It was a whale service based in this bay. Given the experience of the last trip, Hall decided not to attract more Eskimos, but to hire white satellites among whalers. 
In February 1867, he agreed with the captains to provide him with people, but in April, when it came to departure, they refused him, citing the proximity of the whaling season. Hike on  King William Island broke again. In the spring and summer of 1867, Hall spent in checking previously laid grocery stores and preparing food. 
Even before the end of the winter of 1867–1868, preparations for a new march were completed. But Hall, it would seem, unexpectedly postpones a trip to King-William Island and decides to explore the northern part of the Melville Peninsula in the area of the Fury and Hekla Strait. The fact was that in the last days of October 1867 he was told that one Eskimo saw not far from the island Igloulik ¹ in the eastern entrance to the Strait of Fury and Hekla two stone structures, much larger in size than those built by the natives. After additional inquiries, it became clear that in the same area in 1864 the Eskimos met white people. Naturally, Hall could not disregard such information. He considered it very likely that not all sailors continued the disastrous journey to the Great Fish River. 
On March 23, 1868, Hall set out on a campaign with the Eskimos loyal to him and one English sailor. They crossed to the northeastern direction of the Melville Peninsula and moved north along the shores of Fox Bay. Inquiries of the Eskimos encountered along the way further strengthened Hall’s hope for pleasant discoveries. He had already anticipated a meeting with the surviving companions of Franklin.

[1] The name in 1821 gave W. Parry by the name of the “beautiful and sensible” young Eskimo woman, who drew for him the correct map of the wintering area. 
April 24 reached the point of 69º 47.5′N and 85º 15′W. It was the northernmost point to which Arctic explorers reached from the mainland. We found a monument (Gury) standing on a hill between the two branches of the river, the place of the warehouse and the traces of the two camp sites. In search of a sign or message, the Gurii were dismantled, but they did not find anything. The place of the warehouse was covered with a multimeter layer of densely packed snow. Turning huge blocks of snow, dug deep holes, but could not get to the warehouse. Although Hall’s wildest hopes did not come true, he did not waste time and energy: one of the camp sites clearly belonged to white people. Having only two days of food, Hall was forced to return. On the way back, he put the north-western section of the coast of Melville Peninsula on the map, filling the gap in the Admiralty map. This also helped to ease the chagrin of not being able to obtain any written or material evidence of the presence of Franklin expedition members here. 
Upon his return, Hall had to part with the sailors he hired, who, taking advantage of the terms of the contract, decided to return to their homeland. Hall himself decided not to retreat, and next year, at any cost, finally make a trip to  King William Island. 
With the onset of winter 1868 - 1869. he began to prepare for this journey, which was to be the last before returning to the United States. Preparation was carried out as always carefully and scrupulously, special attention was paid to the creation of a large stock of food. 
“Now to King William’s Land” - such a record appeared in Hall’s diary at the end of March 1869. He again failed to gather a detachment of white men; ten Eskimos went with him, including three women and two children. 
After leaving to Committi Bay, Hall intended to immediately turn west to King-William Island, but at the insistence of his companions, he was forced to go north-west to Pelly Bay. Moved more slowly than he wanted. The Eskimos deliberately lingered with preparations, assured of the need for rest for dogs, arguing about the choice of the road. Hall recorded in his diary: "If I ever reach the ultimate goal of my journey with such an undisciplined detachment - it will be a great feat." 
In the Pelly Bay area, the squad met with local residents, in the igloo of which Hall saw many items from the civilized world. According to the Eskimos, they found them on a large ship on Kikitung (the Eskimo name of the island is King William). The ship sank, but not because it was crushed by the ice, but because of the hole in the board just above the waterline, which the Eskimos made by extracting wood. They also said that many of the white corpses found on King William Island had their arms and legs cut off, which were apparently eaten by their starving comrades. One of the Eskimos said that two of the white people, one of whom was Agluka, lived much longer than the others.They, almost dying, the Eskimos provided assistance, although they themselves almost did not have food that year. 
The satellites of Hall, frightened by stories about a bad hunt in the area of King William Island and the death of many residents, did not want to go any further. Hall had cost many nervous efforts to persuade them to continue their journey. On April 18, they stopped near the lake at 68° 30'22" N and 91° 31' W , where they were able to successfully hunt musk oxen. On April 30, they approached the village of Eskimos, who also had many items from Franklin ships. After staying there On May 8, Hall moved on. He was in a hurry, as his companions decided to return to Repulse Bay within the next two weeks. 
When the land looked so eagerly awaited, Hall wrote in his diary: "What a wonderful feeling I have now, when my ten-year efforts have been crowned with success". During his stay on  King-William Island Hall, inquired by the Eskimos and his own search, found out about the death of approximately 79 sailors out of 105 who left the ships. Their bodies remained unburied, only some skeletons managed to get through deep and dense snow. Some of the remains were made of stone monuments, raised the American flag and gave weapons salute. 
The Eskimos told about the visits of a ship that was not crushed by ices, on which everything was in good repair, a lot of weapons were stored and, what is most strange, there was a stock of meat: “it was fat and reminded of Pemmican”. They also told about a meeting with Crozier, who was accompanied by people who were dragging big sleighs with a boat, as well as smaller sleighs with camp accessories and food. 
“It was late spring, as the ice was about to break. The sun was shining all the time. There were a lot of ducks and other birds on the lakes and puddles .... Crozier shot two geese. His companions also engaged in hunting. Agluka persistently tried to talk with the Inuit, but could only say very few words ... His message about the ship crushed by ice and dying people was fully understood only later ... He said that he was going to Ivillik, that is, Repuls Bay, pointing in that direction .... The Inuit left Crozier and his squad, although they knew leave starving people".  
Thus, Crozier did not go to the Great Fish River, as was said in his note, found in 1859 by Lieutenant Hobson from the McKlintok expedition. 
In the stories of the Eskimos there was also depressing information that they found a large number of different papers, which they considered to be rubbish and ruthlessly scattered, trampled or used for kindling. 
Hall intended to cross over to the mainland to Cape Richardson, where, according to the stories of the Eskimos, there was a tent, the floor of which was covered with corpses, but there was no time, as his companions insisted on returning. 
On May 16, they began their journey back, making short stops for questioning the locals and hunting. On June 20, the three-month journey ended. The results of the campaign were presented by Hall in a letter to G. Grinnell - the main conclusion was that Crozier, with part of the surviving sailors, moved not to the mouth of the Great Fish River, but to the east. In favor of this, one can cite the stories of the Eskimos of the Melville Peninsula. 
After the return of Hall, there was a lot of noise around his name. Despite his great services in the search for Franklin, he had many enemies who did not want to recognize him as a serious researcher and called him an "ignorant dreamer". Obviously, this opinion was completely unfounded and unfair. Critics did not like the unusual methods of Hall in the study of the Arctic, its emphasis on the active involvement of local residents. Honorable G. Grinnell gave an excellent testimonial to Hall, calling him a gullible and devoted man, an enthusiast, a wonderful explorer-traveler. 
Franklin's widow, Jane, wanted very much for Hall to continue her search, in particular, to find out the secret of the “crypt” that the Eskimos mentioned. But Hall has a new goal - reaching the North Pole. 
In 1869, he managed to convince the US Congress to equip a new expedition to the Arctic. For it was allocated a powerful screw tugboat "Polaris". In June 1871 the expedition left New York, entered the Baffin Sea through Davis Strait and moved along the western shores of Greenland. Having passed the Smith strait and the straits that continue it between Greenland and Ellesmere Island into the Arctic Ocean, the ship reached a latitude of 82 ° 26 ' N , which was a record for that time. Because of the heavy ice in the sea, which they named after US President Lincoln, they turned back and, after a long search, found a bay for wintering around 81° 36'N. The name Polaris was given to this bay, and the parking lot was called “Shelter Thanksgiving to God”. The shelter turned out to be unsuitable, as it was badly defended from the ice, and did not deserve thanks. During wintering polar explorers made several sled routes. Exhausted by heavy marches, Hall felt very ill, suffered from spasms of brain vessels, but did not reduce his workloads. The affair ended in a sudden death from apoplexy ².

This sharply negatively affected the entire course of the expedition. And without that, not very high discipline fell completely. No one thought about continuing research. In the summer, the polarized Polaris drifted slowly to the south. In October 1872, 19 crews left the ship and, after 195 days of wandering and wintering on the ice, reached the Labrador Sea, where they were shot by whalers. The remaining 14 people were forced to strand the damaged vessel. Having built a hut under 77° N , they spent there a polar night, continuing scientific observations. The following year, in two large boats, the sailors moved south and were also rescued by whalers. As a result, both groups were at home at about the same time. All returned alive and well with the exception of the boss. The behavior of the members of the expedition was the subject of litigation. 
[2] In 1967 Dr. Chancy Loomis of the University of Dortmund obtained permission for the autopsy of Hall’s remains, buried in Greenland. His conclusion - Hall was poisoned by arsenic.

After his death, Hall received universal recognition as one of the most remarkable researchers in the Arctic. 
Islands in Repulse Bay in the south of the Melville Peninsula in northeastern Canada.

The island (Gall) in the south of the archipelago Franz Josef Land. Opened and named in 1874 by Yu. Payer. In the Russian spelling of the name Hall there is a discrepancy.In the book by V.Yu. Vize “The Seas of the Soviet Arctic” in the text everywhere is “Hall Island”, but on the map (p. 124) is "Gall Island". On all Russian maps, too,  Gall Island.  Judging by the English "Hall", right - Hall.

An island in Committi Bay between the peninsulas of Butia and Melville. 
An island in the west of the Baffin Sea near the coast of Baffin Island in the Lemieux group of islands.

Peninsula in the south of Baffin Land. Discovered in 1576 by M. Frobisher. 
The peninsula (Holland) on the north-west coast of Greenland and the coast within it (Hall Land). Discovered in 1871 by the Hall expedition. 
Cape on the island of King William in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. 
Cape on the northwest coast of Fox Bay.

The basin is part of the strait between Greenland and Ellesmere Island - the Hall-Baysin Strait.
Bay on the coast of East Greenland.

Lake on the Melville Peninsula in northern Canada.