Letter from Alfred J. T. Taylor to James Horace King, 25 April 1922

A particular friend of mine, Mr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the Arctic Explorer, will be in Ottawa shortly, and is looking forward with special pleasure to the opportunity of meeting you; so in the meantime, I thought you would like to know at first hand the real story in connection with the expedition which Mr. Stefansson sent last Fall to claim Wrangell Island for the Empire.

I met Mr. Stefansson some three years ago on one of his lecture tours through British Columbia, and became a friend of his, and last year, while on business in Reno, (not seeking a divorce), Stefansson and I met again, he being on a Chatauqua lecture tour . He was good enough to take me fully into his confidence in regard to a plan he had of sending a private expedition to Wrangell Island as quickly as possible in order to claim the Island before it was taken up by some other Nation. I was particularly impressed with the broad patriotic spirit behind this enterprise, and gave Mr. Stefansson what little assistance I could in forming the Stefansson Arctic Exploration & Development Company, with head office in Vancouver.

All the money for this company was supplied by Mr. Stefansson in person, and he arranged to send a party of four men by passenger steamer to Nome, and then by a chartered small boat from Nome to Wrangell Island, where they landed in September. The party was in charge of a Mr. Allan Crawford, a young Toronto boy, and it was necessary to do everything just as quietly as possible, as any publicity might have resulted in a rush being made for the Island on behalf of some other Nation who might desire to claim it.

You are familiar with the facts as to the discovery and exploration of Wrangel Island. Captain Kellett of the British Navy discovered it in 1849 and it was named Kellett Land on the charts. Under international law this gave the British a claim to Wrangle Island for five years but that claim lapsed in 1854 when up to that time the British had given no indication that they would follow up the discovery by occupation.

Wrangel Island was sighted by Captain Long of the American whaling fleet in 1869. This mere sighting of an island already discovered gave rise under international law to no claims on behalf of any country. Captain Long’s voyage is interesting chiefly through a slip he made in announcing that he had discovered a land which really was then known to exist. I think it was in this connection that he suggested the place should be called Wrangel Island, in honour of the Russian explorer, Baron Wrangel, who in the third decade of the 19th century had heard rumours of an undiscovered land to the north of Siberia but had failed to find it.

The summer of 1881 two American ships landed on Wrangel Island, the "Corwin" for a few hours, and the "Rodgers" for two or three weeks. The "Rodgers" made a map of the island which, like the previous British claim, would have led to permanent ownership if followed up within five years. Like the British earlier, the Americans showed no sign of interest in Wrangel Island and, accordingly, that claim lapsed in 1886.

From this time on no one is known to have landed upon the island although whaling ships sailed within sight of it occasionally. The first landing subsequent to '81 was made by the officers and crew of the Canadian Government ship "Karluk", of Mr. Stefansson's 1913-1918 expedition. They landed in February, 1914, and remained until September. On July 1st, 1914, they formally raised the British flag and re-asserted British rights to the island.

Mr. Stefansson’s men left Wrangle Island in September, 1914, and the British claim based on that occupation and re-assertion of possession lapsed according to the above cited principle of international law in September, 1919.

Meantime, Mr. Stefansson had been conducting in Canada a campaign to arouse Canadians to the idea that the

The Hon. J. H. King. -2- April 25/22.

most northerly possessions are valuable. In that connection he urged the Canadian Government to follow up their Wrangel Island work before some other nation stepped in and occupied the island. The nation he had particularly in mind was Japan. Mr. Stefansson has the greatest respect for the shrewdness of the Japanese and had some private information in addition to what everyone possesses through the newspapers to show that they were extending their commercial and other operations steadily northward into Siberia. He thought it would be likely that within a few years they would see the value of Wrangel Island. Probably no nation would have protested against such Japanese action, for there would have been no legal or reasonable ground of protest. Furthermore, had there been such a protest and had the ease been submitted either to Impartial arbitration or to an international court, the decision would certainly have been in favour of the Japanese (or whoever had occupied the island subsequent to the lapse of British claims in 1919).

You have no doubt seen the recent newspaper accounts of the claiming of Wrangel Island for the British, and the many other interesting details of the story I will leave to Mr. Stefansson to tell you when you meet in Ottawa.

I feel, however, you would like to have before you the information I have given you in this letter, and to know that I regard Mr. Stefansson as one of the outstanding figures in the scientific world to-day, actuated by the broadest patriotic motives, and desirous of doing anything in his power to awaken Canada to the great value of her Northern possessions.

The expedition just referred to, financed entirely by Mr. Stefansson's own expense, with no serious commercial side and from his point of view entirely for the purpose of continuing the British occupation of the extremely important Wrangel Island, is an example to others who have far greater means. Up to the present the expedition to Wrangel Island has cost something over $20,000., and the expense of retaining the party of four men on the Island, where they will be until well on in the summer, is still being borne by Mr. Stefansson personally.

I hope that you are not working too hard at Ottawa in the carrying of the much increased responsibilities, and that you will have occasion from time to time of coming back to visit us in British Columbia, and that on your next trip I may have the pleasure of seeing you. Meanwhile, with all kind regards, I remain,