History
Lady Franklin Bay is named for a Victorian woman Lady Jane Griffen Franklin, wife of famous British explorer Sir John Franklin who vanished from Baffin Bay beyond Lancaster Sound on the HMS Erebus in 1845 while attempting to trace the Northwest Passage. Sir John was lost within the Elizabeth Islands south of Ellesmere Island. Lady Franklin subsequently became internationally well known by financing several different rescue expeditions to search for Sir John.
Lady Franklin Bay reached press headlines in the United States in the period 1880–1884 after the US Army Signal Corps chose and specified that site for a base camp of men to make an attempt to reach the North Pole for the very first time. This effort was also to fulfill the US contribution to the 1881–1882 First International Polar Year. A party of 25 military men led by First Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely as Acting Signal Officer was successfully landed by the USS Proteus at Lady Franklin Bay in August 1881. A large frame structure was built on the northwest shore, and this home base camp was named Fort Conger. This overall effort was known as the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.
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