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[[File:Canada nwp.jpg|350px|right|thumb]]

[[File:Canada nwp.jpg|350px|right|thumb]]

The '''Northwest Passage''' is sea route of the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean via Canada's Arctic Archipelago.  A dream of explorers and merchants since the 15th century to find the shortest route to the riches of the Far East, the Northwest Passage was successfully navigated in 1906, after years of hardship and tragedy in one of the world's harshest environments.

The '''Northwest Passage''' is the sea route of the [[North America]]n continent between the [[Atlantic]] and [[Pacific]] Oceans via [[Canada]]'s Arctic Archipelago.  A dream of explorers and merchants since the 15th century to find the shortest route to the riches of the Far East, the Northwest Passage was successfully navigated in 1906, after years of hardship and tragedy in one of the world's harshest environments.

==Description==

==Description==

Prior to Columbus, trade goods came to Europe from China and India via overland routes like the Silk Road, which had its terminus in Constantinople.  The conquest of that city as well as much of the Middle East by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century prompted the first series of explorations westward by sea.  Before the 1490s had ended it had been realized that the new lands found by Columbus were not part of the Far East; this prompted Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1498 to sail to India by way of a southern voyage around Africa, and another Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, to sail to what was then called the East Indies (Indonesia) by going around the southern tip of South America and into the Pacific Ocean.

Prior to Columbus, trade goods came to Europe from China and India via overland routes like the Silk Road, which had its terminus in Constantinople.  The conquest of that city as well as much of the Middle East by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century prompted the first series of explorations westward by sea.  Before the 1490s had ended it had been realized that the new lands found by Columbus were not part of the Far East; this prompted Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1498 to sail to India by way of a southern voyage around Africa, and another Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, to sail to what was then called the East Indies (Indonesia) by going around the southern tip of South America and into the Pacific Ocean.

It was also realized that a northern route to the Far East would be shorter in terms of distance (about 8,000 miles) and time.  John Cabot was sent by King Henry VII in the first search for a northwestern passage, reaching Newfoundland in 1496, and making an attempt for Japan in a second, ill-fated expedition in 1498.  Exploration for the route would be in small steps; the Frenchman Jacques Cartier would chart the eastern Canadian coast and St Lawrence River; Sir Martin Frobisher explored the northern areas around Baffin Bay and attempted a colony at Frobisher Bay; and Henry Hudson would search for the passage in 1610, entering the vast bay which bears his name before being cast adrift by a mutinous crew in 1611.

It was also realized that a northern route to the Far East would be shorter in terms of distance (about 8,000 miles) and time.  John Cabot was sent by King Henry VII in the first search for a northwestern passage, reaching [[Newfoundland]] in 1496, and making an attempt for [[Japan]] in a second, ill-fated expedition in 1498.  Exploration for the route would be in small steps; the Frenchman [[Jacques Cartier]] would chart the eastern Canadian coast and [[St.Lawrence River]]; Sir [[Martin Frobisher]] explored the northern areas around Baffin Bay and attempted a colony at Frobisher Bay; and Henry Hudson would search for the passage in 1610, entering the vast bay which bears his name before being cast adrift by a mutinous crew in 1611.

Two centuries of trial and error at sea by explorers John Davis (1585), William Baffin (1615, 1616), Sir John Ross (1829-33), Sir William Parry (1819), Frederick William Beechey (1825-28), and Sir George Back (1836-37) did much to add to the knowledge of the Canadian Arctic; this was supplemented by overland explorers Henry Kelsey (1688-91), Samuel Hearne (1770-72), and Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1789) as they explored much of Canada west of Hudson Bay to the Arctic.

Two centuries of trial and error at sea by explorers John Davis (1585), William Baffin (1615, 1616), Sir John Ross (1829-33), Sir William Parry (1819), Frederick William Beechey (1825-28), and Sir George Back (1836-37) did much to add to the knowledge of the Canadian Arctic; this was supplemented by overland explorers Henry Kelsey (1688-91), Samuel Hearne (1770-72), and Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1789) as they explored much of Canada west of Hudson Bay to the Arctic.

The most tragic loss of life occurred during the [[Franklin expedition]] which began in 1845.  The British ships HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror'', under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin, made an attempt to complete the navigation of the passage; documents and evidence found later revealed both ships were trapped by ice within Victoria Strait west of King William Island and were subsequently abandoned, leaving 129 men to die of a combination of disease, starvation, and exposure by the time the first organized searches had begun for them in 1848<ref>http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf</ref>.  Franklin's ships would not be seen again until ''Erebus'' was discovered in 2014<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/03/hms-erebus-lost-ship-whose-crew-resorted-to-cannibalism-found-in-canadian-arctic/</ref>, and ''Terror'' in 2016<ref>http://www.livescience.com/56110-doomed-shipwreck-hms-terror-possibly-found.html</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt</ref>.

In the west [[James Cook]]'s last - and fatal - expedition (1776-1780), followed by [[George Vancouver]]'s meticulous coastal search during the summers of 1792 to 1794 failed to find a Pacific outlet for a passage.

The first one-way completion of sorts was begun by a Franklin searcher, Robert McClure, who had entered the passage from the Pacific in 1852 onboard ''Investigator''; his sailing progress was no better than Franklin's, having been icebound for two winters before he and the crew left the ship to sledge overland and meet up with another rescue ship that had come in on the Atlantic side in 1854.  The rescue ship - HMS ''Resolute'' - was herself part of a larger expedition that had hoped to find Franklin and his men; this expedition was itself locked in ice, and four of the ships, ''Resolute'' included, had to be abandoned.

The most tragic loss of life occurred during the Franklin expedition which began in 1845.  The British ships HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror'', under the command of Captain Sir [[John Franklin]], made an attempt to complete the navigation of the passage; documents and evidence found later revealed both ships were trapped by ice within Victoria Strait west of King William Island and were subsequently abandoned, leaving 129 men to die of a combination of disease, starvation, and exposure by the time the first organized searches had begun for them in 1848<ref>http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf</ref>.  Franklin's ships would not be seen again until ''Erebus'' was discovered in 2014<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/03/hms-erebus-lost-ship-whose-crew-resorted-to-cannibalism-found-in-canadian-arctic/</ref>, and ''Terror'' in 2016<ref>http://www.livescience.com/56110-doomed-shipwreck-hms-terror-possibly-found.html</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt</ref>.

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen - who would later be the first to reach the South Pole - became the first man to make a successful navigation of the Northwest Passage by sea.  Onboard ''Gjöa'', a converted herring trawler, Amundsen set sail in 1903 on a journey that lasted three years, ending in 1906 in Nome, Alaska.   

 

Norwegian explorer [[Roald Amundsen]] - who would later be the first to reach the [[South Pole]] - became the first man to make a successful navigation of the Northwest Passage by sea.  Onboard ''Gjöa'', a converted herring trawler, Amundsen set sail in 1903 on a journey that lasted three years, ending in 1906 in r

 

 

 

 

A passenger vessel, MV ''Imblad Explorer'', successfully made the passage in 1984. Today, modified cruise ships do it every year; often in both directions in a single season.

 

 

 

    

==Today==

==Today==

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Geography]]

[[Category:Geography]]

[[Category:Canada]]

[[Category:Canada]]

[[Category:American History]]

[[Category:American History]]