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Polar Exploration

20 artifacts in this set

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The staff at The Henry Ford

In the first four decades of the 20th century, polar explorers set off to discover what lay in the vast cold regions surrounding the North and South Poles. Their expeditions navigated a long-sought-for passage, crossed frozen oceans, charted a continent, and conquered the Earth's poles.

Detailed Description

Roald Amundsen, Commander of the Gjoa Expedition with Mrs. R.T. Lyng, Wife of the Norwegian Consul, 1906

Photographic print

For centuries, European explorers sought an easy trade route to Asia--one that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Many believed that a "Northwest Passage" existed along the northern coast of North America. But a maze of islands and frozen polar waters hindered the ultimate discovery and navigation of this longed-for route until early in the 1900s.