These three maps, by Markham 1880, Gould 1926, and Gibson 1937, show minor variations in the supposed line of retreat of Franklin's men along the Southern coast of King William Island then making a long crossing to the Adelaide Peninsula at the Todd Islands.While none is impossible, the question should be asked is why didn't they cross near Tulloch Point, where Simpson Strait is at its narrowest, before heading East along the North coast of the peninsula?
In any event the maps showing the route touching the tip of Ogle Point are to be questioned as the only relics discovered there were "a small piece of cod-line, and a strip of striped cotton, about two inches long and an inch broad" which were found in an Inuit cache. There is no reason to suppose they were deposited anywhere in that vicinity by the retreating crews.
Twentieth century finds of relics and human remains on the Adelaide Peninsula, plus Inuit testimony may suggest an alternative route.
Learmonth (1948):
"Mr. Learmonth and Mr. D. G. Sturrock discovered the remains of three men at Tikeraniyou (1) together with a George IV Half Crown and a large ivory sailor's button (Pootogo). The remains were taken to Goia Haven and the relics forwarded to Hudson's Bay House, Winnipeg. The place is a point of land shaped like a crooked finger, and is where the land bends round to the southwest, between 12 and 15 miles west of Starvation Cove."
Rasmussen (1933):
"Along the rest of the north coast of Adelaide Peninsula are the following named islands ... tikEranajuk (the little forefinger-like)..."
In 1926 Trader Peter Norburg reportedly found a skull with an oak sledge runner and fragments of Navy cloth and shoe leather at Thunder Cove. The skull was examined by archaeologist Henri-Marc Ami who wrote "I can come to no other conclusion but that is the skull of a man of modern European type, and presumably that of an Englishman."
Learmonth (1948):
Neniook, Eyaritituk's mother, about seventy years old, reported having come across the skeletons of seven white men still partly clothed in blue serge, and partly buried in the sand and seaweed on a small island in the vicinity of (2).
Based on these discoveries, David Woodman, in "Unravelling the Franklin Mystery, Inuit Testimony" has questioned what he refers to as the "standard reconstruction" of the retreat. Connecting these finds together produces a credible alternative route.
It seems reasonable that when Captain Crozier and the surviving officers of the Franklin expedition were planning their march to the mouth of Back's Fish River that they would have chosen the shortest route. The relics and remains suggest that at least some of the men, possibly the majority, took this path. That some of the party took a different track may be because they became lost in conditions of poor visibility or that they deliberately divided into groups to maximise the chance of finding sufficient game to sustain them by hunting. Using the 1839 cartography available to Franklin the best route to the Fish River seems obvious.
The viability of this route is underlined by its similarity to the track which Lt. Schwatka took on his return journey to Hudson's Bay in 1880.
