Walter E. Ekblaw

See the full finding aid of journals and records available here.

 

Journals

Crocker Land Journal; G
July 1 – December 4 1913.
Journal entries describing the first months of the expedition.

Personal Diary, September – November 1913, scattered entries into 1914
A three-ring binder with a diary kept as a letter to Ekblaw’s fiancée Augusta May. Includes humorous descriptions and sketches.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 10 December-January 1913-1914
December 6, 1913 – January 25, 1914.
Includes description of preparations for the Crocker Land trip and Ekblaw’s visit with Knud Rasmussen to examine a meteorite.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 2 Crockerland Trip
February – March, 1914.
First, failed attempt to reach Crocker Land.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 4 Summer 1914
April 26 – August 11, 1914.
Describing summer research at Umanak.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 3 Miscellaneous Botany
August 17 – 20, 1914.
Trip to Sutherland Island and Hayes Harbor.
August 22, 1914.
Attempted trip by motorboat to Cape Sabine and Flagler Fjord.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 6 Winter 1914-1915
November – December 1914, February 1915.
Includes a trip to Umanak in November and a trip to Petorawik in February.

Ellesmere and Grinnell Land Trip, 1915
Small notebook compiled to be a reference for the Ellesmere Island trip. Includes MacMillan’s letter of instruction, various maps, records of distances traveled and time taken to do so, and other notes.

Crocker Land Field notebook with notes on Ellesmere Island Trip Book I
March 24 – April 24 1915.
The first month of Ekblaw’s trip across Ellesmere Island.

Crocker Land Field notebook
April 26 – May 22 1915.
Second part of Ekblaw’s Ellesmere Island trip.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 5 Ellesmere Island Trip, March-June 1915 Book III
May 22 – June 16, 1915.
Describes events of the last part of his sledging journey to Ellesmere Island, from near Lake Hazen to Etah.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 66 November 19-23 1915
A brief trip with Mene (Minik) with a detailed description of Branch Glacier

Crocker Land Field notebook No 46 Field Diary April 3-June 13 [1916]
Journal entries describing life at Umanak in the spring of 1916, including Capt. Comer’s archaeological work.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 64 Field diary II 1916 June 13 – September 23
Journal entries for the summer of 1916 at Umanak, including plans for a trip south.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 62 Umanak, Thule references, Summer 1916
Inventories of supplies at Umanak in the summer of 1916, also a list of record albums given to Ootah.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 35 Geology September 24 1916 – January 14, 1917
September 24 1916 – January 14, 1917.
Includes the trip from Smith Sound to Upernavik.

Crocker Land Field notebook No 31 Geology Accessions January 15 – May 23, 1917
List of geological specimens, followed by journal entries for early 1917, when Ekblaw was in Upernavik and environs.

Diary, May 24 – August 22 1917
Journal entries for the last months of Ekblaw’s time in Greenland, including the arrival of the Neptune to pick him up.

Travelogue, 1917-1917
Notes regarding trip south, including inventory of books and equipment at Upernavik.

Daylogue for all Years, 1916-1918
Used in 1916, 1917, and 1918, with entries for each year written in a different color. Brief entries for most days 1916, less frequently in subsequent years.

Address Book 1912
Address book with notes on letters sent

 

Scientific Notes

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 33 Botany
Descriptions of locations where soil samples taken and discussion of environmental conditions at various location and their effect on soils.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 1 Botany accessions
List of botany accessions with date collected, environmental conditions, and location (most from Etah)

Botany field notes from the Crocker Land Expedition
Detailed notes about botanical studies at Umanak in the summer of 1916, including studies of blooming time of plants, distribution of plants in plots in different microenvironments, and a 100m transect from the shore inland.

Herbarium Statements
List of numbers and notes corresponding to numbers on herbarium sheets, for Martin Porsild, Danish Arctic Station in Disco. May refer to plant specimens given to Porsild.

List of Botanical Specimens
List of plant species with their growing conditions.

Scientific Observations
Notes on botanical specimens.

Geology Notes
An early (1911?) notebook compiled as a reference to use in the field.

Geology and Paleontology
Notes on the geology of Ellesmere Island, a study of the ice-foot at Etah, notes on geology between Etah and Umanak, and a list of possible geological studies.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 84 Glaciology and Meteorology
Includes detailed descriptions and drawings of glaciers

Crocker Land Journal: I; Meteorology
Various weather data, including thermometer readings every four hours during Sept. 18- November 15, 1914, at Etah, and February 24 – March 30 1916, at North Star Bay. Also includes ice thickness measurements, calculations of mean temperatures and other observations.

Ornithology, Summer 1916, Thule
Detailed notes on birds observed at Umanak in the summer of 1916.

Ornithology field notes from Crocker Land Expedition
Begins with notes from a minerology class. Ornithology records begin on p. 7. Detailed notes on bird sightings, banded birds, collecting specimens, including finding the first nest of the red knot.

Ornithology, South Upernavik, 1917
Notes on birds observed in the spring of 1917, at Upernavik.

Crocker Land Field notebook no. 72 Ornithology
Lists of bird species observed, with notes on little auks.

Crocker Land Field notebook no. 61 Vocabulary
List of English and Inuktun works, inventory lists, and a description of Inuit life.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 45 Boxes of Specimens MCT
Lists of specimens, many packed into re-purposed dog biscuit boxes.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 8 Miscellaneous Data, Library, Photographs
Includes a list of photographs taken.

Crocker Land Field notebook No. 18 Equipment
Notes on equipment needed for Arctic expeditions.