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An Old Cannibal Story

Winnipeg Daily Sun, Friday, September 5, 1884, p. 1, col. 7

AN OLD CANNIBAL STORY.

A MEMBER OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION KILLED FOR FOOD.

BUFFALO, Sept. 1.—A morning paper here prints the following despatch from Cincinnati about an interview with John D. Caldwell, an old and respected citizen, in which it is stated, and it is believed for the first time publicly, that Captain McClintock, of the Sir John Franklin Arctic expedition, was shot and his body eaten by his starving companions. Mr. Caldwell's story is that soon after the return of Captain Hall from his expedition for the rescue of Sir John Franklin and his men Lady Franklin came to Cincinnati to learn from Captain Hall by a personal interview what he had ascertained in regard to her husband. She was accompanied by a Miss Sophia Cracraft who was engaged to Captain McClintock, and who was to have been married to him on his return from the Franklin Expedition. The two ladies pressed Captain Hall for information or speculation regarding their absent loved ones, who by that time were generally believed to be dead. After a second interview with the ladies Captain Hall took dinner with Mr. Caldwell and family. In speaking of Miss Cracraft's earnest enquiries for mementoes of her lost lover Captain Hall said: "I could not tell her of Captain McClintock's horrible fate." A little later, when speaking to Mr. Caldwell alone, he rehearsed what he had learned from an esquimaux who was with the Franklin party. Suppressing his voice almost to a whisper, he said: "Captain McClintock was shot and eaten by the others for food. They had reached the point of starvation where it became a question whether all should perish or one should die that the others might live. The agreement was unanimous that lots should be drawn, to see who should die first, and the fatal lot fell to Captain McClintock. He yielded with composure to his fate. He was shot, and his body became food for the others." Whether the shooting of the others followed by lot, Mr. Caldwell says, Captain Hall did not state. He was requested to keep what had been related to him an entire secret, which he had done until to-day. The stories of cannibalism on the part of the survivors of the Greely expedition recalled Mr. Hall's story forcibly to Mr. Caldwell's mind, and at this late date he considers it no breach of faith to relate what he heard.

Citation

Winnipeg Daily Sun, Friday, September 5, 1884, p. 1, col. 7. Source: University of Manitoba Digital Collections, object uofm:2763730.

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'An Old Cannibal Story', Rediscovered After 142 Years

He Was Eaten

An Absurd Arctic Story

McClintock Was Not Eaten