Gunnar Kaasen (#71)

Background

Gunnar E. Kaasen was born on March 11, 1882 in Burfjorddalen, Norway, the son of Hans and Anna Kaasen. In 1903, Kaasen headed to the United States to mine for gold, after the discovery of gold in Cape Nome in 1898. Although the gold rush was over by 1905, Kaasen was able to find work in Nome as a musher, or dog sledder. The work was profitable and in high demand because the port of Nome is usually ice locked between October and June each year.

Great Race of Mercy

In 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria spread rapidly through the city of Nome. Many of Nome's residents, especially the Inuit children of the town, had little to no immunity to diphtheria and needed medicine. Unfortunately, Nome's diphtheria antitoxin supply had run out. With no trains, no planes, and a frozen port, Alaskan Governor Scott Bone decided that the only way to get serum to Nome was to transport it from Anchorage to Nome by dogsled. The 674 mile (1,085 km) trek was divided up into twenty legs, each manned by a different musher and a different team of dogs. Gunnar Kaasen was scheduled to run the second-to-last leg of the route with his dog Balto and twelve other huskies. By the time the antitoxin reached Kaasen, the route was covered by a massive storm. It was said to be so bad that Kaasen could not see the dogs closest to the sled and that the winds almost blew the serum off of the sled. At 2am on February 2nd, Kaasen reached the end of his leg. Because Kaasen reached the end of his leg ahead of schedule, the next musher, Ed Rohn, was asleep and no one was at the transfer location to meet Kaasen,so despite the storm, the cold, and his tired dogs, Kaasen led his dogs onward to complete not just his own leg, but the remaining 25 miles (40 km) to Nome as well. Kaasen reached Nome at 5:30am. Kaasen and his dog team had traveled 54.3 miles (87 km) total. Kaasen delivered the serum to Dr. Curtis Welch, who destributed the serum. There were no further deaths from the disease in the city after that.

The End

Kaasen received a medal from the Governor of the Alaska Territory and a daily wage of $30 dollars from the government along with all other mushers. Kaasen himself became a celebrity along with his dog Balto, whose statue is now standing in Central Park in New York City. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates the 1925 serum run. Kaasen moved to Everett, Washington in 1952, where lived until his death on November 27, 1960.

Leif Ericson (#76)

Leif Ericson

Background

Leif Ericson was born sometime in the 1070s in Iceland, where his parents, Erik the Red and Thjodhild, met. Ericson's grandfather, Thorvald Asvaldsson, had been banished from Norway for manslaughter. Following his path, Ericson's father, Erik the Red, had gotten himself banished from Iceland for the same reason. When Erik was banished in 986, Leif went along with him to Greenland, where he grew up in the colony of Tyrker.

Adulthood

In 999, Ericson traveled from Greenland to Norway, but he got blown of course and had to spend several months in the Hebride archipelago. While in the Hebrides, he met noblewoman Thorgunna, with whom Leif had a child, Thorgils, with. When he made it to Norway, he became the hirdman, or armed companion, of King Olaf Tryggvason. While in Norway, Ericson converted to Christianity and was given the mission to bring Christianity to Greenland.

Finding America

From here, two separate stories of Ericson's life start. One story, from the Book of Icelanders, states that while on his way to Greenland as a missionary, he was blown of course towards America. The other story, found in the Saga of the Greenlanders, states that Leif heard the story of Bjarni Herjolfsson, a Norse merchant who claimed to have seen land west of Greenland. Leif, with a boat and crew, went off in search of this land. Either way, Leif went west of Greenland, landing on three different islands. First, he found a rocky, desolate place he called Helluland, which was probably Baffin Island. He then found a forested island he called Markland, which was most likely the island of Labrador. Finally, in 1001, he found Vinland, which was most likely Newfoundland, which he named after the abundance of grapes, which were probably just berries. On Vinland, Ericson founded a settlement called Leifsbudir, which, after a little while, was abandoned, most likely due to strained relations with local Native Americans.

The End

It is unknown how Ericson died, but it was probably around the year 1020 in Greenland. Ericson is on our list because of his claim to the discovery of America. His claim to the throne is about 500 years earlier than Columbus.

William Wallace (#96)

Background 

Sir William Wallace was born around the year AD 1272 as a minor member of the Scottish nobility. In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland died after falling off his horse. Margaret, Maid of Norway, was the heir to the throne, but she became sick while on the voyage from Norway and died in Orkney. The lack of an heir led to "the Great Cause", a period of time in which several families claimed to be heir to the throne. With the threat of civil war, the Scottish nobility invited King Edward of England to arbitrate, though he insisted on being called Lord Paramount of Scotland. In November of 1292, John Balliol as found to have the strongest claim to the throne. King Edward reversed the rulings and summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. When Balliol refused, Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, a Scottish border town, defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Edward forced Balliol to abdicate and instructed the almost 2,000 Scottish nobles to pay homage to the King of England. This attack by Edward began the First War of Scottish Independence.

Uprising and War

Wallace's first known act of revolt was in 1297, when he assassinated William de Heselrig, an English Sheriff. With the help of William the Hardy, Wallace raided Scone as well. Uprisings had taken place throughout Scotland, but most nobles were forced to submit at Irvine in July of 1297. Wallace and the noble, Andrew Moray, continued to rebel, joining forces in September of 1297 around the time of the siege of Dundee. Wallace and Moray, to put the odds in their favor, abandoned the ideas of chivalric warfare, strength in arms, and knightly combat. Instead, they used opportunistic tactics and strategic use of terrain. Moray and Wallace's first major victory was at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September of 1297. In this battle, an English army, under the command of John de Warenne, tried to cross to the northern side of the Stirling bridge. The Scottish, waiting on the other side, were easily able to defend the northern side of the bridge from the English infantry. When the cavalry was sent in to aid the infantry, it was unable to get across the bridge due to all the retreating infantry men. When the battle was won,Moray and Wallace took the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on behalf of King John Balliol, though Moray died later in 1297. The English attempted to draw Wallace out in the open by invading Edinburgh as well as several strategic castles. Wallace, using hit and run and scorched earth tactics, continued to elude the English until April of 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace arranged his men into schiltrons, where they used spears, sharpened stakes,and shields to create a protective shell around them, but Welsh long bowman broke these schiltrons and English cavalry was able to break up groups of Scottish archers. The Scottish had a devastating defeat at the Battle of Falkrik, and even though Wallace survived, he gave up the title of Guardian of Scotland to Robert the Bruce and John Comyn of Badenoch. Wallace continued to play an essential role in the war, attempting to get support from King Philip IV of France as well as from Rome and Norway. 

The End

Wallace as able to elude the English until August of 1305, when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over the English soldiers. Wallace was brought to London, where he was tired for treason. Wallace, in response to the charges, said, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject," implying that John Balliol was still Wallace's king. On August 1305, Wallace was stripped naked, dragged through London by a horse, then was hanged, drawn and quartered, and beheaded. His head as put on a pike on London Bridge. In 1328, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed, which ended the First Scottish War for Independence, established Scotland as a fully independent nation, and put Robert the Bruce on the throne of Scotland. William Wallace is on our list of important people because he was the victor, but not the victor. Like Joan of Arc, Wallace did not get to see the fruit of his labor and was even killed for his cause, but he stood up for his cause when nobody else could and played an essential role in the War of Scottish Independence.

Roald Amundsen (#103)

Childhood

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born on July 16th, 1872, the forth son of his father, Jens Amundsen. He came from a Norwegian family of shipowners and captains. Due to the wishes of his mother, Amundsen studied to be a doctor, but chose a life at sea when his mother died when he was 21.

Belgian Antarctic Expedition

 In 1897, Amundsen went on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition. When the expedition's ship, the Belgica, froze in the ice, the crew of the ship became the first people to spend a winter in Antarctica. The crew survived due to the crew's doctor, the American Fredrick Cook,who hunted for fresh meat, thus saving the crew from scurvy. This would be a lesson Amundsen would use in his later expeditions.

Discovering the Northwest Passage

 In 1903, Amundsen set out to traverse the Northwest Passage, through Canada. On this trip, Amundsen learned how to use sled dogs and of the use of animal skin coats. The 45-ton fishing ship, Gjoa, was a perfect ship for the mission because it was small enough to travel through the shallow waters encounter, which sometimes got as low as 3 ft. deep. Amundsen became the first person to pass through the Northwest Passage in 1906, when he reached Nome, Alaska.

The South Pole

Amundsen, in 1909, was setting up to go to the North Pole, but when news reached him that Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had both reached the Pole, he decided to go to the South Pole. He kept his intentions secret from almost everybody, leaving Oslo on June 3rd, 1910. He did, however, send a telegram to his competitor, Englishman Robert F. Scott, that he was heading for Antarctica as well. Amundsen reached Antarctica on January 14th, 1911, where he created his base camp, Framheim. Using his prior learning about expeditions in frozen lands, Amundsen used fur-skin coats instead of wool coats and travelled by dog sled. Amundsen used the dogs he brought for warmth, transportation, and food. On his first attempt, cold weather had forced the team to head back to the base came, but on his second attempt to get to the South Pole, which Amundsen brought four sleds and 52 dogs on, Amundsen made it to the South Pole on December 14th, 1911. The team made it back to Framheim with only 11 of the dogs surviving. 

The Northeast Passage and the North Pole

Amundsen, in 1918, began a trip to find the Northeast Passage, over Russia. His plan was to freeze his ship in ice and have it float over or near the North Pole to the Pacific. This plan did not work, and the only thing that Amundsen came back with was a broken arm and body attacked by polar bears. Amundsen, in 1925, attempted to make it to the North Pole by plane. In 1926, Amundsen and his crew made it to the North Pole. This not only made Amundsen the fourth expedition leader to reach the North Pole, but the first person to fly a plane so far North.

The End

On the 18th of June in 1928, Amundsen was flying a rescue mission to retrieve Rene Guilbaud, a French pilot. It was on that day that Amundsen disappeared, never to be seen again. Most believe that Amundsen crashed, but in the two attempts by the Royal Norwegian Navy to find his plane (2004, 2009), the wreckage was never found. Amundsen is on our list because of several reasons. First, Amundsen was the first sailor to sail the Northwest passage, succeeding where Columbus, Cabot, Cartier, and Hudson had failed. He also was the first person to reach the South Pole even though Robert F. Scott started an English expedition to the South Pole before him. His discovery expanded our knowledge of the Arctic, the Antarctic, and how to survive both.

Erik the Red (#114)

Childhood

Erik Thorvaldsson was born around 950 A.D. in Norway. Erik was the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, but is better known as Erik the Red, probably due to his red hair. Thorvald was exiled from Norway for committing manslaughter, so he and his family, including Erik, moved to Iceland.

Life

Erik, after marrying a woman named Thjodhild, moved to the island of Oxney. After finishing his house, he went back to a man named Thorgest to retrieve some, setstokkr, or items of mystical importance that he had given Thorgest to keep safe. When Erik wasn't given his setstokkr, he took some from Thorgest's house, though it is unknown whether they were Thorgest's or Erik's. When Thorgest followed Erik, two of Thorgest's sons were killed by Erik along with several others. Erik was thus exiled from Iceland for three years. Erik then moved west, and is one person credited with discovering Greenland, though he was definitely the first person to settle there. Greenland got its name from Erik. The whole name was part of an advertisement scheme to draw people to Greenland even though it was very cold and icy there. Erik created the settlement of Eystribyggo in Greenland where the settlement grew to the size of 5,000 with Erik as their leader.

The End

Erik the Red died  around the year 1003 A.D. He is important for discovering Greenland, creating one of the largest advertisement lies in history, and for having the son, Leif Erikson, who would later be one of the many discoverers of America.