Dogs with Cache
As if foreseeing – or willing – that the South Pole would become the prize of the Norwegians, Amundsen’s house on the ice was christened “Framheim” (“Fram Home”) on February 5, 1911 – the day after the departure of the British expedition members and the Terra Nova. It was made as comfortable and homelike as possible, complete with gramophone for music and a well-stocked kitchen for cook Adolf Lindstrøm (Amundsen Expedition Diary).
A house-warming party was given on that day, with members of the sea party leaving the ship and joining the land party in their new residence for an evening of celebration. Some of the ship’s crew who attended wrote in their diaries that day that one of the highlights of the evening out on the barrier had been being driven back home to the ship on sleds, pulled by the dogs, and the dogs’ wearing sleigh bells, which made the ride through the snow that much more festive (Rønne 2011; Gjertsen 2011).
The following day of February 6, the 14 large, 16-man tents, which would house the dogs and hold the supplies at the Framheim home camp, were erected; and most of the material that was needed had all been fetched from the ship and dog-driven to the house by February 7th (Amundsen Expedition Diary). In the midst of the final transportation of equipment from the ship to the new house, Kristian Prestrud had a close call, wherein he became stranded on an ice floe with his sled and dog team (Prestrud 2011). Prestrud, who was fond of the dogs but was usually quite overwhelmed by them, would prove to have some challenges in working with his sled dogs.
On February 8, Roald Amundsen wrote his full expedition report regarding his sea voyage and arrival on the ice (Amundsen Expedition Diary). While documenting this report in his diary on February 8, he actually completed and dated the letter on February 9 (Amundsen Letters of Correspondence). In the typewritten “report,” he stated that he had brought 115 sled dogs onto the Great Ice Barrier, writing that “With our 115 dogs we have enough pulling power.” 1 In an accompanying letter to his brother Leon, dated February 7, he again specified the number of dogs to be 115, saying that they were situated at Framheim and that now everything was set for a winning success: “Here lies our cozy little house surrounded by 14 large 16-man tents. It looks quite impressive.” 2
On February 9, Amundsen bid farewell to the Fram and its sea crew, as the ship would most likely be gone by the time he had returned. For he had decided to go on the first depot run to seed the way south with food and supplies. The Fram, meanwhile, had to travel north, in order to escape any potential ice damage and to avoid becoming frozen in within the Ross Sea. Amundsen simply could not wait to set up the very first depot that would hold his stores of provisions for the coming trek to the South Pole. He would take with him Hjalmar Johansen, Kristian Prestrud, and Helmer Hanssen. And he would leave immediately (Amundsen Expedition Diary).
With the departure of the Fram from the Ice Barrier, you will take over the command on board. In accordance with the plan we have mutually agreed upon:
- 1.
You will sail direct to Buenos Aires, where the necessary repairs will be executed, provisions taken on board, and the crew completed. When this has been done,
- 2.
You will sail from Buenos Aires to carry out oceanographical observations in the South Atlantic Ocean. It would be desirable if you could investigate the conditions between South America and Africa in two sections. These investigations must, however, be dependent on the prevailing conditions, and on the time at your disposal. When the time arrives you will return to Buenos Aires, where the final preparations will be made for
- 3.
Your departure for the Ice Barrier to take off the shore party. The sooner you can make your way in to the Barrier in 1912, the better. I mention no time, as everything depends on circumstances, and I leave it to you to act according to your judgment… .
Having given Captain Nilsen his orders, which were in part to follow his – the Captain’s – own good sense and make his own judgements, Amundsen then turned his sights southward to the Pole’s path and the depots that needed to be established along the way.
The four men left Framheim on the morning of February 10 with 3 sleds and 18 dogs pulling loads that exceeded 560 kg. The weather was good, the surface was fine, and “The dogs pulled well,” 3 wrote Amundsen in his diary (Amundsen expedition diary). The climb from the bay ice shelf up to the barrier was quite steep and difficult, and four of the men remaining at Framheim helped the first depot party up onto the barrier before returning home again. From its position down in the bay, Fram waved its flags farewell to the party of men and dogs. The depot party then turned south (Johansen Expedition Diary; Hassel 2011).
Lieutenant Prestrud led the way on skis, with no sled or dogs – he was to serve as forerunner. Hanssen, Johansen, and Amundsen followed on sleds with six dogs each (Amundsen Expedition Diary; Johansen Expedition Diary; Hassel 2011).
Hanssen’s dog team most likely consisted of Mylius, Ring, Hok, Togo, Hai, and Rap. These six were his strongest dogs and so most likely were chosen to work this first depot trip. The twin brothers Mylius and Ring were the leaders; Hok and Togo and Hai and Rap were two pairs of the hardest-working dogs at Framheim (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 324–326).
Johansen’s dogs, as reported by him (Johansen expedition diary), were Uroa, Tigeren, and Rotta running in front and Skalpen, Gråen, and Knegten (short for Kløverknegt) running behind them nearest the sled. 4 Uroa (“Always Moving”) and Rotta (“The Rat”) were the two best friends whom he had trained on the ship, Tigeren (“The Tiger”) was the dog described as less vicious than his name would imply, and Skalpen (“The Scalp”) was the previously bald dog and one of the near-death dogs whom Johansen had brought back to life on the Fram. Gråen and Knegten (“The Jack,” short for “Jack of Clubs”) would be spoken more of later, as events developed.
Amundsen’s dog team, according to his diary and the book The South Pole, was made up of “The Three Musketeers” – Jens, Ola, and Rasmus – and “The Trio,” Lasse, Fix, and Snuppesen (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 221).
Johansen felt that his dogs pulled “pretty well” and that the weakest performance was shown by Amundsen’s “big strong team” of sled dogs, who, he felt, were “lazy,” as he confided to his diary. 5
Johansen’s opinion notwithstanding, all the dogs drove 15 nautical miles that day in −7° Celsius. It was a great start, thought Amundsen, and he was full of hope (Amundsen Expedition Diary).
The hopeful feeling continued the next day when the party climbed 500 feet and traveled 25 nautical miles. Although the dogs were “quite tired,” Amundsen was immensely pleased with their performance. “The dogs pull great,” he exclaimed in his diary on that day of February 11. “[I] do not understand, what the Englishmen are thinking, when they say that dogs cannot be used here. Better pulling-animals cannot be found under these circumstances.” 6 The dogs were indeed pulling well, but Amundsen himself was having some challenges. Johansen specifically pointed to Amundsen’s having a “very rough” time with his dog team and having to throw off some of his clothes as he was getting too overheated trying to work his dogs. 7
The next day, February 12, the sled dogs pulled the men and supplies 21.5 nautical miles before they began to grow weary. They were fed half a kilo of fish with half a kilo of blubber, while the men ate seal steaks (Amundsen Expedition Diary). Johansen reported that the men probably could have gone further, but, “for the sake of the dogs,” they stopped that day. 8
On the 13th, Amundsen again complimented the dogs’ performance as opposed to other animals or modes of transportation. Even the loose snow, he said, had no effect on the sled dogs. Each compliment he paid the dogs was also an affirmation of his own judgment and decision-making. “How men and horses will work together on this type of surface, I simply do not understand,” he exclaimed. “Not to mention automobiles.” 9 Johansen’s observation for that day was that the deep powdery snow caused the dogs to pull quite heavily in many places (Johansen Expedition Diary).
The following day, the dogs outdid themselves – the day’s total distance traveled was 40 nautical miles – 10 with full loads and 30 after unloading the sleds. The depot party had reached their goal, 80° South latitude, and the men now laid all their stores in a depot that they built on the spot, with flags marking the cache. The supplies in the depot included 12 cases of dog pemmican that alone weighed 480 kilos. The party began their return north, marking the path back from the depot with dried fish attached to wooden sticks – the dogs’ dried fish rations serving as the markers. By the end of the day, the dogs, deservedly, were tired (Amundsen Expedition Diary).
The return home continued the next day, with 51.5 nautical miles traveled. Helmer Hanssen led the way on his sled, followed by Johansen on his, which carried the men’s supplies, and then Amundsen and Prestrud on the sled that held the odometer wheel and the dried fish used for marking the way back from the depot. Amundsen’s sled was pulled by only four of his six dogs during the return trip. These dogs were “The Three Musketeers” – Jens, Rasmus, and Ola – plus Lasse. Fix and Snuppesen were not cooperating with Amundsen by this time, or he did not know how to engage their help. The last 10 nautical miles were filled with very deep and loose snow that the dogs found difficult but, according to Amundsen, managed to walk on nonetheless. “This was a fine performance from our dogs,” wrote Amundsen in his diary. “Certainly they shall measure up to ponies on the barrier.” With the weight of the load on his sled estimated at 200 kilograms, each of his four dogs pulled 50 kilos of weight, estimated Amundsen. “This is really nice work,” he concluded. 10 Johansen concurred, stating that the entire depot run was a tough job for the dogs, especially the last part of the road due to the deep, loose snow, where, in order to proceed, the dogs “had to be beaten forward – unfortunately.” 11
The party arrived home, from laying the first depot, on the night of February 15. Both men and dogs had passed the first test with flying colors but with mitigating circumstances. Although they were minor right now, some annoying symptoms appeared in this depot run: Amundsen seemed to have had to make more of an effort to work with his dogs than the other men did; and the dogs were constantly beaten to muster the strength to go on when they were seemingly already at maximum effort and also knee deep in loose snow.
I had always had a high opinion of the dog as draught animal, but after this last performance my admiration for these splendid animals rose to the pitch of enthusiasm. Let us look at what my dogs accomplished on this occasion: On February 14 they went eleven miles southward with a load of 770 pounds, and on the same day thirty-two miles northward – only four of them, the “Three Musketeers” and Lassesen, as Fix and Snuppesen refused to do any work. The weight they started with from 80° S. was that of the sledge, 165 pounds; Prestrud, 176 pounds; and myself, 182 pounds. Add to this 154 pounds for sleeping-bags, ski, and dried fish, and we have a total weight of 677 pounds, or about 170 pounds per dog. The last day they did sixty-two miles. I think the dogs showed on this occasion that they were well suited for sledging on the Barrier.
The dogs were well suited, yes, and well-whipped, most definitely, as confirmed by Johansen. The sled dogs had been driven heavily on this first outing, and they had made it through the tough trek.
As a small consolation prize, the dogs found their 16-man tents under construction back home. These spacious dog kennels were being made ready to accommodate all the dogs during their time off, when they were not pulling out on the barrier. Each of the eight tents would house one dog team (and a ninth tent housed the puppies). The snow underneath the tents was being dug down by 4–5 feet in order to allow a dryer floor, a higher roof, and more air circulation for the dogs. The dogs would be tied to stakes at the bottom of the tents, 12 dogs per tent (Amundsen Expedition Diary; Hassel 2011).
To his great pleasure, Amundsen found that the four trekking men who had been left at home – Sverre Hassel, Olav Bjaaland, Jørgen Stubberud, and Oscar Wisting – had shot enough seals to supply the camp with ample meat for men and dogs (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 224). Indeed, the entire Framheim home camp was greatly improved, with a “penthouse” addition built onto the western wall of the house (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 222). The cook Adolf Lindstrøm, too, had busied himself in his new roost.
The dogs had not been idle, either. They had continued to work while the depot party had been gone, pulling additional supplies from the ship to the camp. This included bringing one of the Fram’s boats from the vessel to the Ice Barrier. The boat had been placed on two sleds and had been pulled by 12 dogs up the steep icy incline, where it was safely stowed, ready for use if the occasion necessitated (Gjertsen 2011; Amundsen Expedition Diary; Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 224).
The only thing that was missing at camp was their dear beloved Fram, which had sailed at noon on the very day that the depot party had returned home. Despite driving the dogs quickly in order to arrive back at Framheim in time, they had missed seeing their ship and its crew by mere hours (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 220). But the vessel had gotten off safely, and was now on its way north, to winter in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then conduct the assigned oceanographic studies – the scientific portion of this expedition.
The returning depot party immediately went to work around Framheim. A meat tent was quickly erected to house all the seal meat lying about on the snow and was protected with a 7-foot wall constructed of snow blocks – a wall that was built to prevent the dogs from invading the meat tent. The wall was promptly given an ice coating by the dogs themselves, who graciously obliged the “architects” with their own architectural markings (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 224).
Next, the dog tents were completely and greatly improved. According to Amundsen, the men joined together to make the canine housing their first order of business. Digging further into the barrier ice, and excavating with axes, the men made the flooring of the tent end at 6 feet under the ice. Each tent stood 18 feet high at its peak and 15 feet wide in its diameter. Inside were 12 posts secured to the ground and equally spaced along the perimeter. The dogs were tied to these posts (Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 223–224). The eight tents were finished in 3 days – by February 18 – and, according to Amundsen, the dogs loved their new abodes (Amundsen Expedition Diary; Hassel 2011).
Both Amundsen and Johansen wrote of these – what seemed to them – luxurious dog tents and described how very much the dogs enjoyed staying there. They specified the deeply dugout bottoms, high ceilings, and spacious surroundings that made the dogs’ homes even more warm and comfortable (Johansen Expedition Diary; Amundsen 1912, vol. 1: 223–224). Sverre Hassel and Jørgen Stubberud added that the deeper excavation allowed the dogs to eat off of the snow and prevented them from chewing and tearing the tent’s canvas (Hassel 2011; Stubberud 2011). These tents would shelter the dogs from the extreme elements and outdoor snow during the harsh months of winter.
The dogs found that they had to enjoy their comfortable new homes while they could, for, a mere 7 days after the return of the first depot party, 42 dogs and 7 sleds would be taken out for another depot run, and, this time, the dogs would be expected to carry more weight, run faster, and pull even harder – loose snow or no.
Dog Chart: The 18 Dogs Who Worked on the First Depot Tour in Mid-February 1911
- Roald Amundsen’s Team:
Jens
Ola
Rasmus
Lasse (also Lassesen)
Fix
Snuppesen (also Fru Snuppesen – “Mrs. Snuppesen” and Snuppa)
- Hjalmar Johansen’s Team:
Uroa (“Always Moving”)
Tigeren (“The Tiger”)
Rotta (“The Rat”)
Skalpen (“The Scalp,” also Skalperert; also known as Skelettet – “The Skeleton”)
Gråen (also Graaen and Gråenon)
Klöverknegt/Knegten (“Jack of Clubs”/“The Jack,” also Klöverknekt/Knekten)
- Helmer Hanssen’s Team:
Mylius
Ring
Hök
Togo (also Tago)
Hai (also Haika)
Rap
These were the 18 dogs who transported over 560 kilograms of supplies to the first depot for the trip to the South Pole.
The sled dogs at Framheim in February 1911, with the camp’s 14 large tents surrounding the house. At least nine of these tents were used as the dogs’ homes on the Antarctic ice, and at least one was used as a home for the puppies. Each team of dogs had a tent in which to sleep at night, when not at work (Photographer: unidentified/Owner: National Library of Norway)
A letter written by Roald Amundsen to his brother Leon on February 7, 1911, after the dogs had helped the expedition transport all supplies and provisions from the ship. In the letter, Amundsen states that 115 sled dogs had now been situated at the newly erected Antarctic winter quarters Framheim and that everything was set for the expedition to achieve winning results (National Library of Norway)
The sled dogs can be seen here harnessed to their loaded sledges during a sledging excursion. A tent marks the campsite, and a flag marks the depot. The depot shown is probably the first depot at 80° South, and this photograph was probably taken during the first depot tour, which began on February 10, 1911 (Photographer: unidentified/Owner: National Library of Norway)
Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources
Roald Amundsen’s and Hjalmar Johansen’s expedition diaries, quoted in this chapter, are in the Manuscripts Collection at the National Library of Norway (NB) in Oslo. (The excerpts quoted are translated from the original Norwegian.)
- 1.
R. Amundsen expedition report, 9 February 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 2.
R. Amundsen to L. Amundsen, 7 February 1911, NB Brevs. 812:1
- 3.
R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 10 February 1911, NB Ms.8° 1196
- 4.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 10 February 1911, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2
- 5.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 10 February 1911, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2
- 6.
R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 11 February 1911, NB Ms.8° 1196
- 7.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 11 February 1911, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2
- 8.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 12 February 1911, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2
- 9.
R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 13 February 1911, NB Ms.8° 1196
- 10.
R. Amundsen Antarctic expedition diary, 15 February 1911, NB Ms.8° 1196
- 11.
F.H. Johansen Antarctic expedition diary, 17 February 1911, NB Ms.4° 2775:C:2