 |
|
|
|
The two Eskimos said
they found him dead where he had fallen through the ice and they
"...threw from the sledge everything they could find belonging to
him, that the spirit, if it came back that way, might not pursue
the men. Then they hurried for the land as fast as they could go."
But it was a lie. One of them had shot Marvin dead. |
|
Marvin did not return. His body was not recovered. Years
later it was learned that he argued with an Eskimo who shot Marvin dead.
Peary wrote: "The bones
of Ross G. Marvin lie farther north than those of any other human
being. On the northern shore of Grant Land we erected a
cairn of stones, and upon its summit we placed a rude tablet inscribed:
In memory of Ross G. Marvin of Cornell University, aged 34. Drowned
April 10, 1909, forty-five miles north of Cape Columbia..."
From George Borup's letter to his father:
"As a rule the sledges come in at full speed, but these came
in at a funeral gait, and Marvin nowhere to be seen. The first
words of his two Eskimos were enough: "Marvin gone-young ice."
The poor fellow was dead. The shock was pretty fierce, you
bet. He was a dandy man, a fine leader, and devilish sandy.
They came in Saturday night at midnight." |
|
|
|
 |
|
