1872-1903
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| Leonidas Hubbard 1872-1903 |
Dillon Wallace 1863-1939 | George Elson 1876-1944 |
In 1903 the interior of Labrador, Canada was one of the last blank spots on the map of North America and Leonidas Hubbard, Jr., a recently married 31 year old outdoor writer, was looking for a story that hadn't been told before. His outdoor experience was limited, but he managed to secure an assignment from Outing magazine in New York to explore the little-known interior highlands of the Labrador-Ungava peninsula. Hubbard recruited his good friend Dillon Wallace, 42, a fellow outdoorsman and recently widowed attorney, and hired George Elson, a young Scots-Cree guide and woodsman from Hudson Bay. The trio set off from a small beach in front of the Hudson's Bay Company post in North West River on July 15th, 1903 in a single 18-foot canvas canoe with the audacious goal of crossing Labrador's vast interior and reaching George River Post on the southern tip of Ungava Bay, some 600 miles to the north.
Almost immediately, the Hubbard expedition made a fatal error, mistaking a boulder-strewn brook (Susan Brook) for their intended route up the Naskapi River. A series of additional mistakes ultimately led to Hubbard's decision to turn back before reaching the halfway point of their journey. During their forced retreat, the explorers abandoned their canoe, completely ran out of food, and were overtaken by the early onset of a fierce Canadian winter.
At the junction of Susan Brook and Goose Creek, Hubbard made the difficult yet sound decision to remain behind while Wallace and Elson made a desperate attempt to reach a trapper's cabin on Grand Lake. They would also search for flour they had cached in the Susan Valley three months earlier. Wallace was to return to Hubbard with the flour and Elson would continue down the valley to the lake in search of help.
On October 18, 1903, Hubbard wrote these words in his journal: "I am not suffering. The acute pangs of hunger have given way to indifference. I'm sleepy. I think death from starvation is not so bad. But let no one suppose I expect it. I am prepared that is all, I think the boys will be able, with the Lord's help, to save me."
His companions reached the three-to-four pound lump of greenish-black moldy flour but Wallace became lost in the blinding snow on his way back up Susan Brook and was unable to locate Hubbard's campsite. Elson would make it to Donald Blake's cabin, and a four man search party would find Wallace but when they reached Hubbard's camp it was too late. Exhaustion and starvation had claimed the life of this intrepid explorer.
Wallace kept his promise to Hubbard and wrote a full account of their journey which was published in 1905 under the title, The Lure of the Labrador Wild: The Story of the Exploring Expedition conducted by Leonidas Hubbard, Jr.. Hubbard's widow, Mina (right), was furious at Wallace when she read the manuscript because she thought it negatively portrayed her late husband. She became determined to preserve his good name and recruited George Elson and several other men to guide her through Labrador's vast interior to accomplish Hubbard's goal. Dillon Wallace recruited his own team and in 1905 the rival expeditions set off from North West River post within hours of each other.
The story of all three expeditions is best told in the 1988 book by James West Davidson and John Rugge entitled, Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure. Additional readings include Dillon Wallace's, The Long Labrador Trail and Mina Hubbard's, A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador: An Account of the Exploration of the Nascaupee and George Rivers which recount the 1905 expeditions. So instead of spoiling the ending to this story, I'll let you read the books. Publication information for all four books can be found in the "Canoeing Books" section of this web site, which can be accessed from the main menu.