Lorne Knight's Diary
The diary was authored by Lorne Knight during the expedition to Wrangel Island, where he documented his experiences with the stranded crew from 1921 to 1923. With Knight passing away on June 23, 1923, his diary was left in the possession of Ada Blackjack. Ada kept her own diary during this time, yet was tasked with keeping Knight’s diary safe as the sole survivor of the expedition.
On August 20, 1923, Ada awoke to the rescue of Harold Noice who immediately stole both of the diaries to be released to the press. Noice and Steffanson then spent the next few years fighting over the ownership of both diaries. However, as the leader of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, Steffanson legally owned all expedition materials, allowing him to receive ownership of the diary and eventually collect it from Noice.
When the diary came under the ownership of Steffanson, it was discovered that parts of the diary were erased or crossed out, leading Steffanson to hire the FBI in an attempt to decipher the areas that were unreadable.
There are several conspiracy theories as to who may have crossed out parts of the diary. First, we have Lorne Knight himself. Especially when the crossed-out areas are in reference to Ada Blackjack, some of these areas could be instances where Knight did or said something he regretted to Ada, resulting in him crossing out incriminating areas when he realized he was close to the end of his life. Furthermore, similar reasoning could be made as to why Ada Blackjack would want those areas crossed out. For example, on pages 49 and 50 of his diary, Knight says, “[The woman] was allowed to come in the house this morning and after sitting around in the same old way I told her that she would have to stay outside after this if she did not work.” After these sentences there are several lines that are crossed out, with the following sentence reading, “now sewing industriously. Hope it lasts” (50). In this instance, Knight may have said or done something to Ada in order to get her to work that he later regretted. Similarly, when the diary came into possession of Ada, she could’ve crossed out those areas so that the public did not know what happened to her.
Next, we have Harold Noice, whom Steffanson and different archives credit with crossing out pages when he acquired the diary after rescuing Ada. Noice claims that he bought both diaries off of Ada Blackjack, yet it is not confirmed. Thus, with the diaries in his possession, Noice did admit and apologize for misrepresenting different narratives when he went to the press with the stories.
Lastly, after Steffanson acquired the diary, he may have wanted to protect Knight’s reputation by crossing out incriminating areas that we discussed above. After all, Steffanson was Knight’s mentor, who was educated under Steffanson for four years. They both attended the Canadian Arctic expedition in the 1910s, signifying that Steffanson and Knight were close friends. Yet, this theory may not be the most reliable since Steffanson was the one who hired the FBI to try and decipher the crossed-out areas.
Instead, we believe that the most likely theory is that Knight was the one who crossed out the areas of his diary. These areas may have incriminating evidence or information that Knight did not want to be public. In addition, his struggles with scurvy no doubt had an impact on his mental state.
References:
Anchorage Museum. “Ada Blackjack.” Sole Survivor of Doomed Wrangel Island Expedition -
The Anchorage Museum, www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/extra-tough-women-of-the-north/women-of-the-north-profiles/ada-blackjack-sole-survivor-of-doomed-wrangel-island-expedition/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.
Laurier, Wilfrid. “Ada Blackjack: Stranded on Wrangel Island (U.S. National Park Service).”
National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/000/ada-blackjack-stranded-on-wrangel-island.htm. Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.
Rowe, Peter. “Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Ada Blackjack and the Canadian Invasion of Russia.”
Canadian Geographic, Canadian Geographic, 15 June 2022, canadiangeographic.ca/articles/vilhjalmur-stefansson-ada-blackjack-and-the-canadian-invasion-of-russia/.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur. “The Adventure of Wrangel Island.” 1925. The adventure of Wrangel
Island : Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1879-1962 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive